Scripture – Matthew 3:13-17 NRSVUE
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
From Rev. Heather Leffler
John was urging people to repent and be baptized as a sign of turning their lives toward God. preparing them for the coming of the Messiah. When he recognized Jesus, John couldn’t imagine baptizing him. Jesus was the Son of God, the one without sin. Why would he need to be baptized?
Jesus reassured John that this was the right thing to do, not because Jesus needed repentance, but because he chose to fully enter into the human story. John baptized him, God’s Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove and God spoke. In that moment, heaven and earth met: Jesus’ baptism made him known to those gathered and marked the beginning of his public ministry.
This moment also shapes our understanding of baptism today. What began as a ritual of repentance became, through Jesus, a sacrament of belonging and blessing. Rather than a repeated act of repentance, baptism became a once-for-all sign of knowing who we belong to and of being welcomed into a community shaped by God’s grace.
When we are baptized, we belong not only to our local church or even the United Church, but to the Holy Catholic Church—the whole body of Christ across time and place. In baptism, we are claimed as part of Christ’s body in the world – held in God’s deep and abiding love and sent out to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
Contemplation and Conversation
What does it mean for you to belong to Christ’s body,
and how might you live that belonging more fully this week?
Prayer
Holy One – Parent, Beloved Son and Spirit, help us live into our baptism.
Teach us to trust the gift of belonging you have given us,
and to share it freely, so that others might come to know you
in new and deeper ways. Amen.
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