The
people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if
John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you
with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps
of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His
winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather
the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire.” 21 When all the
people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was
praying, heaven was opened 22 and
the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice
came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well
pleased.
This week the traditional Epiphany themes continue. Last
week we had the first of 3 of the standard themes--the Magi following the star.
This week we have the second standard theme--the baptism of Jesus. Next week
we'll have the third standard theme--the first public miracle, the changing of
water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana.
What this means is that as important as the passage from Luke 3 is.... we will
ideally understand its importance within the context of what EPIPHANY is all
about. Epiphany is about understanding God's Spotlight; it's about
understanding that an extraordinary person has broken in to our ordinary
world; it's about understanding that because of this, extraordinary things will
happen in our ordinary world.
When I first began looking at this brief passage, Aaron Copland's "Fanfare
for the common man" came to mind. Something similar appears to be on
Luke's mind when he tells us in vs 21 When all of the people were
being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. In other words, Jesus is baptized
as a common man. Jesus stands as one of us and one with
us. Often times we encounter a situation in life where the boss's son (or
daughter) comes to work at the company, but they're not really there to
work; they get assigned cushy tasks; they get to take an extra long lunch
break; they come and go as they please; the regular rules don't seem to apply
to them. And then after a minimal time out where the real work is done, they
end up getting their own office on the executive floor. We should take note
that this is not the story of Jesus. He stands, in vs 21a, in full
solidarity with the people. Jesus is the only
son from heaven, miraculously conceived and born, but he presents himself
in chapter 3 as the common man.
And before moving on, let's not discount what this means too quickly. The book
of Hebrews (chapter 4) tells us that we have a savior who fully understands
all that it means to struggle through this human life--first and foremost with
temptation and spiritual weakness, but also with doubts, fears, grief, etc.
etc. We have a God who KNOWS not only what we're going through but who also
KNOWS what it feels like to be us. All of this comes into focus at the Lord's
baptism. He came to be the common man.
But the story doesn't end there.... because something unique happens to him. 21b
And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on
him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my
Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Luke's point seems to
be that while Jesus came as one of us and one with us... as the common
man... he also came with a decidedly uncommon task. A lot of people
were baptized that day... no doubt... some of them were very good. John the
Baptist himself was a very good man; a great prophet. So good, and so great...
that Luke tells us that the people were waiting/watching expectantly ...
thinking that ANY MINUTE NOW John was going to claim to be the Messiah. But as
good of a person as John was, and as good as the people being baptized
may have been, none of them were the recipients of this SPOTLIGHT MOMENT of
hearing God's voice and being anointed with the Spirit. Only Jesus was.
I think the point is pretty simple. As nice as it may be that God came to be
with us and experience all that it means to be fully human, .... as nice as it
is that God knows what it's like to be the common man....it would all
wear off pretty quickly if we still found ourselves lost in our sins,
unredeemed, and out of relationship with our Creator. Luke's point seems to be
that Jesus starts out in full solidarity WITH us, but then steps forward to do
something singularly unique... something only he can do. Earlier in
Luke's Gospel the angel announces that the child will have a special mission;
at his baptism, the child has grown up... and fully embraces this mission.
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