The Baptism of Christ
At the source of the Jordan - one of the sources, at Basia there is a mouth of a deep cave. It resembles a tomb, but it is from here that the river starts to flow, and rapidly becomes a torrent, passing over waterfalls and cutting valleys as it runs. The life of the river comes from the tomb.
Pilgrims come and pray at the side of the Jordan near here - for many this is the beginning of their journey, their pilgrimage. .. as if the river itself gives life to faith.
And in fact - that is what happens at baptism, for water is a symbol of what we are given in this sacrament. Baptism is a sign of repentance - of the washing away of sin. And in baptism we are given a very real gift that cannot be taken away. We are given new life in Christ, emerging from the death represented by the water of baptism as new Christians - part of the church, embraced as children of God.
Today's Gospel tells us of the baptism of our Lord by John the Baptist. This was almost certainly a true and real event - it is recounted in all four Gospels in the approved canon and there are others that also recount the story . This multiple attestation makes it as near as we can get to a certainty ... Jesus' baptism is an important event - one known and talked of from the days of the earliest Christians.
I don't know if you have ever fallen into deep fast flowing current. I have.
Sudden immersion, full immersion is disorientating - you don't at first know which way up you are ... or what will happen. Water is a different dimension - it changes the way you can move - it pulls you, and you are not sure if you will emerge again.
Momentarily - when it happens - you face the real possibility of death. And yet - you know by the sensation of bursting lungs, of cold, of rushing movement around you that you are so very much alive. Arising from cold water is a moment of newness - of seeing the world again - of re-birth.
In baptism Jesus is submerged in water. Jesus' full acceptance of God's will is the same obedience that will lead Jesus to death on the cross. It is as Jesus arises from the water, that we are told that the heavens were opened to him and the Holy Spirit descends upon him.
But there is one obvious question. Why was Jesus baptised ? For Jesus was without sin. Surely Jesus did not need to be baptised.
This is in essence John the Baptist's question. Matthew's gospel tells us that Johns says that it is Jesus who should baptise him. John was calling people to repent and be baptised. So because John's baptism involves the confession of sin - Jesus' submission to it is awkward...
What is Jesus' answer? Jesus' response is clear saying "let it be so... for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness."
Jesus' willingness to undergo baptism by John is not because Jesus is sinful, but is a sign of Jesus' total obedience to the will of God. To do God's will is to fulfil righteousness : Jesus and John are partners here : together they do as God asks.
Jesus in his baptism fulfils prophecy. And because prophecy is essentially understood as a declaration of God's will, to fulfil prophecy is also to fulfil righteousness.
What is this prophecy ?
At Jesus' baptism we hear words spoken to Jesus from the Father " This is my Son the beloved in whom I am well pleased" These words draw together the prophecy of Isaiah in Chapter 42 and the words of the decree of the Lord in Psalm 2: Firstly, Jesus is here hailed as the suffering servant of Isaiah's servant songs.
This is borne out by the fact that Matthew later quotes the passage in full as Jesus' ministry of healing and teaching unfolds.
So at Jesus' baptism we see that the righteousness of Jesus revealed in service and obedience; the one who in Isaiah's words "will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets, and who will be
"a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."
Secondly and most wonderfully, in baptism, Jesus is revealed as the Son of God. God is fully manifest in the Son, by the word of the Father and the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus.
Matthew clearly indicates the three persons of the Trinity as Jesus is revealed to Israel in his baptism. For here we see the Son obedient to the Father, The Father confirming the Son and the Holy Spirit descending on the Son, - which will, through Jesus' mediation be communicated and given to the people. The fullness of God is present in baptism, through the very obedience of Jesus to the Father.
At Jesus' baptism we see the mutual self giving in the relationship of the Holy Trinity in relationship. Jesus is obedient to the Father and the Spirit which the Father sends him at baptism, he gives back to the Father in the cross; and the Father gives the Spirit back in the Resurrection.
Jesus baptism is the beginning of Jesus' ministry on earth. In baptism Jesus goes public ... steps out of the shadows of the carpenter's shop and takes on the journey of mission, ministry, teaching, healing and sacrifice that will lead him to the cross and to the tomb.
And what of our baptism?
And our baptism - the baptism of all Christians is something that we do at Jesus' command. Jesus sends out his disciples at the end of Matthew's gospel to baptise in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit - and to teach all to obey his commands.
Through baptism we become one with Christ and one family in the church - in communion. We are baptised into the death of Christ and we too become children of God. Our baptism is the beginning of a journey with Christ, the beginning of life as the body of Christ.
Which gives us obligations of obedience to God - that same call to righteousness that we see Jesus embrace in his baptism.
So let today be the start of our journey with Christ this year ... our pilgrimage in faith and our seeking of God's will in our lives. May we too be anointed with the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the Father as we walk in the presence of the risen Lord. Amen.
Rev Joanna Naish