Relax for a few minutes please... reflect with me...
Reflection --- John 1:29-42
First off, the focus of baptism is not the action of man. In baptism we are not witnessing a great action of a man. Baptism changed with Jesus. John called the people to confess their sinfulness and be cleansed of their sin by baptism. But with the baptism of Jesus, baptism changed. It was no longer about me taking care of my sin. I will always fail if I think that I can cleanse myself of my sin. I may think that I can be a good boy from now on and God will then like me again and take care of me and take me to heaven. But, it doesn't work like that. It never did work like that.
Even as Adam and Eve tried to get closer to God by believing the tricks of Satan, God was watching out for them and you and me. So, God kicked them out of the garden. He had to. God had to kick them out, and you and me out as well. We would have made the error of thinking that more of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would make us closer to God and we would be like God by our own action. If this would take place, we would be forever in our own sin. So, God kicks us out! Kicks us out to save us from ourselves. God loves his creation and us.
God kicks us out and then... and then... along in time comes Jesus at his baptism. At Jesus baptism God sends his Spirit upon Jesus. Jesus baptism is God active.
John the Baptist saw the heavens open, he heard the voice of God and he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus. This was God's action. And time for John to step away. Jesus steps in. God steps in.
So, the next day, John sees Jesus and now can proclaim, "Here is Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."
Jesus has come to forgive all of us and cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness that we inherited from that sinful action of Man attempting to be close to God through his own efforts in the Garden of Eden. And for our own actions of trying to be the god of our own life as well.
When I was born, I was born with an infection. An infection passed on to me since the Garden of Eden. I was born infected with sin. So now, as John says, "Look the Lamb of God."
God gave me a Sacrificial Lamb and a Passover Lamb. One to take on my sin and another lamb to feed me for my journey of life. That Lamb is Jesus. Jesus remembers Mans sinful infection, and comes to remove that infection so that we may be in communion with God. In communion with God like Adam and Eve would have loved, but now, in communion with God because of what God does... not because of what Man does.
In baptism in the Church today, we speak of it being a sacrament. The central figure in a sacrament is not Man, but the central figure is God. It is God's action that makes baptism a sacrament. Baptism does not depend on my action or the action of someone else. It is God's action that counts. In baptism, God accepts us. Baptism is not about me or you accepting God.
So now what? How do we find Jesus?
Look back at the passage above. One way is to listen to the voice of John the Baptist. He directs the first two disciples to Jesus and declares Jesus the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And then there are those people that Jesus hunts down ruthlessly until they come to recognize him as the Messiah, the Savior, their Savior!
Listen to Jesus... he tells us to come and see. Come and see the Messiah and what he does for you and for me. So, having Jesus... once again... Now what?
Just as at Jesus baptism, things have changed. God puts a new Spirit within us. Baptism is not about us becoming new again due to what we have done. God does it all. God brings us back to him. He removes the fever of our sinful being and draws us back to him out of sin and death.
I know that Jesus takes away my sin... but how many sins has Jesus taken away from me? Jesus loved me and gave himself for me! How hard that must be! And... how grateful I am for God sending his Son into the world that I may be in communion with him, in communion, not of my own doing, but of God's action in my life.
So, like John the Baptist, I respond. I respond humbly in the presence of Jesus and proclaim. Come and see! Come and see what's happened in my life. Come and see Jesus. Stay with me, remain with me and see and hear Jesus gift of salvation for all people.
I can't be content with my own salvation, while those around me perish in the storm of life. That would be so selfish of me! I have been called by God, given the Spirit of God to proclaim Christ. To reveal to all the people God gives to me the Gospel of Jesus action of saving all people by putting our sin to death upon the cross, by dying in our sin, and by raising again, defeating sin forever.
It really is all about God's action. No action on my part would do.
Friends, trust God, be happy and tell the Good News that God has been revealed in Christ, that we may live in the communion and love of God, like God would have had it all along. Believe it and live in communion... today... tomorrow... and forever.
Thanks be to God!
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