Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Water is mesmerizing to me; it can bring out so many different emotions as I watch it. I find peace in the quietness of a gurgling stream and stand in awe at the power of a roaring waterfall. I watch the always changing waves as they crash against the shore and think about how they will surely change the landscape as all water eventually does.
I wonder what emotions water brought to Jesus. I wonder what Jesus felt when he stepped into the river Jordan to be baptisized. Did he feel the peace of a quiet stream or the raging power of a waterfall? Did he sense the danger that water can be, the dangers that he would face? The waters of baptism were a defining moment for him. In his baptism we see both his human nature and divine nature. We see him join other people, to identify with us. In the voice from heaven we have proclaimed his divine nature, the true son of God. We know that after his baptism he faced challenges to that identity, tempted to take the easy way out, to be an earthly king instead of a sacrificial lamb. His baptism was a defining moment in his identity for it was in this moment that he heard the Father say, “you are my beloved son.” It was beginning of the road to the cross and because of that cross we can now hear the Father say in a fresh way to us, you are my beloved - not because of anything we did but because of what Jesus did. Prayer Father God Open our hearts to hearing our name, to being called beloved. Remind us of our own defining moment when we found our identity in you. Amen
1 Comment
Pam
1/14/2019 06:19:31 am
Beautiful! Love all that we are learning together in Sunday bible study!
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1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan