Word and Deed
A lot in one sentence.
But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. (Matthew 3:15)
These are the first words of Jesus recorded in The Gospel According to Matthew, the first book of The New Testament. (Chronologically, there are earlier words of Jesus as a kid in The Gospel According to Luke).
Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptizer, recognized Jesus as his Lord and Savior from the time they were in their mothers’ wombs. So when Jesus presents himself to be baptized, John objects, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" (Matthew 13:14)
Jesus’ answer, his first words that we encounter if reading The New Testament from page 1, reveals much. What Jesus says is what he does.
But Jesus answered him… Matthew does not introduce us to Jesus preaching a sermon or telling a parable. Instead, he lets us hear Jesus respond to John’s human desire to do the right thing (I need to be baptized…), and his confusion at what God has set in front of him (do you come to me?). Jesus comes to us, he responds to us. He comes to meet our need for repentance and rebirth. And he comes to shepherd us, lovingly and patiently, through our questions and misunderstandings of God.
Let it be so now… Jesus, the eternal Word of God, comes into the “now” of history to be its turning point, for us:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)
As a great hymn puts it, the Son of God was Humbled for a season, To receive a name / From the lips of sinners / Unto whom He came…
…for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness… Jesus submits to a baptism he doesn’t need, to fulfill a sign of repentance on our behalf. He fulfills every detail of righteousness for us, because we’re not up to the task, but are nonetheless loved by God,
…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… (Romans 3:23-24)
As Dame Julian of Norwich wrote of her 14th century vision of Christ, Grace worketh with mercy, by lifting up, rewarding, endlessly surpassing all that our loving and our travail deserveth, spreading abroad and making plain the high abundance and largesse of God’s royal Lordship in his marvellous courtesy. (I’ve always liked her use of the word courtesy, in her time not meaning just “good manners” but describing a nobel coming in humility to his or her subjects.)
Jesus’ one sentence reply to John seems to comprehend Jesus’ whole message and ministry, much like John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 3:15 concludes with John’s response, Then he consented. John obeyed Jesus and took part in Jesus’ work by baptizing him.
Ash Wednesday and Lent come next week. This is a time to
search our questions and misunderstandings of the Lord;
to renew our awareness of the sacrificial “courtesy” by which God came in great humility to lift us from sin and death to righteousness and eternal life;
and, as God’s grace helps us, to “consent” like John the Baptizer and do the good works to which God calls us.
I pray that you who read this will, like John, have blessed encounters with Jesus. I pray that you will have your faith enlightened by the Holy Spirit who rested upon Jesus at his baptism. And I pray that your soul will hear the divine voice speaking what was spoken over Jesus, naming you as a beloved child of the heavenly Father, and leading you into good works that glorify Him. Amen.
+++A personal note: I have a heavy work schedule this coming week, and a family medical procedure. God continually surprises me with his “courtesy” in inspiring me to write on short notice, but I ask your prayers and patience if He directs my efforts in other directions this coming week.+++