Beloved

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. As I have prayed with the Gospel, the words of God burrowed into my heart. They have hunkered down there, and if I am honest, they have been both a blessing and a little guilt-producing.  

“You are my beloved Son;

 with you, I am well pleased.”

The words that captured my heart were “Beloved Son.” I was surprised to learn that those words are only used 3 times in all Hebrew and Christian scriptures. One might think that if God is a loving God, as we believe He is, He would have been saying that often through the stories of scripture.

On a very human level, if we only tell our beloved that they are loved only on the day we are married, or the day they are born. Trust in the love of the other fades. We instinctively know we need to tell those we love that we love them. There is a yearning in the human heart to know we are beloved. Speaking words of love to our beloved is the taproot of loving.

But our outrageously loving God only uses the word “Beloved Son” three times in all of scripture. In the New Testament, the first is in the reading today at the Baptism of Jesus. The second time is at His Transfiguration on the mountain. The third time the words “Beloved Son” are used is in Genesis 22. It is the story of Abraham and Isaac. They go up the mountain, and Abraham is to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham raises a knife to sacrifice his son with a broken heart and tears streaming down his face, and an angel’s voice from heaven stops him. God’s voice tells him not to kill his Son. God now knows Abraham’s love is so great he would even sacrifice his “beloved son.”  

That’s it! Only 3 times in all of scripture. I was disappointed, until I recognized the power of the words. Abraham is given a ram to sacrifice, and the people of Israel are born from his lineage. At the Baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan, God infuses Jesus with His own love to strengthen Him for His mission on earth. At the Transfiguration, the disciples are given a glimpse into the future. They hear the command to listen to Him, so they know what to do when He is gone. Each time the word Beloved is used, there is a promise, grace, and hope.

We do ourselves and God a disservice if we allow those powerful, beautiful words to remain trapped in the pages of scripture. The promise of God is to provide for us as he did for Abraham. It is to fill us with God’s love as God did for Jesus at the Jordan. God’s words are meant to strengthen us for our journey as His people, as He did the apostles at the Transfiguration.  

The voice of God came from the heavens, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” The words of God spoken from the heavens are not words meant for Jesus alone. God is speaking to you and me. He is saying to us, 

“You are my beloved daughter, my beloved son: 

with you, I am well pleased.” 

We are called to be attentive, to listen for God’s voice. He is speaking to each of us. God is proclaiming us His Beloved. 

God is saying to us, “I will provide, I will fill and sustain you, and I will give you strength.”

God’s words are not stagnating on the pages of history. His words live. They were not intended only for Abraham, Jesus, and the Apostles. They are meant for us. We are the Beloved of God. 

God’s words and His love echo throughout time, and if we listen, we can hear them whispered by God in our hearts. “You are my Beloved; I am here. You are mine until the end of time.”

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen