The Baptism of Christ - You are my beloved in whom I am well pleased

Can you imagine what it would be like to hear the voice of God saying, "I am so very pleased with you"?

“Congratulations”

The banner with bright coloured letters ran up the Vicarage stair case complete with balloons for the home coming of baby Jesse on Wednesday night, hot on the heals of the celebration of the Magi’s visit to the stable in Bethlehem and blessing our home and the churches 20+C+M+B15

Of course we had been waiting, anticipating this moment, indeed praying for him to be well enough and strong enough to be allowed out of hospital and start to live as part of his family. Thank you for all your prayers for Jesse and Jodie these past 6 weeks, this baby has been prayed for in Roman Catholic, Coptic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches he is truly blessed.

“You are my son the beloved, with you I am well pleased” – these are the words of God not just for his only begotten son Jesus but for the whole world to hear and to share in and what could be more wonderful than to hear our heavenly father tell us this?

The joy that came with this small bundle of humanity wrapped in a blue blanket knitted for him by Angie and in a car seat that cost as much in family arguments as it did in terms of cash! was soon followed with the needs of looking after a small baby, the endless cycle of washing and feeding and all that happens in between, but that joy is still with us and in time Jesse will come to understand its full extent in his own life. It is the kind of joy that one gets from looking upon a baby be it ours of that of another that when felt never leaves us.

The first time I saw Jesse, one day old in intensive care wrapped in bubble wrap

the first prayer I said for him

the first time I held him

the first time I fed him

these are moments that cannot be forgotten, will never be forgotten will stay with me for the rest of my life and this is true of our baptism and the baptism on our lord that we remember and celebrate this morning

Baptism is a powerful sign of Gods love for us, those of us who were baptised as infants may not have a direct memory of the event, of the love being expressed and poured out in that simple ceremony but as we grow it is our hope and faith that the words of God the Father to his Son will be equally true of each one of us his sons and daughters.

Our baptism in like a home coming for through the waters of baptism we are granted entry in to the church and the promise of life eternal. In the waters of baptism we are born again in to a new family, the family of Christian people throughout the ages, and the world, yes it really is a homecoming.

In the words of God “You are my child the beloved, with you I am well pleased” we are given the assurance from


...The One who rescued us from death and destruction out of grace simply because He loves us.

...The One who chose you and revealed Himself to you when you were yet in sin, ungodly, without hope.

...The One who turned you from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the kingdom of God, from death to everlasting life.

...The One who granted you forgiveness of all your sins, who absolved you of condemnation, who breathed into you life that would never end, who assured you He would never leave you nor forsake you, who by His Spirit enabled you to call Him, "Abba, Father!"

What are we to make of that timeless voice, the voice from heaven saying "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased

What do we make of it this morning as we sit here in church and take moment to listen, to remember, to assure ourselves that we have been chosen and are loved because we, like the one on whom we attempt to model our lives, are a beloved child of God in whom God is well pleased?

When you stop to ponder this in your heart, the timing of the Father's words to His Son was incredible. This happened on the eve of Jesus' public ministry! Jesus was about thirty years old. He came to the Jordan where His cousin John was baptising.

¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ ¹² And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness”

Up to this point, Jesus hadn't performed a single miracle.

No sign had been performed by Him, or word spoken by him yet the Father himself said He was well-pleased with His Son.

Jesus hadn't successfully resisted the devil; yet the Father opened the heavens and said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased."

Before Jesus had begun any work of his Father he receives God’s blessing and love.

And this is true for each one of us when we were born, before we had done anything, even before we had opened our mouth to draw our first breath we are loved. This is true for Jesse my first Grandson, it is true of Jesus at his baptism and it is true for each one of us here and throughout the world.

What does this tell us? It tells me that what pleases God more than anything else is our intimate relationship with Him, our total submission to His Word, His purpose, His timing.

Imagine the freedom you would experience if you knew that you were already — right now and today — pleasing to God!

Would you face the challenges before you differently?

Would you enjoy your life a little more and live your life abundantly?

And so the yearning strong

With which the soul will long

Shall far out pass the power of human telling;

For none can guess its grace

Till he become the place

Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

‘Come Down O Love Divine’   -   Bianco da Siena, d.1434.