BAPTISM, FROM THE BURNING BUSH TO JORDAN RIVER

  The most profound revelation in human history: "This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you" ( Exodus 3:14).

In the dialogue with Moses, God does not really give Himself a "name"; He is not like any of the many gods people worship. By telling Moses to say, "I AM sent me to you", God reveals something very personal.
This God who "is" , beyong all realities that come and go, is connected with us and our world.  This God who "is" releals that He is with us; He does not tell what He is in Himself, but He does reveal who He is to us.
In this key moment recorded in Exodus (and developed further in the Book of Isaiah, chapters 40 -45), God revealed that He is our God, the "God of our Fathers" - the fathomless  myster who is with us through all time, with us beyond all powers of death and evil.
The God who reveals himself in the Old Testament has two caracteristics:
First, and most important, is the revelation that He is personally close to us, that He is our God.
Second, this God who freely chooses a personal relationship with us is beyond all time and space. I AM is bound to nothing, but binds all things to Himself. In His own words, "I am the first and I am the last; there is no God but Me" (Isaiah 44:6)

Centuries after the revelation reflected in Exodus and Isaiah, the mysterious God of the burning bush did reveal His name - in Person - I AM reveals His name in His Son,  Jesus. Shattering all human asumptions and expectations, God's Word "became flesh and made His dwelling among us" (John 1:14).
In a revelation that blinds the mind with its light,  Jesus spoke to I AM  and said: "Father, you are in me and I am in you.
I AM spoke at the Jordan river to Jesus :"This is my Son, The Beloved, with whom I am well pleased"( Matthew 3:17)

The burning bush draws us into its light.
The God of Moses, revealed in Jesus, is love, is Father, is in you! (Francis Cardinal George, Chicago).

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