Behold God's Son, the Lamb who takes away sin

January is the season for making resolutions. I wanted to be sure what “resolutions” means, so I pulled out my online dictionary. It was a bit of a surprise to find words like dissonant, chemical compounds, prosody, vector and pathological (words that would take another dive into the dictionary). I opted to go with ‘act of making a firm decision’–it was easier.

My past experiences of making firm new year’s decisions regarding what I wanted to do, be and accomplish have always ended miserably. Pray every day, read the Bible every day, walk a mile every day . . . honestly, it took only a few days to convince myself I was a failure. A few years ago, I wrote an article for the Kansas City Star about this very thing. I think “loser syndrome” was part of the title with a photo of me in my Royals stocking hat holding up two fingers to my forehead in the shape of an “L.” I am quite sure you have comparable (if not identical) stories.

Similarly in the verses above, we find Jesus not at the beginning of a new year, but at the beginning of a new era. In Sunday’s message, Pastor Scott called it an inaugural event. He also reminded us that we know basically nothing about the 28 years prior to Jesus’s day of baptism. How had Jesus prepared for this massive mission?

I started wondering if Jesus had made resolutions about what he wanted to do, be and accomplish during those 28 years. Had he been writing and rewriting in his journal ad nauseum for 20+ years? Yes, he was God, but he lived in a human body in an earthly world. How did he figure it out? Did he have a game plan? Had he worried about this day for most of his life?

It’s almost as if we forget that Jesus didn’t come out of the womb as a 30-year-old man. He was a human being who went through all the stages of life just as we do (up to age 33). And if we do not intentionally choose to see Jesus in all of his humanity, it will be hard for us to feel his compassionate gaze when we do mess up or feel like a loser.

Thinking about the reality of what could have happened during those earlier years helps me to appreciate Jesus in a new way. Could some of the following goals have made his list? “Choose a Board of Directors (how many); Buy some comfy sandals; Use deodorant daily; Practice speaking out loud in front of family; Study up on the use of parables; Pray every day; Study scripture every day; Walk a mile every day (need to get in shape for later)”?

Of course, we cannot be sure how God taught Jesus. . . through the Holy Spirit, Scripture, audibly or in dreams. Likewise, it is impossible to know if details were given gradually (when Jesus was ready to understand) or in massive doses.

Which brings me to the zinger that John threw out as Jesus approached the river that day, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29) I wonder if there might have been an eye pop (or at the very least, a twitch) from Jesus. Did John spill the beans? Was that a detail God was saving for later? Or did Jesus suspect the direction in which his career path would take him? No matter how it all happened, Jesus would have been prepared and eager to put off the old and get on with the new. As should we!