Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by
John. 14 But John tried to deter
him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so
now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then
John consented. 16 As soon as
Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on
him. 17 And a voice from heaven
said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
This
Sunday the liturgical color is still white, and we're still in Epiphany mode as
we observe the Baptism of Jesus. As I've mentioned in the past, there are three
historic themes of Epiphany (these themes often are expressed in the different
stanzas of Epiphany hymns). These are: the star guiding the Magi from the East;
the Baptism of Christ; and the turning of water into wine at the wedding of
Cana. Over time, the Baptism of Christ was given its own day--the first Sunday
after Epiphany.
However,
*celebrating the Baptism of Jesus and *understanding the Baptism of Jesus are
two separate things. This week's Sunday's and Seasons commentary offers these
remarks:
From the time Jesus first presented himself
for baptism by John until today, Christians have puzzled over why Jesus had to
be baptized. The act of baptism was understood to be an act of repentance and
the cleansing of one's sins. John does not understand why Jesus, whose sandals
John is "not worthy to carry" (Matt. 3:11) should seek to be
baptized. Instead, John declares to Jesus, "I need to be baptized by
you" (Matt. 3:14). Why should the Son of God, who is without sin, need to
be baptized?
Frederick Dale
Bruner, in Matthew: A Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), says that he
considers Jesus' first miracle to have occurred at his baptism. The miracle is
that Jesus was humble. The divine Son of God humbles himself by allowing John
to baptize him. This act of humility is an act of obedience to God and
solidarity with all humankind. Jesus has no sins to be forgiven. However, for
us, he goes down to the river of repentance with all the other sinners to be
baptized. Jesus' baptism, his first adult act as recorded in Matthew's gospel,
gives us a clear indication of how Jesus will act for his entire life. The Son
of God will come down with us, on our level, identifying with our needs. His
baptism, then, foreshadows how his life will end, on the cross. In his death,
Jesus experiences the worst we could ever experience as mortal humans. But,
because Jesus united with us in baptism, we are united with him in both his
death and resurrection. The barriers that separate us from God, including the
barriers of sinfulness, mortality, and death, are broken by Jesus' obedience to
God, through his humility to come down to us in the depths of our humanity.
I like Bruner's remarks on the humility of Christ, but I wish he
had gone further. To me the 'secret' to understanding Jesus' baptism is in the
voice from heaven: This is my Son, whom
I love; with him I am well pleased (v17). Regardless of which corner of the
Church we're in, baptism doesn't seem like that big of a deal. It only takes a
couple of minutes; a person gets a little bit wet; big deal. BUT, evidently it
IS a big deal. It certainly was for Jesus, as his actions elicited the
approving voice of the Father. In the case of Jesus, and building on this
concept of his 'humility,' I would say that it's all about Jesus' willingness
to embrace the mission; his willingness
to walk the baptismal road, which for
him begins at the Jordan, but ends on the cross. In other words, Jesus was born
Jesus of Nazareth, but he EMBRACES his identity of Jesus CHRIST--the Christos, the Messiah, the Savior of the world... at his baptism... and this is
what the Father finds so pleasing.
Let's
put it another way... often Jesus is portrayed as the 'perfect' Son of God; the
one who unquestionably does the Father's will--which legalistic preachers
interpret to mean that Jesus never lies, cheats or steals. These things are
true, however concentrating exclusively on Jesus' moral perfection misses a
more important detail... Jesus perfectly adheres to the Father's will by
agreeing to, and accepting the mission of, being the sin-bearer of the world.
This happens at the cross, but as I've already mentioned, the road to the cross
begins THIS DAY at the Jordan with his baptism.
And
so OF COURSE the Father is pleased. Salvation, redemption, forgiveness and
mercy are all proceeding as planned!
Cheers,
TM
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