As we grow up, somewhere along the way, we work out which version of ourselves gets the best response. We learn what to say, what not to say and how to present ourselves to get people’s approval. It can feel wonderful for a time, but it can also become exhausting as we lose touch with who we really are and try to constantly present the person we think others will approve of. Into that exhaustion comes the baptism of Jesus, where approval arrives in a very different order.
The clothes we put on: All of us, in different ways, take on personalities like clothing, to survive the context we’re in. A lot of that is harmless. But it can slowly take its toll. Like wearing a jacket on a hot summer’s day because we think it’s what we need to do to be accepted.
Down into the river: Jesus takes the long journey from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptised alongside people confessing their sins. John tries to stop him, because he thinks this doesn’t add up: he’s the one who needs to be baptised by Jesus. Jesus says this must happen to “fulfil all righteousness”, a word far bigger than purity, which speaks of God putting the world right.
Beloved first: As Jesus comes up from the water, a voice calls him “my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased”. His ministry hasn’t started and he hasn’t gathered a single disciple. God is pleased with him because of who he is. That order holds for us too: we live from love, not for it.
The feeling that creeps back: Knowing this doesn’t make the old fear disappear. We can read the scriptures and know the truth, and still the questions return. Have I done enough? Do people truly see me? Do they like me? None of us knows how to let all that go and live as someone fully beloved, which is why we walk with God by faith and keep reminding each other.
The question for us: What would it look like to believe we are loved as we are, even on the days we fail? And if we no longer have to earn our place, how might we follow Jesus into the messiness of other people’s lives?
