Readings:
Genesis 1: 1-5;
Psalm 29;
Acts 19: 1-7;
Mark 1: 4-11

Collect:
Heavenly Father,
at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son:
may we recognise him as our Lord
and know ourselves to be your beloved children;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

Reflection 

I wonder if you know the meaning of your name? Perhaps your parents gave it to you for a specific reason? Do you think you live up to its meaning??!

The giving of a name (usually at birth), and all the rituals that go with it, is a universal human experience. A name marks us out as an individual (even if millions share the same one!), and gives us our place in a family, and in society. A name seems to say something about us – which can be hard if we don’t like the name we were given. I’m sure we’ve also all been called a horrid name at some point or another and felt the blow to our inner self as that ‘false’ name has hit us

Whatever the circumstances then, our name is hugely important – sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad. People often think of a baptism, or a christening as it’s sometimes called, to be the naming ceremony of a child. Actually it’s not, not in legal terms anyway, but it is a lovely occasion to say the name of your child out loud, name them before God and everyone around, as if declaring, here is my beloved son or daughter. 

Well, this week brings the festival of the Baptism of Christ. But Jesus wasn’t baptised as a little child. We’ve suddenly whizzed forward about 30 years from Christmas, and here we have little baby Jesus all grown up and about to start his mission of teaching about God. Time to turn away from all the sentimentality of Christmas and think about what that special baby grew up to do. So Jesus was baptised, as an adult, by his cousin John. As Jesus comes up from the water, there’s a voice from heaven – the voice of God. You are my Son, the Beloved,’ the voice says, ‘With you I am well pleased.’

As Jesus is baptised, God effectively names him – My Son. You belong, you are mine, you belong to me. Jesus had been given his name of ‘Yeshua’ in Hebrew – a fairly common name actually – when he was born. But God is going one further and giving him another name, another title – my Son. 

In time of course, we came to understand that Jesus fulfilled all the old prophecies, and that there were lots of other names given to him – Prince of peace, Wonderful, Mighty Counsellor, Emmanuel, God with us. All the names we heard about during the Christmas services and in the Christmas carols. 

And don’t forget all the other names Jesus is given throughout the gospels…. the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, the Way the Truth and the Life. Son of Man, light of the world, great high priest, messiah, king of kings, Lamb of God, king of the Jews. Each name says something about Jesus, something about his character, or his ministry, or his power. He lived up to them all. But the most important one, the one that seems most significant of all, is that first one, the one that God calls him – my beloved Son. 

But there’s more. Let’s whizz forward a few years, to Paul writing to the Galatians, chapter 3, verse 26. He writes this to the ordinary, faithful people in that church: ‘For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.’

The implications of this for us are huge. We are ALL the children of God. The sons and daughters of God. That’s US. So…..here’s the question ……if that’s our name, not the one we were given at birth, but the one God gives us, my Son, my Daughter – do we live up to it?

And do we treat others in the same way? Do we? Do we look at our neighbour, or colleague, or even our enemy – do we look at them and see them as a beloved Son or Daughter of God, just as we are? It’s hard to do, for sure. And when life is difficult, when we feel far away from God, from our family, from anything that gives us hope; then there’s one more bible verse to remember. It’s from Isaiah 43 verse 1. God says,   

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name – you are mine.” 

Sharon Grenham-Thompson-Thompson