Beloved Before Burden
Subtitle: Identity Spoken, Community Formed, Leadership Shared
New Testament: Matthew 3:13–17
Torah: Exodus 18
Thesis:God names people before He assigns them weight.
And God shares the work with a people who already know they belong.
New Testament
Matthew 3:13-17
Beloved Child of God
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.[a]” So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened[b] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
Old Testament
Shemot (Exodus) Chapter 18
1 Jethro, the former ruler of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for His people Israel, that God had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife, Zipporah, after she had been sent away,
3 and her two sons. The name of the older one was Gershom [“a stranger there”], because Moses had said, “I have been a stranger in an alien land.”
4 The name of the younger one was Eliezer [“my God is an aid”], because Moses had said, “the God of my father came to my aid, and He rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword.”
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came to Moses, together with his sons and wife, into the desert where Moses was encamped, to the Mountain of God.
6 He sent word to Moses: “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am on my way to you, together with your wife, with her two sons.”
7 Moses went out to greet his father-in-law. He prostrated himself and kissed him, they inquired after each other’s welfare, and they entered the tent.
8 Moses told his father-in-law everything that God had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for the sake of Israel, as well as all the travail that had befallen them on the way, and how God had rescued them.
9 Jethro rejoiced over all the good that God had done for Israel, that God had saved them from the hands of the Egyptians.
10 Jethro said, “Praised be God who rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who liberated the people from the authority of the Egyptians.
11 Now I know that God is greater than all the deities, for He foiled a nation’s intent by turning the very scheme that they plotted against others, against themselves!”
12 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, offered up an ascent-offering and peace-offerings to God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.
CHIASTIC STRUCTURE
Matthew 3:13–17
A — Jesus approaches the waters
B — John resists (unworthiness)
C — Jesus insists (fulfilling alignment)
D — Jesus rises from the water
C′ — Spirit descends
B′ — Heaven opens
A′ — Voice declares Beloved
Exodus 18
A — God’s acts are heard
B — Family restored
C — Story of deliverance told
D — Meal in God’s presence
C′ — Burden revealed
B′ — Leadership shared
A′ — People strengthened, leader preserved
RESPONSE
Leader: Before we are sent—
People: We are named beloved.
Leader: Before the work is heavy—
People: God gives us one another.
Leader: When the burden feels too much—
People: God has not forgotten us.
Pardes - Reflection
Peshat:
Jesus is named beloved; Moses is taught to share leadership.
Remez:
God protects identity before productivity.
Drash:
Communities fail when people are valued only for what they carry.
Sod:
Heaven opens not for achievement—but for alignment with love.
COMMUNAL QUESTIONS
Where have we accepted responsibility without first receiving belovedness?
What burdens are crushing leaders because they were never meant to be carried alone?
Who are the “Jethros” we resist because they interrupt our sense of usefulness?
What tables need to be restored before structures are rebuilt?
Word Study
1. אָהוּב — Ahuv (Beloved)
Not earned.
Not tested.
Declared.
Takeaway:
Calling flows from being loved—not from proving worth.
2. מִשְׁפָּט — Mishpat (judgment / ordering)
Not punishment—structure that preserves life.
Takeaway:
God organizes community to prevent collapse, not to control people.
3. שָׂא — Sa (to carry / bear)
Used for burden-bearing together.
Takeaway:
Shared leadership is a spiritual mercy.
