Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, DMin

Against a backdrop of Roman imperial ambition, John the Baptist wrestled with the idea of baptizing Jesus; the one that he was preparing people to receive. While the emperor and dominant power structures sought to impose, grasp for power and self-glorify, Jesus asked John to let him share in our hopes, fears, sins and salvation of even the lowliest of us. When John the Baptist consented, he chose to relate to the world in a different way. Following Jesus sometimes puts you at odds with the power structure and prevailing popular sentiment. How do we handle when being a Christian makes us fundamentally weird? How do we consent?

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Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”