Lectionary readings: Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11
Just when we thought it safe to come out after Advent in Year B, where we encounter John the Baptist in two gospels, we are back with St Mark and the baptism of Jesus. So what is baptism?
When we lived in Cornwall, my younger daughter left home just after 7 am to catch the bus to Truro College. It often rains in Cornwall, but one particular morning, the rainfall seemed to have continued unabated for three days and it was still raining heavily. Within five minutes of leaving home my daughter returned bedraggled. Apparently, a large vehicle passed her and unable to swerve because of the traffic, ploughed through an enormous lake of water. Her friends remarked that one minute they saw her and the next, daughter and umbrella vanished under the water. (For images of Cornish weather, try this: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/news-in-pictures-friday-february-14-2020-6fmmkpb83)
Some people speak of baptism by appeal to the external part of the ceremony witnessed by all who attend such an event. But it is so much more. We speak in English of being ‘soaked to the skin’ (and my daughter can certainly tell you how that feels!). But in French the idiom is – ‘je suis mouillé jusqu’aux os’ –literally meaning to be soaked to the bone. The soaking is getting deeper, so it should come as no surprise to think of baptism as ‘we have been soaked to the very core of being!’ And specifically for Joh the Baptist, the Coming One would bring a drenching to the very core of being in the Holy Spirit.
All four Gospels depict Jesus receiving baptism from John in the River Jordan; place this event as the definitive moment where Christ begins his ministry, and view this event as intrinsically linked to the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet each of the Gospel writers high-light some specific detail, which in itself has much to say of God’s compassionate communication with creation in Jesus Christ. Today we are looking at what St Mark had to say about divine grace.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God. (1:1)
By far the shortest account, and probably the earliest to be recorded, the writer known as Mark, takes us straight to the heart of the matter after the briefest of introductory paragraphs – all generally written in a very terse, punchy style.
God’s messenger and divine encounter
There are no birth stories here, it is to be the baptism of Jesus that sets the scene: we are immediately taken to the wilderness for a meeting with a rather strange character. Mark describes the minimal lifestyle of John with a few brief strokes of the pen – and as we discovered in Advent, this man did not seek the luxuries of Versace suits, the subtle flavours of haute cuisine, and the comfort of the Ritz. The coarse garment, outlandish lifestyle and strange diet depict a man with his mind on other things.
Yet his appearance in the wilderness signals that something truly significant is afoot, for the wilderness was a prime location for a divine encounter that brought either blessing or judgment. So, we discover that it really is all about location, location, location. And this location reveals that all that is about to unfold is at God’s initiative.
Despite John’s unusual life-style (or maybe because of it) people gathered in large numbers from Judea and Jerusalem; John’s popularity was not in doubt, for people flocked to him for baptism. And baptism was highly significant:
- It was a sign of a change of mind and the forgiveness of sins. People were to get ready by coming to terms with their past failure, by turning around and by facing in a new direction in their thinking.
- It reinforces the call to be ready for something new.
- And it was the common route from the pagan world into the Jewish community.
But the first unsettling allusion is that here the Jews themselves are baptized. Insiders to the faith of Israel were summoned to confess their sins and be on the lookout for God’s fresh intervention. Prepare for the surprising and unexpected; be ready for breaks with conventional ways of thinking about God’s coming in history.
The blessing of God
So, we are warned, God is going to work in unexpected ways and so the message that John the baptizer brings, takes us straight to the main character who is about to arrive. Here John the Baptist focuses in an extraordinary description of the work of Christ, for the Coming One will be more powerful and of greater status than John, and his role is to baptize in the Holy Spirit. In other words, baptism in the Holy Spirit is at the very core of the work that Jesus will do.
And although Jesus clearly identifies with the people who have flocked to the river Jordan to meet with John, there is no mention of confession of sin on the part of Jesus; his baptism with sinners shows his unrestrained identification with sinners. He joins them in their confession without himself confessing any sin. So, Jesus receives divine approval with the opening of the heavens and the descent of the spirit. Kathryn Schifferdecker reminds of the link with Genesis chapter one:
The Spirit of God (ruach elohim) that broods over the face of the waters at the beginning of creation descends on Jesus as he comes out of the waters of the Jordan. The voice that says, “Let there be light” at the beginning of time now declares, “You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
Kathryn Schifferdecker, Commentary on Genesis 1:1-5. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2328
Psalm 29 describes this voice as powerful, thundering out across the water and full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD, over mighty waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
So, it comes as a real surprise that at the baptism of Jesus, the Spirit of God appears as a dove; traditionally a symbol of gentleness and peace. Here is one who is more powerful than John, yet the power at work in Jesus and bestowed by him on others is no conventional power. It is a power made manifest in weakness and tenderness.
The voice from heaven drives home the divine approval, for the Father is well pleased with the Son. Moreover, the identification of Jesus as the Son, the Beloved, fills out John’s vision of the greater status of the one to come. Jesus is no mere prophet; he is not some adopted human agent who becomes through the Spirit, the Son of God; he is the Son of God.
What might baptism mean for us?
Baptism is not an optional extra that we can take or leave at will. It is a pivotal event in the life of the believer. Jesus himself fully endorsed the use of external symbolic rites; indeed, he goes out of his way to lead in subjecting himself to immersion in water. In our baptism we align ourselves with the people of God, which takes faith beyond inward piety, or personal intellectual ponderings. It is an acknowledgement of dependence on others; we belong to a wider community of faith, the community of the church. And God chooses to work through the practices of the people, through every day, mundane, material reality: God works in, with, and through water.
Baptism is a response to the love of God. It is a physical event intimately related to spiritual reorientation. And we reaffirm our response in the words of our covenant service, when we remind ourselves of that to which we are committed in our onward journey of faith.
We are invited to become people who are immersed in the presence of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes to convict us of our need, to make us aware of our sin, to reveal to us the beauty of the Saviour, to give us new birth, to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, to empower us for service in the kingdom and in the church. The relations between the Spirit and grace, between the Spirit and the church, and between the Spirit and human experiences of the Spirit are all worthy of the most sensitive reflection. For it is through the Spirit that the rule of God is implemented in the hearts and minds of those who follow Christ, as a gentle power that redeems the world it from within, beginning with the creation of the children of God.
Worship at home 