November 18th, 20

WHY ARE YOU COMING TO ME?

Today’s reading is Matthew 1 – 4.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.

Why are you coming to me?  That’s what John said.  

“I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” (Mt 3:14 NLT)

The message of the Law and the Prophets teaches us that we need to come to God, and that’s a good message.  John the Baptist is shouting it as best as he can.  Come to God!  And that’s the message we get from all religions.  John says the way you come to Him is through confession and baptism. But now, God, who has nothing to confess, shows up.  And he wants to be baptized by human hands.  And John says, Wait a minute! Why are you coming to me.  That’s not the message.  We need to come to you!  

Jesus came because we are incapable of coming to him.  The need is there but the gulf is too wide and the distance is too vast. The Gospel is God coming to us – God doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves.  Try as we might, we falter, fail and sin.  We know God is worthy and deserving of our full allegiance and obedience but we fail.  We try to come to him, but we can’t seem to make up that vast distance, and the Law is a great reminder of that.  

So John asks, “Why are you coming to me?”  And Jesus, in effect, says, I had to come because you are incapable of coming to me.  The Law has shown us the distance that there is and Jesus comes to do all that the Law requires.  He covered that infinite distance that we’re incapable of covering, so that we can know his Love and His Life.  That’s the Good News.  That’s the Gospel.  That’s what love does.  It was God’s plan all along. The Law showed us the distance between us and God, and Jesus met the Law’s demands, honoring his Father, and showing us the vastness of his love is for us.  

Hear Jesus’ answer to John’s question. He came to you because you couldn’t come to him on your own.  And He did it out of love for you.  Let Him transform your thinking, your will, and give you joy.

You are loved!