Today
we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord.
The synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark & Luke – have explicit scenes
of Jesus being baptized, while John has an implicit scene. In Matthew and Mark it is clear that Jesus
was baptized by John the Baptist. In
Luke, however, that is not necessarily the case.
If
I asked you, “Who baptized Jesus,” the answer would be, “John.” That is what our common understanding and
years of Church tradition say. And our
lectionary text today certainly implies it was John. But if we read Luke carefully, it’s really
not clear that John actually did baptize Jesus.
Today’s
gospel passage is Luke 3:15-17 and 21-22.
Nowhere in Luke is it mentioned that John baptizes Jesus. Furthermore, in verses 18-20, the verses we
don’t hear today, John gets thrown in prison by Herod. So it’s not a stretch to read Jesus’
baptismal account as being performed by someone other than John.
This
revelation – this Epiphany – might come as a surprise to some of you. “What do you mean John didn’t baptize
Jesus?” I didn’t say that John didn’t
baptize Jesus, just that it could have been done by someone else. But Luke probably has some very good reasons
for not focusing on the actual baptism of Jesus by John.
The
first is that there may have been some tension in the early church over the
matter. If baptism is to cleanse us from
sin and is the marker of adoption into God’s family, then how can Jesus, God
Incarnate, Son of God, who lived as one of us yet without sin, be required to
submit to baptism?
The
heresy of adoptionism arose from this very point: that Jesus wasn’t divine
until his adoption by God at his baptism.
Orthodox writings stress that Jesus was fulfilling prophecies about
himself, as in Matthew. And one early
writer, Maximus of Turin, wrote that by his baptism Jesus sanctified the waters
of baptism. He said that it’s not the
waters of the world that cover the baptized, but that, through Christ’s
baptism, it is the waters of Christ that purifies the baptized.
Another
reason Luke may not focus on John here, having removed him to prison a verse
earlier, was to remove a supporting character in order for the main character
to flourish. This is in line with John
saying things like, “I am not fit to untie the thong of his sandal,” and, “He
who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” By taking John out of the story, Luke can
focus on the post-baptismal epiphany.
In
short, WHO baptized Jesus is not important for Luke. It’s the fact that Jesus was baptized. If we focus on the who, we miss the
point. If we focus on the who, then they
can become more important than the why or what. This is why Paul says, “I thank God I
baptized none of you . . . except for Crispus and Gaius . . . oh yeah, and the
household of Stephanas . . . but nobody else.”
Baptism
is about the why and what, not the who. Why was Jesus baptized? He was baptized as an example to us. We live as he lived, hopefully, and when we
are baptized through a baptism like his, we are reborn to new life in God. Through baptism we are sealed by the Holy
Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.
The why of Christ’s baptism was both an example and, in the words of
Maximus, to sanctify the waters for our purification. The why of our baptism is to mark us with an
outward and visible sign of God’s inward and spiritual grace.
The
WHAT
of baptism is a bit more challenging.
What happened at the baptism of Jesus?
Yes, heaven was opened, the Spirit descended and a voice was heard. But what else?
The
major what of Jesus’ baptism is that he was empowered by the Spirit
for the ministry he was about to embark on.
He was not adopted by God at this point; Luke makes it very clear who
Jesus is right from the beginning. But
from here he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and he returns from the
wilderness to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
This
descent of the Spirit and the voice from heaven happen post-baptism while he
was praying. This is important to note
because no matter what you think baptism is, it’s not an instantaneous
religious fix with answers to all your questions handed to you from
heaven. After his baptism, Jesus prayed
for guidance. This is the first instance
of Jesus praying. Other instances include when he was choosing the Twelve, when
asking the disciples who he was, at the Transfiguration and in Gethsemane. When Jesus prayed, the Spirit descended upon
him.
In
other words, the what of baptism is that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit for
ministry in God’s service and Church. We
learn what that ministry is, or we become open to the guiding of the Holy
Spirit, through prayer.
This
baptismal account in Luke makes it clear that it’s not important who baptized
you. The importance of your baptism is
the fact that you were baptized and what you are going to do with that gift.
As
baptized Christians, we have all been given a gift to use for the benefit of
the gospel. What will you do with your
gift? Do you know what your gift is? Have you prayed about it, asking the Holy
Spirit for guidance?
The
Feast of the Baptism of our Lord asks us, “What now?” What does it mean to be baptized in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? What
does it look like when you are led by the Holy Spirit? And as the point of Epiphany was a faith
journey, are you now willing to be led by the Holy Spirit, through the act of
your baptism, in the service of the gospel?
Last
week was our recognition of Jesus as Messiah.
This week, in remembrance of our baptism, and following the example of
Jesus, we are asked, “What is your gift and what will you do with it?”
Because,
to be honest, sitting in a pew for an hour each week isn’t it.
Amen.
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