(Year B: The First Sunday after the Epiphany, 10rd January 2021, Baptism of the Lord)
How are our new year resolutions
going? This is a time of transition from
one calendar year to a new calendar year; from Christmas time to a new lockdown;
from depths of winter to the tiny signs of life all round; from what was to
what is emerging. In some Christian
traditions, the first Sunday of the calendar year is marked as ‘Covenant
Sunday’. It is a time to renew our commitment to Christ and to the service of
the community. We would do well to make such a renewal at least once a year if
not every day of our lives. Our lives need to be a constant daily ‘starting
again’. God does not keep scores.
Baptism in the life of Christians
It is natural for us to want to improve our
lives in some respects and to become more the person we could be. God wants us to
be happy. He wants us to flourish as unique persons made in his image and
likeness.
As Christians, we find a clear mandate to
live as disciples of Jesus Christ by virtue of that great sacrament of baptism.
When baptism is celebrated in a community it can be a time of great joy as a
new member (usually, but not necessarily, an infant) is welcomed. It may also be a time for renewal of
baptismal vows on the part of the congregation witnessing and supporting the
enrolment of a new disciple in a lifelong course of learning and growing in the
love of God. We witness a community and a family gathered around the newly
baptised infant.
We could and should give more prominence to
the role of baptism for all members of the church – new and otherwise. Though
it is a one-off event in a person’s life it is a vital point of reference. We
have been claimed for Christ and our souls have been marked in a special and
beautiful way by the Holy Spirit and by the sign of water.
If baptism marks a new life and a renewal
for those of us supporting new arrivals why was it that our Lord underwent
baptism at the hands of his cousin, John? Wasn’t He after all the sinless Son
of God who had no need of cleansing or forgiveness? What point was he trying to
make in doing this?
To approach this question, we need, first,
to put the baptism of Jesus as told in Mark in context. In all of the four
canonical gospels, the baptism of Jesus by John marks the end of the private
life of Jesus and the beginning of his public ministry just as John begins to
give way to his cousin. Mark’s rendition
of the Baptism of Jesus is concise and to the point. There is no contestation
or delay over should this be done and why it is that the Lord is to be baptised
as is the case in Matthew 3:14. It is a matter of straight down, under the
water and out and then into the desert to face trial and temptation! Mark is
action-filled, brisk and to the point.
A baptism by John was a sign of something
greater to come. It held the meaning of repentance, cleansing and renewal.
However, the baptism brought by Jesus will see a transformation in the Holy
Spirit that will have a lasting effect on individuals and communities. It will
build on John’s baptism and the prophecies of old but usher in a new life and
reality for those who will taste the Holy Spirit. This is exactly the point
made by Paul when questioned about the difference between baptism in the Holy
Spirit and baptism by John the Baptist which points towards a baptism to come (the
second reading for this Sunday - Acts 9:1-7)
Just imagine for a few moments…
Passing through the river Jordan in that
locality has deep significance which would have not been lost on a Jewish audience
(see
Joshua 3). This was a new exodus of God’s people and the river Jordan sets
the scene just as it did for Joshua
Picture John clad in rough attire standing
at the meandering river of the Jordan surrounded by pious and sometimes
troubled pilgrims searching for healing, for forgiveness, for renewal. We are
there too in the midst of the crowd wanting to press forward but hesitating. A
lot is at stake. Then, there is a commotion. That cousin of John appears from
nowhere along with a small band of companions including – according to some
reports – his mothers and close family. There is a conversation between John
and Jesus. There was something of a lively conversation between the two of them
that might have suggested someone was going to walk away. Rumours are spreading through the crowd about
what was heard. There is confusion. Then silence. Peering from a height many
can plainly see Jesus going down into the waters followed by John. What
happened next might be disputed. Many eyewitnesses came forward to say that they
saw something extraordinary happen involving a very bright light. Among these
many claimed a vision of something resembling a dove though others not present
said that it was merely reported that Jesus saw a dove by witnesses who heard
and saw nothing. Some even said that
they heard, themselves, a voice or voices calling out the name of Jesus. Others
heard and saw nothing while others hesitated.
What is certain is that something stirred
that day in the hearts and minds of those present and among the crowd where witnesses
who would tell and retell this story for many decades before the episode was
written down and preserved by small bands of followers of the Christ scattered
around the eastern Mediterranean sea. Many remember it as the beginning of the
Jesus movement proper. From now on Jesus would travel about in the territory of
Galilee and beyond preaching, healing and proclaiming about a new kingdom that
was already here and, at the same time, had not fully arrived. Many were
confused by it all but all agreed, including those hostile to Jesus, that he
spoke with extraordinary wisdom, insight and authority. His words matched his
life and his life matched his word. This was no fly-by prophet or political
conspirator to rid Israel of the Roman occupiers.
So, what’s the story here?
Jesus goes down, immerses and passes
through the waters of our human
tribulation and our fleshly reality.
Our God has become one of us and is in a river with others up to their necks in
water. He didn’t need to do this. He didn’t even need to become one of us. And
he didn’t need to create human beings. That’s how this God of ours works.
Messy, in your face and utterly compassionate. The closing line of this week’s
passage is ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ (v. 11). The Father looks intently at each one of us
in our current predicament and circumstances of life. The Father’s gaze is on each
of us this day including that which his Son has planted in us at our Christian
baptism.
We can start out again on the path this time
in our lives no matter who we are or what has happened to us in the last year
or many years. God the Father looks at us today and says ‘I love you’, ‘I call
you’ ‘I give you my Holy Spirit that you might walk anew’.
Truly, it is a wonderful world and we are
all the more wonderful for being part of it.
(words above = 1,272)
The first mention of baptism in this Gospel is to baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism and the Holy Spirit are central to Christian discipleship. Mark is being very clear, lest there be any lingering doubts, with the community for which he wrote around the decade of the 70s following the death and resurrection of Jesus: John the Baptist was a prophet and a mighty one at that but he was not the Messiah. Rather, he pointed to the Messiah who was already here in our midst.
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