The Baptism of the Lord is one of those
historical nuggets NT scholars are always searching for, and it is also
theological. It is historical because the early Church, was still in some
tension with those who had followed John the Baptist, and those who followed
Jesus would not have made up a story
where Jesus is baptized by John. And it
is clear in Scripture that John was the fore runner, who preached and baptized
and was already at work in the Jordan valley when Jesus began his mission.
The baptism was certainly important to
Jesus who surly shared his inner experience with the disciples. They were so moved by its significance they
passed it on through the varied oral traditions eventually finding the baptism
event in all four Gospels and even the non-canonical Gospels of Hebrews and
Thomas. The Baptism was remember for a reason.
The Baptism of The Lord is theological
because the earliest Church saw in it a Trinitarian event, where the mystery of
God’s inner life of mutual self-giving, was made manifest and revealed as the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our time and history.
But let’s start at the beginning. At the
Nativity we heard that the poorest of the poor, the shepherds in the fields,
were visited by the angel of The Lord who said to the terrorized men
“Do not be afraid, I proclaim to you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. A savior has been born
for you who is the Christ”
And the world was light up by this
revelation and by a multitude of the heavenly host praising God saying
“Glory to God in the highest”
After this outpouring of God’s Glory on
earth, the world rested, dreaming its dreams, sleeping in its darkness. The moment God entered the world was
forgotten, except in the hearts and the story, told and retold by the
shepherds, who were there that day and the wise men who surely carried their
experience back to their people in the East. The next thirty years were silent. These
were the hidden years of the child born and glorified that night.
This were ordinary years learning what all boys
learn from their fathers. In time Joseph taught Jesus the carpenter’s trade.
Joseph taught Jesus the prayers of the synagogue and encouraged him to study
the Torah.
Jesus learned what real strength was,
what gentleness and patience were from Mary his mother.
It is clear that a good family was
important to Jesus, as it is for all children. Jesus, growing up in Nazareth, learned
the ways of a children's world from friends and extended family. They played
children's games and perhaps were even a little naughty.
These were also years that Jesus grew in
awareness of God, in his life and in the world around him. We know Jesus from
an early age felt at home in the synagogue which he told his mother was his
father's house. We read that he amazed
the rabbis by his understanding of Scripture. He was curious and astute.
This growing awareness of a real shared life
with God, would continue until his came to recognize his Sonship and God the
Creator, became God the Father – Abba.
In time Jesus’ interior life blossomed
into complete openness to His Father love and an absolute obedience to the
Father's will, and an understanding of what the kingdom of his father would
look like.
We don't know any pre baptism details,
but it makes sense Jesus knew John, both as cousin, and as a holy man. Jesus would of heard John preach. Jesus would of talked to him about the coming
the Messiah, about repentance and conversion. This stuff was in the air. It is also likely that John came to
"really" know Jesus. And it would be John himself who would say of
Jesus
" Behold the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world."
So after some thirty good and ordinary
years Jesus comes to understand who he is and what he must do.
For Jesus the time is now, and he comes
to a decision that changes everything and the dreaming world stirs from its
slumber. God is on the move and draws near.
Jesus comes to the Jordan. John tries to
stop him because his baptism is only with water as a sign of repentance and
Jesus is without sin. John is disturbed,
"I need to be baptized by you
and yet you are coming to me" John says.
Jesus with a new power and authority
simply looks John in the eyes and says quietly
"allow it . . . . for it is
fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. "
There is no argument. Jesus tells John
to do this as a sign (not of repentance) but of righteousness, and as a sign
that inaugurates Jesus’ mission, and brings the Kingdom of God into the world.
From the moment Jesus came up from the
water (a first resurrection of sorts) the heavens were open to him. The line of
communication between Father & Son, through the Spirit (descending that day
like a Dove) was up and running. God self-gift was now made concrete and
visible, not as a child, worshiped by shepherds and glorified by the angels,
but as Jesus, Lord. If I can be fanciful, the Father smiled
that day and in a love that could not be contained revealed to the world
"This is my beloved son with
whom I am well pleased"
We know from the first reading what kind
of Son Jesus was
"A servant upon whom God's own
spirit dwells who brings forth Justice to the nations”
Jesus is salvation, an all-inclusiveness
righteousness that saves all of humanity. And the Son came not to be served but to
serve and Isaiah tells us how – He will be compassion and mercy, a love
that will not "cry out" or "shout". He will heal the bruised reed, he will
feed the smoldering wick, he will love, and he will, if we let him, transform
us by that love.
The baptism of the Lord is a sign that
breaks open the lock on humanity and offers up an invitation (in Jesus himself)
to become new, and to know God's love and share his life. Through Jesus, the chosen and beloved
Son God, the Father reaches out to us. Isaiah describes this in beautiful and simple
words
“I grasped you by the hand and formed
you"
God is active, he loves first, He
grasps, He forms us as sons and daughters, co-heirs with Jesus, but he does not
grasp and form to make us some special elect, some secret society. He grasps us to be like his son - a
beloved servant, doing the Father’s will the best we can doing
whatever work that needs to be done to bring about His reign, here and now. To be in our own humble way
"A light for the nations, to
open the eyes of the blind, to free prisoners, and to free all those who live
in darkness"
To be good and faithful servants walking
like Jesus walked. Doing what he did. In
the words of Peter
“He went about doing good and healing
all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him"
The Baptism of Jesus’ set all of this in
motion and the world has never been the same.
We should never undervalue our own
baptism. We too live with the Spirit (the gift of
our own baptism). We too grow in faith
(the fruit of baptism). We too (in Christ) are beloved sons and
daughters of God and can experience more and more what communion with the
Father feels like in our lives.
We know the story of what came after
Jesus' baptism. Our story is still being written.
But when it is finished let it echo the
words of Isaiah
“Would that you might fine us doing
right, that we were mindful of you, in all our ways”
