Christ Church

Morningside

The Baptism of Jesus

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  But Jesus answered him, “Let is be so for now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.”  Then he consented.  And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up out of the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
(Matt 3:13-17)

I would love to be able to remember by own baptism.  I think about this every time I read the account of the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.  There are two reasons.  First, I long for the kind of experience that Jesus had.  The kind of moment when the heavens are opened and you can see and hear the Spirit and even touch the very face of God.  Ah, for such a moment!  The second reason is because I enjoy performing baptisms for other people so much, I would really like to be able to remember mine.  But in our own Church tradition it is not to be.  I want to come back to this a little later.

For the moment I would like us to consider a question.  Why was Jesus baptised?  And why did all four of the Gospel writers think it an event important enough to record and pass on to us? 

Note: John’s Gospel doesn’t mention the actual baptism of Jesus but we can detect echoes of the event in the description that the Gospel writer uses when John the Baptist describes his first public encounter with Jesus.  John says, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.” (John 1:32)

So, why was Jesus baptised?  Now you may think this is a rather odd, academic question – one of those hair-splitting controversies that theologians enjoy but no one else cares about.  But, actually, it is a rather significant question…because baptism is (at least) about two things:

·        People are baptised so that their sins, and in particular ‘Original Sin’ is forgiven and washed away.  (In the Western Church Original Sin is thought of as the nature of sin common to all humanity – it’s the dark part of the ‘human condition’, if you like).

·        Through Baptism a person is made a member of the Body of Christ.

Think about it.  First, why would Jesus need to be made a member of his own body?  And Secondly, Jesus didn’t need to be forgiven any sins, because we believe that he didn’t have any.  So, the question remains, why was Jesus baptised?  Here are some of the answers that I have found:

·        By being baptised Jesus was standing in a long and ancient tradition whereby the prophets confessed sin on behalf of the people - Isaiah, Ezra and Nehemiah for example.  Woe to me!”  “I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” (Isaiah 6:5)

·        Jesus was being obedient to His Father’s will.  Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).  Jesus’ baptism was part of the Divine Plan.

·        Jesus’ baptism was His way of inaugurating, beginning His public ministry.  (Some scholars have suggested that Jesus was originally a disciple of John the Baptist – His baptism, therefore, would have been a public way of separating himself from John and setting out on His own ministry).

·        Jesus wanted to show support for John’s ministry.

·        Jesus was without sin and therefore did not need to be baptised.  But by being baptised Jesus was identifying himself with humanity, with us.  It is a continuation of the Incarnation - Emmanuel, ‘God-with-us’.

·        ‘He [Jesus] became poor, so that we might become rich’.  Jesus wants to set an example of humility for us follow.  (Like washing His disciples’ feet at the Last Supper).

(Adapted from Life Application Commentary, Tyndale Press)

What, if anything, does all of this say about us and our own baptism?  Pope John Paul II has often been asked about his life and ministry.  It’s interesting and highly significant that the comment that he consistently makes about himself is this.  That the most important moment in his life was not being ordained a priest, or consecrated a bishop, neither was it being appointed Archbishop of Krakow in Poland or even being elected Pope.  For him, the most important moment in his life was being baptised – even though, like most of us, he can’t remember it!

And why?  For all the reasons we have just heard.  In baptism John Paul was:

·        Made one with Christ and adopted into His body on earth, the Church.

·        He was washed of his sins and started on the path to a new life as part of God’s Kingdom.

·        He was following in the very footsteps of Jesus Himself.

And there is nothing more important, more wonderful, more significant that that!  But/or perhaps and, there is just a little bit more. 

The clue lies with Jesus’ words in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded by Luke.  Jesus speaks these words just before He is arrested and taken off to be ‘tried’ by the chief priests and religious lawyers, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  And here, I think, comes the twist…

Baptism isn’t just about what God does for us – all of the things that we have been talking about.  It isn’t just about all the goodies that we receive when we ‘join the club’, so-to-speak.  Baptism, and Jesus’ own baptism shows this in very unambiguous terms, baptism is our commission, (without wishing to sound overly martial) our marching orders, if you like.

When Jesus was baptised the first thing that he did was to go into the wilderness so that he could prepare for the ministry that was soon to come; to seek and discern the will of the Father he had promised to serve.

When we are baptised God says to us, ‘okay, I’ve given you everything that you need – faith, hope, love, grace, the gift of the Holy Spirit – now go out and do it!’  And so although the vast majority of us have no clue as to what our own baptism was like (because we were too young to remember) we can experience our baptism in a very tangible sense – every day of our lives – when we try to ‘love and serve the Lord’.

So as we remember the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan today we are invited to do three things:

  • To give thanks for our own baptism, whenever and however that took place.  And if we were babes-in-arms to give thanks for the faith of our parents/guardians who asked for us to be baptised.

  • To take our baptism commission and be about whatever it is the Lord is calling us to do/be: love, pray, forgive, welcome, heal, give, help…

  • And finally…  The advice I always give to parents who are wanting to have their children baptised – in particular if they haven’t got a church connection – is to say that baptism isn’t just a ceremony or a ritual; baptism is an invitation to relationship (or the beginning of a relationship) and a call to a particular (Christian) way of life.  And so I believe it is.  So may we ourselves, those who are committed or sincerely searching, daily accept God’s invitation and go ever more deeply and joyfully into the relationship that baptism has/is the beginning of.

Amen.

                                         Simon Justice
                         
Epiphany I 2005

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