Jesus was somewhere around 30 years old when he was baptized. In the years since his birth, he had lived for the most part in the small Galilean town of Nazareth, in the north of Israel, as the son of Mary and her husband Joseph, a carpenter. Apparently, the adult Jesus also worked as a carpenter, at least until the day he left and traveled to a place many miles away in the south, on the banks of the Jordan river. There God's prophet John was baptizing people in the river, a kind of "washing off of their sins," telling them to get ready for the coming of God's Promised One.
In the gospel story, Jesus moves intentionally from the life he has lived in Nazareth in order to join himself to all God's people, and at a deeper level, to join all of us in the midst of our lives. In our class discussion, we noted that this is a sign that God meets us where we are.
As Jesus rises from his immersion in the water, he looks up and sees the "heavens torn apart," or put another way, "the sky split open." The image of "the sky split open" is a way of saying that, through the life of Jesus, God's children will never be separated from the love of God for any reason, no matter what. And in addition to the name he was given at birth, Jesus, he receives three new names from God: Son; Beloved; God's Pleasure.
The Spirit of God descends on Jesus "like a dove." We talked of God's Spirit being:
--the Breath of Life; God's own breath breathed into us!
--the Presence of God with us (and within us)
--Fire and Power
Jesus returns to Galilee, but not to life exactly the way he led it before. His deeper purpose has begun. He shouts out to everyone who will hear: "The time has come. The reign of God is very near. Change your heart and believe the good news!" New life.
Taylor, Hope, Eric. Stephen, Nick, Josephine, Derek, Pete, Aaron, Alec, Jon, Lydia, Donovan, Adam:
Imagine God speaking directly to you, and giving you three "new names"
--Child of God
--Deeply, Deeply Loved
--The One Who Lives as God's Pleasure
What will this mean to you? How does it help you understand your own life; your preciousness and purpose? Your place in God's family? How is God "spiriting you?"
To me it means that I am part of the most loving family I could ever have(like the perfect family). It helps me understand that know matter what I could possibly do I will ALWAYS be loved from someone in the world, (or in heaven). God spirits me by the fact that i will always have someone that will chear me on or help guide me to the correct path. Josephine
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