Beloved

What does it mean to be beloved by God?

Or what does it mean to be beloved by anyone? Do you go around telling people they are your beloved? Well I had to look it up, www.m-w.com says beloved means : dearly loved : dear to the heart… So I would say there are people that are beloved to me. However I’m not sure if we understand what it means to be beloved by God, and if we do, if it is something we would want.

In the Gospel of Mark Jesus is called beloved 2 by God once here and once on the mountain top at the transfiguration. At the transfiguration Jesus goes down the mountain headed towards Jerusalem and his death, and here at the baptism, he is immediately driven to the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days by Satan.

And right now you are saying we know this, but my question is, who drives Jesus to the wilderness? (short break – I heard a joke in the sermon yesterday, When Jesus was driven to the wilderness we know it was a Honda he was driven in, because the Bible tells us that the disciples were all of one Accord!…)

Ok who drove Jesus to the wilderness? The reading from Mark says the Spirit drove him to the wilderness. The Holy Spirit, once Jesus is named and claimed by God as beloved, drives him to the wilderness to be tested. The Holy Spirit, or God took Jesus to the wilderness. Maybe this is why we say “and lead us not into temptation…” in the Lord’s prayer. God sends Jesus out to be tested. Is this what it means to be beloved by God, to be driven to the wilderness to be tested, tempted, and see who it is you rely on?

Is this what we want when we are beloved by God? Or do we want Burger King, do we want to have it our way? God has us close to his heart and calls each of us dear, loved, child. And just like Jesus we can know that even if God leads us into temptation that he will always be there to deliver us from evil.