Baptism of the Lord

Maark 1:4-11 - And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

On the church calendar we are now in the season of Epiphany.

The DAY of Epiphany was technically last Wednesday

And it’s a day set aside to remember the arrival of the Magi who came to visit Jesus, giving him gifts, and affirming that he is the one who was promised to come and set the world right.

And that’s what Epiphany is about: revelation

Advent was about waiting on God’s promises to come.

Christmas was about fulfillment of that promise in Jesus’s birth.

Epiphany is about the revelation of Jesus and confirmation that he is the one.

That theme is at the center of our text this morning.

And it starts with John the Baptist

Because what we’re told about who JOHN is actually informs our understanding of who JESUS is and what he came to do

John is a pretty memorable character, right?

Pretty rough dude.

A prophet out in the desert, yelling at people to repent.

Wearing camel hair clothes and eating locusts.

Dunking people in the Jordan river to wash them clean before the Lord.

These details aren’t just Mark being a good storyteller, painting a picture for us

In fact Mark’s gospel is particularly “to the point”, not a lot of scene setting

These details are there for a reason, and the reason is that they make some important connections to the Hebrew scriptures

First, it’s significant that John’s not at the Temple or the city gates, he’s out in the desert wilderness

The desert has tremendous symbolism for the Hebrew people

For one it’s a place of barrenness and dryness, symbolizing waiting.

As such, it often serves as the “before” picture in God’s promises

The desert is barren now. The land and the people are thirsty and tired. But there will be a day when it bursts open with springs of new life.

That is common imagery, particularly in the prophecies of Isaiah.

And as a place of waiting, the desert serves as a place of preparation

In the Exodus story, God had called his people and liberated them

but before they entered into the promised land they had to go through the DESERT.

In the desert they learned to trust him

They struggled of course, grumbling and turning to idols

But in the desert they learned they could either go back to slavery

or learn to trust that God would provide what they needed each new day

and that God would keep his promises about the good future he’d promised

Waiting a preparation.

WHAT’S MORE, John isn’t just in any desert wilderness location, he’s in the Jordan River

This is the river that runs north south between the sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea

This river is important for many reasons, not least of which being that IN the Exodus story, once God’s people finally entered the promised land they did so by going THROUGH the waters of the Jordan River

The Jordan was the threshold they crossed into their inheritance

And in that story, in Josh 3, they cross that threshold via a miracle when God’s presence goes before them to open a way where there wasn’t one.

Layers on layers on layers

The Jordan serves as the location of other miracles too.

In 2 Kings 2 the prophets Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan via a miracle

And in 2 Kings 5 an army commander named Naaman is healed of leprosy after Elisha tells him to wash himself seven times in the Jordan river

And THAT is a killer story before Naaman is too proud and doesn’t want to do it and once he finally humbles himself and is washed by the water he is healed

The Jordan as threshold into freedom and blessing is also why it was such a popular reference in spirituals sung by slaves in America

It is loaded with significance.

SO here’s what we have

We have a prophet in John, the new Elijah according to Jesus, pointing to the coming messiah

And John is out in the desert wilderness calling people to repent of their idols and trust God alone, like the prophets before him

And standing at the Jordan, John tells people they are on the threshold of entering God’s promise

This time it’s the kingdom, God’s renewal of all things that was about to open up before them

And to symbolize this entry into new life, people are called to go through the water

Water that also symbolizes being washed clean and healed

Enter Jesus

In the Exodus God’s presence was with his people in the Ark of the Covenant

The ark went before them and opened a way across the threshold

Here God’s presence is with his people in the person of Jesus

And like always, God goes before us

So that our passage out of the desert and through the water somehow becomes a miraculous entry into new life

Jesus himself gets in the water

He didn’t need to be washed clean

But he goes before us and shows us the way

He always does

He goes before us in life, showing us what it means to live empowered by the Spirit

He goes before us in death, showing us what it means to love sacrificially to the end

And he goes before us in resurrection, as the first born among the children of God

He goes before us at the threshold of new life and says “follow me”

Faith is following, it’s getting in the water to cross from where we were to where we’re going

A place we could not get to ourselves

A place only God could open for us

His kingdom in which all things are made new, including us

How can we be sure he’s the one to follow?

Because the veil that separates heaven and earth was torn open above him

Just like the veil in the Temple was torn when he died

And because the Father spoke affirming his identity

And because the Spirit descended upon him, signaling that the last days, the opening of a new age, had begun

All of this worthy of five more sermons

Jesus stands at the door and knocks, scripture tells us.

Ready to come in for anyone who opens the door to receive him.

We might also imagine that Jesus stands in the river and invites us to cross with him

To be washed clean as we come through the water

To leave our old life on one bank behind us

Our baptism symbolizes all of this and more

Faith is following

through the threshold

into new life

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When big events happen like they did this week, there’s always pressure on pastors to say something and say the right thing. But I find that this often leads to over-simplifications and vague gestures that that make us feel better but amount to nothing. And I’m not really interested in empty soundbites. The truth is what we saw this week was further evidence of a deep sickness that has infected our country and the church for some time. No statement or book or sermon series is going to make it all better. A diversity training video isn’t going to fix it. The cancer is in the bone and it will take a lifetime to heal. There’s a lot of “where better than this” thrown around, but the truth is we’re not. You know a tree by its fruit and this is exactly who we are. We can be better, but in order for that to happen we have to face the reality of how sick we are. And we have to be committed to the long road of healing that includes surgical removal of the fear, hate, and idolatry that grow into racism and nationalism. We have to be willing to tell the truth, speak plainly, name our sin and deal with it. The name of Christ has been co-opted to promote ideologies that are anti-Christ and vague platitudes will do nothing to correct that.

Try as I might I can’t fix the whole country or the whole church. What I can do is recommit to working out the Way of Jesus with you all. I can commit to the long game of dying and being made new, addressing the planks in my eyes, and loving my neighbors sacrificially.