SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 2025 | EPIPHANY - BAPTISM OF THE LORD (C)

Good,

Well, hard to believe that Christmas is over! But fortunately, there is more to celebrate in our liturgical year before Lent and Easter.

The topic of the day is the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptizer who was fulfilling his role as the preparer of the way for him and his ministry. And they are also cousins, of course.

It is not know for how long exactly John had been around Jordan proclaiming and baptizing and gaining his own followers, but we do know he began before Jesus kicked off his ministry and there was a slight overlap....that is, before Herod Antipas imprisoned him and consequently beheaded him.

So John was doing his thing and here comes the undercover boss Jesus and wants to be baptized by John himself. And if that is not enough God's voice rumbles from the sky proclaiming: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” I sure hope John took a lunch break after that or maybe a nap break, what an eventful day!

In any case, it goes to show, once again, that just because Jesus is the Son of God, he is not above it all. Did he have sins to be forgiven through John’s baptism? Theologically, we believe that he did not! And yet, he went with it as it was expected of him. He lead by example.

Again we are reminded that our God is not just some inaccessible voice in the sky using animals to communicate, but also a man born into our flesh walking amongst us. As such, the baptism of Jesus is not very typical behavior of most deities in various religions, but for Jesus? That was just Tuesday....or whichever day it was that he got baptized, unfortunately another missing detail!

God is not a chess player up in the sky and we are not God’s pawns. Likewise, God is not a watchmaker that will wind up the clock and then let it run by itself according to its design. The story of Jesus shows us that God the creator is very much involved - so much so that Jesus really dug into what it means to be human - being a part of human family, participating in family religious traditions, eventually emancipating from his family and creating his own identity in the world and that is where we find ourselves in the journey. He didn't come with his family, he came alone and received John's baptism as his own person, seprate from his family's religious traditions.

He took ownership of his faith journey and began his ministry shortly after. He immersed himself into the religious shift, of which he would becomes the center fairly soon. But not just yet. His baptism marks a commitment to and foreshadowing of the things to come.

In the recent months, we could see different shifts - some violent like the one in Syria and some peaceful such as the presidential elections here in the U. S. The manner of transition matters, not just the results. It is helpful to watch when somebody not only wins, but also loses. This year’s certification of the results of presidential elections was uneventful and peaceful, despite the fact that the very candidate that lost was presiding over the proceedings. The last time around before that, it was a different story, leading to events that are now commonly refered to as an attack on the U. S. Capitol by insurgents that wanted to disrupt the certification of the results and "hang Mike Pence” as he chose to fulfill his duty over joining on the insurgency.

At least 138 police officers were injured, one died, four more died by suicide within seven months, many of them are suffering from PTSD to this day, and four more people died as a result of the event. All because some people didn’t like the election results and wanted to force a different outcome and prevent a lawful transition.

When God in Jesus came to the world, he did so humbly, without violence, and pomp. When Jesus began his ministry, he did so with respect to the process and by establishing his authority through actions, and when he ultimately was plotted against, arrested, condemned, crucified, and killed, he prevented his followers to resort to violence and did not require a rescue mission, so that he can flee to another country. He refused to resort to violence or to encourage it - he chose the way of nonviolent protest, exposing the leaders of the age of their hypocrisy, cowardice, and shortsightedness. And then his death and resurrection took it to cosmic dimensions affecting us all.

His baptism is but a stepping stone in his journey (as it wasn't quite the baptism as we know and use it today), but an important one - he didn't come to be serve, but to serve, not to dictate, but to lead by an example, not to kill, but to give life. It can serve us a blueprint not only for our own lives, but also for leaders that are trying to get our support and attention. Transitions matter and can tell us quite a bit. Amen.