Jesus' Baptism

Matthew 3:1-17

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, ² “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” ³ He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:

The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
        “Prepare the way for the Lord;
        make his paths straight.”^[a]

⁴ John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.

⁵ People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. ⁶ As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. ⁷ Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? ⁸ Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. ⁹ And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. ¹¹ I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”

¹³ At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John would baptize him. ¹⁴ John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”

So John agreed to baptize Jesus. ¹⁶ When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. ¹⁷ A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Throughout our journey through the Bible in the Narrative Lectionary we have seen that God blesses people so that they can be a blessing to others.  It’s one of those amazing double actions that God is so good at: giving people good things and also a purpose. I’ve mentioned this way back in September (and it just happens to be the title of these devotions) so you can tell I find this to be of great import.  We see it twice in today’s lesson: first with John the Baptist, and also with Jesus himself.

There must have been something about John.  Sure, he had a weird diet and his fashion choices received a lot of attention, but it takes more than these things to get people trooping out into the wilderness.  There must have been something about his words, and the way those words were said, that showed him to be different.  He was literally inspired. The Re:form Confirmation Curriculum shows how you can break “inspired” into two different words: “in,” (which means “in.”) and “spired” (which means “breathed”).  John had God’s Spirit breathed into him and his message was “inspired.”  He used this gift/call to encourage others to “change their hearts and lives.” John was indeed blessed to be a blessing.

And so was Jesus. When he is baptized the divine voice from heaven says “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.” Whoa…when it comes to have powerful friends and family, that’s about the best you could hope for. Can you imagine all of the advantages, perks, privileges or benefits that an individual could enjoy by being the son who is dearly loved by God?  Jesus will certainly show his power and ability soon enough.  He is certainly “blessed.”

But he uses his blessed state in order to be a blessing to others.  Jesus could have shown his power in many different ways. One would suppose that he could have shot bolts of lightning from his finger in order to fry some annoying Pharisees or called on his father to smite a few Sadducees. If we think this is idle speculation, think about what he says to his disciples in Gethsemane when his is on the point of arrest: "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen this way?" (26:53-54)

Instead, Jesus shows his power (and the character of God) by healing, teaching, raising, and helping people.  Above all he shows his power (and the character of God) by dying…for us.  And, thanks be to God, that’s not the end of the story. The power of God will be seen as Jesus is raised from the dead on the third day.

And one more thing: you might be wondering, along with John, why Jesus was the one being baptized, rather than the one doing the baptizing.  Jesus has an answer: “This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”  (as if that totally clears it up…) I agree with many commentators who say that Jesus submitted to baptism, even though he didn't need it to have his [non-existent] sins washed away. I particularly like this explanation.  

In this way Jesus' Baptism is yet another example of the INCARNATION: God coming down and taking up our condition.  Jesus COULD have stood aside smugly and said, "Well, baptism is a good idea for all of YOU people who need that sort of thing."  He doesn't do that. Instead he gives of himself, he blesses others, he helps others, he gets down in the mud with us. And he saves us.