There’s a question that follows us around our whole lives, even when we’re not aware of it. What would it take to lose the love and belonging I receive from you? Who is the “you” here? It is a parent, spouse, sibling, employer, friend, church, or God. When we make mistakes, when we fall short of expectations, when we accomplish less than our neighbors, a fear rises up within us that our relationships could be damaged as a result. Do love and belonging depend on our ability to meet expectations? Yes, this question haunts us more than we know (and another – what will it take to earn/restore love and belonging?)
At his baptism, Jesus comes up from the water, and immediately the heavens themselves are opened up to him, from which the Holy Spirit descends to him and on him. And the Father speaks: “This is my son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
We’re at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, not the end. Jesus has his identity (beloved Son of God) pronounced now, not at the culmination of his ministry, but at its launching. At this point, Jesus has not preached a single sermon, healed a single sick person, performed a single miracle, or debated a single Pharisee. Jesus hasn’t actually done anything except show up to the water. That’s because his identity as the beloved Son of God is not something he’s going to earn or qualify for. It is what is most true about him from the beginning. He cannot make it more true or less true. Jesus does not preach and heal and amaze and debate in order to earn his title as the beloved Son of God. Just the opposite. Every sermon, healing, and miracle flow out of his identity as God’s Son.
The biggest difference between Jesus and us is that Jesus never forgets who he is, but we sometimes do. Matthew 4 will lead us into the wilderness with Jesus where he’s tempted. The tempter attacks him with the words, “If you really are God’s Son…” But Jesus doesn’t doubt. He knows better than to be thrown off by the “if.” He belongs to God. He always did. He always will. No amount of hunger or insecurity will make him forget that. We are surrounded by voices that want us to forget that we are already fully loved sons and daughters of God. They tell us that once we’re smarter, better, healthier, and more respected, then we will finally have the love and belonging that we desire. And the voice of God pierces through those other voices, as if parting the heavens, to remind us of what we really are, and what is unconditionally true about us.
This is my son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased. This is my daughter, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
May we be like Jesus, and not forget who we are, and how loved we are. May we not forget what God has declared to be true about us. Baptism was our yes to God’s yes to us, the watery place where we immersed ourselves in what he believes about us and what he loves about us – not that we have accomplished enough, but that we are simply his. May we never strive to earn that identity. But may every thought, word, action, behavior, hope and dream flow from that identity.