…the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
I love this portion of this passage from Luke and I almost missed it when preparing for this reflection. I only read verses 15-17 which does not discuss Jesus’s actual baptism at all. Once I was shown that there was more to the reading I had totally different ideas to what I could write. So how often do we miss things when we read and how often do we make comments or have discussions with someone without being completely informed. How often do people use words or phrases from something they have read, out of context. We have seen where people have pulled one short sentence out of the Bible to prove their point and don’t look further to see that it really doesn’t mean what they are using it for. For those who have not read the Bible or not read it in a long time, this can put religion in a bad light or God as a mean being instead of loving. This can make people afraid of what God might do, if they sin instead of understanding that they will be forgiven.
So, what would I have missed if I had not been shown the correct verses to reflect on. Well, for one… God’s love. That is a big one!
‘With you I am well pleased’…. God is pleased; God loves his son. Jesus has not even begun his ministry that he was put on this earth to do, and God is pleased already. And if the voice came from heaven, all must have heard it, although Luke doesn’t actually say this. How often do we hear or feel God telling us he loves us? I certainly know he loves me because the Bible tells me so, but to truly feel and understand what that means can be more difficult. We must open ourselves up to receive it, just like the love of a friend or a family member. If you have not truly felt God’s love, then it may take time to get there. God won’t stop trying to get you to hear/feel it and will work with patience to knock down the walls that are built up within you. We must love ourselves first. AND if you look at this verse a bit closer, you may see what I just saw. God loves Jesus; Jesus is God in human form, therefore God loves himself? Hmm. To let God’s love in, (and others) loving ourselves is necessary, but he will love us even if we don’t love ourselves. God sees things others don’t, including ourselves. This small little passage from Luke is filled with an amazing 35 or so words. It not only talks about love, but it also shows the Trinity. Is it proof of the Trinity? All three are connected: The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove, God speaks allowed, both as Jesus is praying. I have never seen or thought about the Trinity before when reading this and I know I have read it a few times. So I missed something again, but caught it this time. What more can I see if I read the Bible from start to finish again.
As we go through life, we change because of different things we experience each and every day. We see things differently because of those experiences and therefore reading the Bible over and over again can give a new perspective on what it has to say. If we read the same version of the Bible (and yes there are a few), the words are the same but we can see something new in those words. The version we hear at church is the NRSV or the New Revised Standard Version, but like I said there are many others, so maybe find another version to see different wording which may help you to interpret things differently. Wouldn’t it be good to approach church a bit differently in the future? I know for me, sometimes I don’t always hear the readings because I may get distracted by my own thoughts, or maybe a noise within the church keeps me from hearing the reader. We may get more out of Sunday morning readings if we took a few minutes to read them before we went to church. It might even be interesting to think about what you would focus on if you were delivering the sermon. BUT if not, just open that Bible again and see what you can see that you have never seen before.