Baptism of the Lord B January 11, 2009

Gospel, Mark 1:7-11  All three persons of the Trinity are present here. The Father speaks directly to Jesus (in Matthew’s gospel the voice speaks to the other people present saying “THIS is my beloved Son”). The Spirit does not depart (although perhaps no longer visible), for the next verse tell us that “at once the Spirit drove him out into the desert”. The descent of the Spirit, then, was not merely symbolic but empowering. But wasn’t the Spirit already with Jesus? Consider for a moment the text of Philippians 2:6-7. When the Son of God became man, he set aside all the divine gifts and attributes while retaining the divine identity. As a child he had to learn to walk and to speak. He had to study and learn to read and write as did other children. He “grew in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). He had to pray, even during the years of his public ministry, to discern the Father’s will. It seems that, having taken on human nature, the Son of God as Jesus only received from the Father what he needed at each moment to complete his mission…no more, no less. Some theologians believe that Jesus only became aware of his identity at the moment of his baptism (not that he received divinity at the time…merely became aware of it). Regardless of when Jesus became aware of his divine identity, the baptismal moment gave him both clarity and power for what lay ahead.

Reading 1, Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7  This is one of four Servant-of-the-Lord oracles in Isaiah, the others being 49:1-7, 50:4-11 (although it does not use the word “servant” in this passage), 52:13-53:12. We Christians see those oracles fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. The emphasis in this passage is on the bestowal of the Spirit of God which we associate with the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus the day of his baptism.

Reading II, Acts 10:24-28  Cornelius is described in Acts 10:2 as “God-fearing”. This term referred to Gentiles who associated with Jewish people, accepting many of their beliefs and joining in synagogue prayer but had not actually become Jewish by circumcision. Cornelius’ entire family were God-fearing, and joined the Jewish people in prayer and was generous in giving alms to the Jewish community. He was a Roman centurion at Caesarea, a beautiful city constructed by King Herod on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea with the largest man-made harbor in the world at the time. During the ministry of Jesus, the main Roman garrison in the region was stationed there. Paul sailed there at the end of his second and third missionary journeys and later spent two years imprisoned there awaiting trial. Cornelius was told in a vision to send for Peter who was at Joppa about 35 miles south along the Mediterranean coast. Although Cornelius was God-fearing, he was still considered a Gentile, and Jews were not permitted to enter a Gentile home. Just prior to the arrival of the delegation from Cornelius, Peter had received a vision telling him not to consider anything unclean that God has made clean. He realized that the vision was meant for him to enter Cornelius’ house. While he was speaking, they received the Holy Spirit, reason for Peter to baptize them…an act which he would have to defend before the more conservative disciples of Christ who considered the new way to be a branch of the Jewish faith and bound to the full Mosaic law. Peter’s baptism of God-fearers opened the door for Paul to do the same on his missionary journeys.

Comments

[Peter F. Bagley]

The big question in believers' mind is "why Jesus was baptised" ? Wipe "sin" out since it presents a distraction and prevents us from going deeper.........Jesus, in God, chose to become truly human and in this way entered into human history. In his baptism Jesus associates himself with the sinner and in this way identifies himself needy of God, His Father and to be driven by the Holy Spirit as are all his followers. This oneness with sinful humanity is the Good News of God in saving the People of God.

[Gavin]

It's also curious to ponder why god would care whether a baby was baptized or not.