Beloved : The Sinner - Ash Wednesday - John 1:29-34

We are sinners. We are born, live, and die, in sin. As enfleshed humans living in the aftermath of the fall of humanity into sin, we are in a condition of sin. This means death. Our flesh will one day break down, fall apart, and we will die. This is the reality of the world. This world is in sin. We are in sin. We will die because of our sin. Jesus came to take away our sin. As John the Baptist said he is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world". He does so, in the water of the Jordan. By being baptized in the dirty waters of sin in the Jordan river, where John the Baptist washed clean those repentant who came to see him, Jesus took out of that water, all our sin and suffering. He received the Holy Spirit, and so began the redemption of humanity, that we may also be washed clean. We are sinners who will die, but Jesus has taken on our sin, given us the Holy Spirit, and has called us to live a life of repentance following him.