Jesus The Beloved

This name is applied to Christ once only in Ephesians 1:6, in the words, "His grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved".  The name implies God's love for Christ, as in the parallel phrase in Colossians 1:13, "the kingdom of the Son of his love".  Here the Son is the object of God's love. Love is not merely bestowed upon Him, but makes Him its own.

The doctrine that Christ is the object of the Father's love is typically John.

John 3:35 - The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.

John 5:20 - For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does.

John 10:17 - Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

John 15:9 - Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you.

John 17:23f - That the world may know that you did send me, and loved them, even as thou loved me...Thou loved me before the foundation of the world.

John 18:26 - And I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou loved me may be in them, and I in them.

In the names "the Beloved" and "My beloved Son" this teaching is focused.  Manifestly, their Christological significance is profound, for they imply an intimate relationship between the Father and the Son which transcends all that is true of man's communion with God.

-excerpt was adapted from The Names of Jesus by Vincent Taylor pg 160

Jesus The Beloved - Pt 2

"You are my beloved: The Baptism of the Lord."
(Mark 1: 7-11)

Luke's version of the baptism records that Jesus was sitting by the river praying when he saw the heavens torn open, and the Spirit descend upon him like a dove, and that a voice then came from the heavens, saying, "You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased."

I think these are the most consoling words of the Gospel and that they changed Jesus forever. He was probably searching like all of us, a person of profound prayer and contemplation who wanted to know who he is and what he is supposed to do, and then all of a sudden he hears these words of affirmation and confirmation.

God does not mince words or make small talk. God gets right to the heart of the matter and says to Jesus, "You are my beloved." Suddenly Jesus knows who he is. He discovers his identity, his vocation and his calling. He is "the Beloved of God." For the rest of his life, he will understand himself and his mission in the light of this revelation and this relationship. He accepts it, honors it, and welcomes it. He will never deny his identity. He will remain true to his identity until his final breath on the cross. He will live his life in a relationship of intimate love with God. He says, "Ok, I will be your beloved," and he accepts the consequences of God's love.

This is the key to understanding Jesus and the Gospel and our own lives and vocations. Not only does life make sense, not only does God exist, but God loves and affirms Jesus, and through Jesus, the rest of us as well.

Because Jesus knows who he really is, as God's beloved, he can go forward into the world and call people to God. He can trust God even when everything falls apart and death approaches. Jesus lives his whole life within the framework of this core identity as God's beloved.

The Creator of the universe calls each one of us "My Beloved."

From now on, we are the beloved of God, like Jesus, which means we no longer identify ourselves primarily just as a parent or as a child, as a teacher or student or employee or retired person, as a man or a woman, as a New Mexican or an American. We understand ourselves first and foremost as the Beloved of God. Once we know our true identities, and accept this true spiritual identity, like Jesus, we are called to remain faithful to our true selves, to be God's beloved for the rest of our lives.

I think Jesus had to figure out what it meant that God called him his beloved, which is why he goes to the desert to fast and pray, and we too have to figure out what this means for us.

Living as the beloved of God means that we live every day rooted in that intimate relationship of love with our beloved God, just as Jesus did. It also means treating ourselves as God's beloved and treating one another as God's beloved.

Being the beloved of God carries personal, spiritual, interpersonal, social and global implications, as Jesus discovered. It means that from now on we live out what my friend Henri Nouwen called "a spirituality of love, of belovedness, the life of the beloved."

-adapted  from http://www.fatherjohndear.org/sermons_homilies/mybeloved.html

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