Jesus went down to the river to be baptized by John the Baptist.
Verse 22: The heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Jesus was around 30 years old when he went to be baptized by John. His birth in a stable was a distant memory. He had been working as a carpenter, and probably lived like every other normal guy. Then he was baptized and the voice of God spoke, claiming Jesus as His son.
In the Lutheran church, we believe that God claims us all at our baptism... We all become God's children.
Or do we miss the point?
Jesus was God's son long before he was baptized. He was God's son when he was born.
What about us then, do we belong to God only after we are baptized? Maybe we belonged to God the moment that we took our first breath. Maybe we belonged to God before we were even born.
If that's the case, then baptism is not when we are claimed by God, but it is the moment that we accept the role of being God's child. It's the moment we decided, or our parents decided for us, that there had to be more to life, that there had to be a larger truth than a world full of empty glory.
So we went to the river, or the baptismal font and claimed God as our Father.
And God, who guided us there and gave us faith said, "welcome home."
No comments:
Post a Comment