Holiness Converging at the Baptism of Jesus
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Yesterday I was talking with my 6 year old son, Edmund about baptism. We talked about how baptism is for Christians. We talked about how it’s a picture of dying to our sins and rising again to new life in Jesus. My best friend, who is a pastor in Missouri, texted me this week asking about how to contrast what is happening at John’s baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. I told him that John’s baptism was something that men do. But baptism in the Holy Spirit is something only Jesus can do, as John points out in our Gospel passage this morning. I’ve thought a bit about baptism this week apart from preparing this reflection. And the baptism of Jesus is a moment so full of meaning and significance that I could probably preach about it for 3 or 4 hours, like the puritans used to do, but perhaps fortunately for us all, I only had an hour ‘s notice to prepare, so we’ll be taking a quicker tour through the significance of the Baptism of Jesus Christ.
What I’d like to share with you about Jesus’ baptism is that this moment in salvation history is where holiness converges in several ways.
The first one we see in our passage this morning is the beginning of the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah.
The people had come out to hear John, and some of them, to be baptized. They were probably wondering, perhaps this is the man that Isaiah talked about, the Messiah.
John was doing something new in calling the people of Israel to repentance. He was offering a ceremonial washing in repentance. And he was doing it at the Jordan River. The Jordan River is the entry point to the Promised Land. When the people of Israel crossed the Jordan, they were crossing into the new life that God had prepared for them. So you wouldn’t blame the people for wondering if John, who was calling for repentance in such a holy way at such a holy place of significance was the Messiah. But he shows that the Messiah is someone much more important, much weightier, someone who will baptize not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.
7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
This brings us to another element of this passage contributing to the holiness of the moment of Jesus’ baptism.
When the person who John is talking about is revealed, that person is beyond holy, and one wonders how it could be anyone except God Himself. Who could baptize with the Holy Spirit except God Himself? And so, at multiple points in this short passage, we see in this holy moment that Jesus is revealed as the Son of God, the one who can baptize with the Holy Spirit. And what does that mean exactly? To be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Going back to my friend’s question, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, submerged in the Holy Spirit, is to be baptized by Jesus himself. He’s the only one who can do it. And the result is a new life characterized by faithful belief and practice in Christ.
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Again we watch Jesus being baptized by John in the Jordan. A simple enough sentence.
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
A simple piece of background narrative… EXCEPT, it’s this convergence of Holy and meaningful things. Jesus is not only who he is as the unique and holy Son of God, but he also serves as Israel’s representative. As Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, Jesus who stands in for Israel is submerged in the Jordan, and as we’ll find out in Lent, will be led out into the wilderness like Israel was. So Israel’s representative reenacts Israel’s entry to the Promised Land at the baptism of Jesus. And John, as the last representative of the Old Testament, brings him there. So Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, the representative of Israel displays or reenacts the moment of Israel’s salvation, their entry into the Promised Land. Mark has powerfully loaded this little background narrative with meaning and significance.
And even more, much more follows:
10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
We see the “immediately” that Mark uses so often. When I see that word I look for the inbreaking of God’s kingdom. And here, that inbreaking is pronounced. God the Father literally tears the heavens open and the Holy Spirit literally descends on Jesus and the Father speaks, which is enough in and of itself. But look at its content: You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.
At the point of Israel’s salvation, Israel’s representative, the Son of God, goes under the waters of Old Testament baptism and comes up to be greeted as the Son of God by a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the voice of God the Father, who pronounces not only Jesus’ sonship, but his favor with the Father.
The baptism of Jesus is this great moment of transition from old to new, and of the revelation of Jesus as Israel perfected and the Son of God.
And like us, who have been baptized, his new life means a transition into a new mission of faithful obedience and practice. Stand in wonder and amazement, in this season of epiphany, at the revelation of the Son of God. Remember his baptism and remember your own baptism and recount the miraculous works God has performed in your own life. And continually live a life of rebirth, made possible by the revelation of Jesus, his death, and resurrection. May the joy of your salvation return to you this day as we remember these things. Amen.