The Upload
Posted on Jan 09, 2014 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray that you have had a blessed week.
This Sunday, January 12, we will celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. The Gospel text for Sunday is Matthew 3:13-17. In this story, Matthew tells us that John did not want to baptize Jesus because he felt unworthy to do such a thing. John said that it was Jesus who should be doing the baptizing.
As I read this story again this week, I came to see that Jesus’ response to John’s concern was so powerful and so promising that it changed the world. In response to John’s fear, Jesus said, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Now, this response may not sound that awesome to you at first, but let’s take a closer look. The phrase that we translate here as “Let it be so now,” more literally, in Greek, is translated as “forgive, or liberate, now…” In other words, Jesus said, all are free now, you are free, John, we do this act now so that we might follow God’s ways and live the way God created us to live.
Again, you might say, what is so powerful about this statement? Well, first and foremost, there was no deal-making going on here. Jesus did not say, if you do this, then you will be free. Rather, Jesus said, you are free, you are forgiven, you have been released already from your evil ways, so, let’s just start doing what God has asked of us. In essence, Jesus did baptize John that day because he announced John’s, and our, freedom from sin. No deals were struck; no “if you do this, then God will do that;” no quid pro quo was stated. Jesus said, you are free, now get to work.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are freed. We must do nothing except accept our freedom, and once we accept that freedom, then we are free to love and praise God. I love this story, and I love knowing I am free to say no to Satin and YES to God. God liked what Jesus did that day, too. In fact, God liked it so much that Matthew says, God opened the heavens (3:16). Literally, the Greek says, God ripped open the heavens, and said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (3:17). God was so pleased that Jesus announced our freedom He ripped open the heavens to say how happy he was that his people now knew they were free.
I pray you know that you have been freed and released of all your sin. You are worthy of God’s love and God’s grace, not because of anything you have done or will do, but because God loves you. You are worthy because Jesus lived, died and was resurrected for you. Smile, because you have been claimed and freed this day. Go tell the world!
Shalom,
Pastor Dave