The Baptism of the Lord- Mark 1
Our readings today begin with Genesis 1. … As our Christian ancestors read these words carefully, they saw God in the beginning, creating. They also saw the Spirit of God “hovering over the waters”, which is almost bird-like (Imagine a bird brooding over eggs). Then, God speaks. …
The Church has often seen in these opening versus the presence of the Father, the Spirit, and the Word. And the beginning of John’s gospel tells us that Jesus was God’s Word made flesh. So, at the beginning of creation, the Church saw the Trinity being revealed.
This didn’t come out of nowhere. Before the birth of Christ, Jewish scholars were already seeing a kind of mysterious distinction in God. The Bible speaks about God and God’s Spirit; The Word of God; The Son of Man; the Angel of the Lord; and Wisdom. (This becomes more clear when we look at Second Temple literature) … There are times when these are described in ways that don’t seem to draw a thick line between what is being described and God, which can be confusing. At one moment the being is speaking as if it is something like an angel, but then at other times it seems to be God speaking. At times, it seems like we are encountering an angel, but then God seems to be the one being encountered, and we aren’t sure if we are just dealing with an angel anymore. It seems like we are encountering God. … So, there are times when we see glimpses of this mysterious diversity associated with God when we are encountering God in the Old Testament. And looking back on this, the Church saw the persons of the Trinity.
At the beginning of Creation in Genesis, the Church saw the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. … Jesus’ ministry was the beginning of a new creation. …
The day of his resurrection is sometimes thought of as the 8th day of creation. It took place on the first day of the week, but it was a new first day. It was the first day at the beginning of a new creation. …
The beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is marked by his Baptism. Only two of the Gospels talk about the birth of Jesus, but all four speak about his baptism by John in the Jordan River. It was an important moment. In this moment, Jesus would begin his public ministry, which is a new work of creation.
And here at this baptism we encounter the Father, the Spirit, and the Son. The unseen Father calls Jesus His Son. The Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove (we once again see a bird-like image being associated with God’s Spirit). And Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, The Son of God, stands in the waters of the Jordan River to receive the Baptism of John. … The baptism of Jesus is a revealing of God.
The word "Epiphany" comes from a Greek word that has the implication of "appearing", "revealing", “manifestation”, or “showing”. When we suddenly realize something, we say we have had an “epiphany”. So, the season of Epiphany focuses on ‘revealings’. In particular, the season of Epiphany is about God breaking into the world through Jesus. … In the baptism of Jesus, we see the Trinity revealed. We see Jesus’ particular relationship to the Father, and the empowering presence of the Spirit resting on Jesus as he begins his public ministry. Who Jesus is, is revealed. Or, we might say that we get a very big and important part of that puzzle, at least.
It's worth saying something about John’s Baptism. … Ritual washing or bathing was not invented by John the Baptist. … At the time of Jesus, ritual washing and bathing was a well-known practice. … There were washing places before entering the Temple courts, for example. … There was also washing that dealt with ritual uncleanness. There were a number of ways that someone could become ritually unclean, and it wasn’t always connected to sin. Sometimes uncleanness was connected to natural bodily processes or to sickness, so it was about hygiene, rather than sin. Touching the dead body of a loved one to prepare them for burial made a person unclean, but that didn’t have anything to do with sin. … If the uncleanness was about hygiene, rather than sin, then the way to deal with it was time and ritual washing. Then the person was welcomed back to participate in their life as usual.
Committing sin would also make someone ritually unclean. When sin was involved, then it would require a particular kind of sacrifice made at the Temple in Jerusalem. This might also require making compensation to the one who was sinned against (depending on the offense). Ritual uncleanness that involved sin required repentance, sacrifice, and compensation, then washing.[1]
We read that John the Baptist “appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” People came confessing their sins and then “were baptized by him in the Jordan River”. … They also did this in the wilderness, which brings to mind Israel’s wandering in the wilderness, as they were being prepared to enter the Promised Land. Similarly, the people who came to John were being prepared for what God was about to do. They were being prepared to enter God’s Kingdom.
John’s baptism is pointing to another baptism that is about more than water. John’s baptism is for repentance- it is a preparation for what is about to come. John’s baptism doesn’t have the power to deal with the problem. … John says, “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus’s ministry will make it possible for people to be immersed in the Holy Spirit. In and through the community he establishes as his body, people will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, who will complete what the Baptism of John points to. John’s baptism is a preparation. Christ will make a new people, who share the same Spirit, and are citizens if the same heavenly kingdom. … The Spirit will energize the followers of Jesus to spread the news about Jesus and his teachings about the Way he taught to live. The Spirit will break barriers that stand between people- Jew-Gentile, old-young, rich-poor, free-slave, male-female. In the Spirit we are made children of God, through Christ. … The Spirit will connect people to God, because the Spirit will make His home in them. … John’s baptism could merely prepare for this, but only Jesus could bring the people into the Promised Land- the kingdom of God.
Jesus joins the crowds that are being baptized by John. Jesus identifies with the crowd- The mass of humanity that is dealing with the twisted knots and dead-ends of the complexity of sin. … The mass of humanity that is dealing with this mess is coming to John for baptism, to repent of it, to be washed and prepared for God, … and Jesus comes with them, identifying with them, as one of them. He identifies with those who are struggling with a world infected by sin. He is not a sinner, but he identifies with us in our sin, and accepts the consequences that humanity inherits, … but he also begins to administer the cure.
The baptism of Jesus reveals Jesus’ ministry as the Messiah. He is to become who Israel was meant to be. He is the embodiment of Israel. He will do what Israel was called to do, but failed to do. …
He enters the waters of the Jordan to receive baptism, and he will then be led into the wilderness. While in the wilderness we read that “he was with the wild beasts“ (1:13), so some commentators see Jesus going back, not only to the beginning of Israel, but to the very beginning of humanity. As Adam was with the wild animals in the garden, so Jesus is with the wild animals in the wilderness as the new Adam.
Israel was meant to represent humanity, as the hope for humanity, to be the light of the world. They inherited the blessing of Abraham to be a blessing to all the families of the world (Gen 12:3). … Jesus is walking the path of Israel as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Jesus will withstand the temptations in the wilderness. He will not fail to be faithful, and will not fail to resist evil. Where Israel failed, Jesus will succeed. … Jesus will enter back into society with his mission to recreate Israel- choosing 12 new tribal elders. He will be the new Moses, and will teach them not just the Law, but the very heart of the law. And he will perfect and complete sacrifice by being both the perfect mediating priest, and by being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. … God’s original design is getting put back on course through Jesus.
God has been revealed in Christ, and he has immersed himself in our mess, so that he can rescue us from it and bring us into a new reality where we can be immersed in the Holy Spirit, and welcomed into the true Promised Land- the Kingdom of God, where Jesus rules as our loving King.
[1] See Stephen de Young's contribution in Behold a Great Light. ~page 191
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