After Jesus’ baptism, he is immediately driven into the wilderness.
Now, when most of us consider the wildernesses of life, we usually think about particularly rough times when we struggled; such as when the diagnosis of cancer was given. Those are times we feel driven in to the wilderness, alone.
Or we think of the times our friends abandoned us and we felt deserted in life.
We consider our wilderness moments times that are particularly rough, where the normal movements of the day are shaken to their core.
However, when I read of Jesus' time spent in the wilderness, I find that he was tempted by everyday things. He was tempted with materialism (turning stones into bread). This is nothing new to us. Products call out to us to trust in their worth all of the time. This is not a particularly rough experience in life unless you have anxiety whenever you walk around a grocery store end cap.
Notice that Jesus encountered the temple (God’s house) in the wilderness. There, he is asked to make God bend to his will. People claiming that God, or “the truth,” is on their side is hardly a rare occurrence.
And, the temptation to conquer a mountain and use that new found self-confidence to control others is not typically what we consider a wilderness moment.
In fact, all of these things that tempt Jesus in the wilderness are common, everyday sorts of temptations.
That leads me to believe that the wilderness is simply life; just plain old, everyday life. Our daily existence is one of wilderness wandering where a snake can snap at our feet any moment. Our daily existence is one where a product, such as hand cream, will lure you in with its mesmerizing label, asking you to trust that with moisturized hands your children will suddenly get along and want to go on a nice bike ride in the park with you, making life-long memories. I only I had some hand cream!
I mention the nature of temptations and the daily existence of the wilderness, because it is the place into which Jesus is going to enter after his baptism. After his baptism, Jesus will enter into…well…our life…our everyday wilderness life where one can be easily turned from God’s ways without even realizing it.
If Jesus gets baptized before entering into our everyday wilderness wandering life, there must be something special about his baptism that is sufficient enough to prepare him. Take a look at Jesus' baptism. What about it prepares him to enter into everyday life and not get pulled into the temptations of things, control, and power?
For Jesus, it certainly is not any sort of forgiveness found in baptism that prepares him. We bristle at the idea that Jesus would have needed forgiveness, and even John the Baptist has a problem baptizing Jesus on this note. But, Jesus answers John that the reason for his baptism is “to fulfill all righteousness.”
In words that we who live everyday lives can understand, Jesus says that he is to be baptized so that he might finally be who God meant him to be.
As soon as he comes up from the waters, small streams dribbling down his face, the spirit descends on him like a dove and a voice tears open the heavens and declares, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Beloved. In that one word is wrapped up all that Jesus is and who he is going to be: Beloved.
Jesus is God’s beloved. Jesus is committed to being God’s beloved. Jesus will go from the waters, out into the wilderness...out into everyday life...and act as God’s beloved. If you ever wanted to know what God’s love looks like, you will look right at Jesus. He is the beloved. Beloved is his name.
Names. Jesus walks out into the world with the name “beloved” and that means something.
Albers is my last name, of course. So, just out of curiosity, I looked up what Albers means so that I might know the name with which I am walking around.
Technically, in the German, it means Albert’s son, but that does not get to its fullest meaning. It is composed of grammatical elements that mean “noble,” “bright,” and “famous.” In short, Albers means: “one who is famously Academic.” So, if I start using unpronounceable and incomprehensible words such as ecclesiology, or worse, antidisestablishmentarianism you know why.
In Blair Nebraska, where I grew up in my High School years, Albers meant those things and more. You see, my Uncle was a beloved pastor in the town for years. Thus, in the town of Blair, Albers came to mean: “smart, compassionate, slow to anger, and willing to listen,” because that was the type of guy that my uncle was.
So, when I stumbled into town as a teenager, I came in with a little automatic respect by association. People assumed that I was a smart kid. People assumed that I was a nice kid. People assumed that I was someone to be trusted. People were willing to give an Albers a free haircut, and once I even got a break while purchasing some ice cream. It was nice to have the name Albers.
But, with the name also came an expectation: an Albers was expected to be “smart, compassionate, slow to anger, and willing to listen.” Being an Albers was more than a tag for family recognition, it was an identity that meant something. It was an identity to which we were expected to live up.
“Beloved” is the same way. With the name “Beloved,” Jesus became committed to God’s ways of love, mercy, forgiveness, and peace. As he enters the wilderness of everyday life, he allows his name to be his guide. When Jesus encounters us out in the wilderness of life, we can expect to experience love that is committed to us in a holy way.
That is what baptism does after-all. It tells us who Jesus is, and it tells us to whom we belong.
As baptized people, we wander into a town where Jesus has already been, bearing his name. We belong to him.
It offers some benefits by association of course. In many places we are given a little automatic respect while we bear Jesus’ name. We are assumed to be loving, forgiving, and merciful people. Many people trust those who bear the name of Christ to be honest people to whom a job can be given. Many people trust those who bear the name of Christ to watch over their children. And, heck, at one Midwestern hotel chain, you can even get a discount on a room if you can provide proof of church membership.
But at the same time, bearing the name of Jesus, the beloved, also gives us an identity that guides us through the wilderness of everyday life. When we are tempted by the materialism and the power of the world, we have an identity that guides us away from these things.
We are a people of love, forgiveness, and mercy, and those traits guide us in all of our decisions.
We are a people who belong to the one who ate with the sinner, searched for the lost, and died for the world. We are a people who belong to the one who loves the sinner to the bitter end on the cross and raises the sinner up with him on the third day. We are a people who follow the beloved. We bear the name of Christ as the marks of water still glimmer on our heads even to this day.
Bret, a friend from High School, had secured a great job on Wall Street. His future was bright and his bank account was growing quickly. He had a nice car and seemed to have it made.
For those reasons, we were surprised when Bret quit his job and came back home. I asked him why he left such a secure life. His answer was simple. “It wasn’t me,” he said. “I am a person of faith, and I found none of God’s love in that life, so I left.” It was a simple as that. He was a child of the Beloved, and he desired to live that way.
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