The Baptism of Our Lord
A Sermon by the Reverend Dr. Bob Prichard for the First Sunday after The Epiphany (The Baptism of Our Lord) (C), January 9, 2022.
Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
From the Gospel lesson: When all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
I am one of the many fans of the television quiz show Jeopardy. I could not help but notice that one of the clues in the past week was particularly appropriate for this time of year. The clue was: This dunker—a colloquial term for a believer in adult baptism by immersion—baptized Jesus. One of the contestants quickly buzzed and provided the appropriate response: “Who is John the Baptist?”
That question was appropriate for this time of year, because this Sunday—the first in the season of Epiphany—is designated as the commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Gospel lesson today is Luke’s account of the baptism, and this Sunday is one of four in the year designated as particularly appropriate for baptism.
There is a more difficult question, which I am sure you will not hear on Jeopardy, but over which all of the four Gospel writers puzzled: “If the baptism of John is in token of the repentance of sin, why would Jesus, who was without sin, have been baptized?” Matthew is most clear in stating the problem—in Matthew’s gospel John himself asks why he should baptize Jesus, and suggests that they reverse roles so that Jesus baptizes him. It is clear, however, that the other three gospel writers are troubled by the same question. (The baptism is one of a handful of stories found in all four Gospels.)
The short answer as to why John baptizes Jesus is that for Christians baptism not only represents the repentance of sin, as was taught by John, but it represents a number of other things as well. And the moment in which baptisms begin to take on this added meaning is the baptism of Jesus. The Gospel writers agree that Jesus gives a wider sense to baptism, but they each explain the expanded meaning in their own way.
Mark, who wrote the earliest, shaped his narrative to provide one answer: Jesus’ baptism served as a kind of hand-off, a parallel to the moment in a relay race in which one runner hands on the baton to another. His narrative makes this handoff clear. John baptized with water but says that someone was to follow who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus shows up and when it is his turn for baptism, He sees the heavens open and the Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove, and there is a voice from heaven designating him as the well-beloved Son. Then John is arrested, ending his public ministry. Finally the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted in preparation for public ministry.
Matthew accepts this narrative but adds additional material to provide a theological explanation for the baptism. Jesus responds to John the Baptist’s protest about baptizing Jesus by saying, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness. I take this as a theological completion to the idea of repentance. Repentance in the Greek of the New Testament involves a turning in a new direction, a reorientation. John’s preaching is a call to turn away from sin; when Jesus arrives, Matthew understands, we are given a vision of that to which we should turn—to the new righteousness that is made known in Jesus. In Matthew’s narrative, Jesus is baptized in chapter 3, spends forty days in the wilderness and begins his ministry in chapter 4, and then in chapters 5 to 7 delivers the Sermon on the Mount, in which he teaches his new righteousness.
The Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew (6:9-13), makes an important point about repentance. There are four central petitions in the prayer, and the second is about forgiveness, suggesting that the turn from Sin to righteousness of Christ, which is marked in a dramatic way in baptism, is a life-long endeavor of seeking and granting forgiveness. Those who use the Lord’s Prayer ask God to “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” which, given the petition previous to it for “daily bread,” is an ongoing activity as well..
John’s Gospel adds another element, the movement of some of John’s disciples to Jesus (John 1:35-42). In contrast to the other Gospels, Jesus describes two meetings of John the Baptist and Jesus—the first at the baptism and second the following day, when John is with his disciples. John points to Jesus and calls him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Andrew, who is one of John’s disciples, and perhaps some others, then leave John and become disciples of Jesus. As John understands it, the turning for repentance in baptism leads to discipleship—an active relationship with Jesus and a joining in the work of spreading his good news.
There was a line in the Baptismal service in the previous edition of the Book of Common Prayer (1928), which was in use when I was a child. In the prayers following the baptism the priest or bishop would declare that the person baptized should continue as “Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto …life’s end.” Baptism is enlistment as Christ’s disciple. There is a brief description of what that entailed in the current Book of Common’s Outline of Faith: The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ, to come together week by week for corporate worship, and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God. (Book of Common Prayer 1979, 856.)
Luke, from whom we have heard today, added a family dynamic. He is the only Gospel writer to suggest that Jesus’ mother and John’s mother were cousins. The two men do not actually meet in his Gospel until Jesus’ baptism, but there is that wonderful scene in Luke 1:39-45, which prefigures that meeting at the Jordan River. The pregnant Elizabeth greets her pregnant cousin Mary and says, “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” John has been yearning for the opportunity to meet Jesus the messiah even from before the time of their births. When they come together at the baptism, it is like a great family reunion. Two cousins, who have been longing to see one another, are finally together, even if only for a brief moment.
We had the privilege for many years in this congregation of having Ted and Sarah Eastman worship regularly with us. Ted was the retired Bishop of Maryland and the author of book that sought to explain the understanding of Baptism in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. He titled the book The Baptizing Community. Our baptism brings us into an extended family—the baptizing community—and every baptism is a family reunion of that family..
I think that the four evangelists took care with the presentation of this story because of their conviction that where Jesus leads we will follow. Our baptisms bear all of these elements that are used to portray the baptism of Jesus. Baptism is a token of the life of repentance into which we enter. It is a reorientation from a preoccupation with self to a following of Christ; it calls us to discipleship; and it joins to a family of faith.
When all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened."
I pray that this day that the heaven will open for us so that we see not only Olanna Shelton and Grace Aurelia, who are beautiful young children, much beloved by their parents and grandparents, but also two young Christian people, who are initiated into a community of repentance and righteousness taught by our Lord, enlisted as disciples, and united to an extended family of faith.
Amen.