P ♰ C

– posted by Jean Allen

As the Lord of all creation, does Jesus think he’s better than us? What if he doesn’t? Would that make a difference as to how you relate to him? It’s something to deeply ponder because at the beginning of his public ministry, he did not count himself as better than anyone else.

Jesus is in such solidarity with us humans that he insisted that he be baptized by John ‘to fulfill all righteousness’. He didn’t deem himself better than us; he didn’t feel embarrassed to submit to a sacrament of cleansing that he didn’t need. He wanted to be one with us in all ways, as God was calling him to do. That was the righteousness he was fulfilling: willingly submitting fully to God’s plan and mission. Those of us who were baptized as infants couldn’t make a conscious decision to submit fully to God’s will, plan and mission for our lives but we have had a plethora of opportunities since to consciously submit ourselves to God. Every time we participate in a baptism, we are invited to renew our baptismal vows and we should be very aware of what we are doing and who we are consecrating ourselves to. It should also make us very aware that Jesus considers himself one of us. He never at any time acted as if he was better or deserved more than anyone else and he is very blessed when we treat each other the same way we treat him. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, that you do to me.” 

It’s easy to just rip off the replies to the baptismal vows without much thought but it actually could be a very enlightened time for us all. A whole church full of people are re-presenting their baptisms – making their baptisms present again. A whole church full! I think that if we all listened very carefully and openly at that time, we would hear something amazing. It would be the voice of God saying,

“These are my daughters and sons, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased!”