« The hypocricy revealed .... | Main | Epiphany Carols »
January 09, 2005
The Baptism of Christ
Today is the "Feast" of the Baptism of Christ, the day on which Christians mark the moment when Christ's ministry among us actually began. The Common Worship lectionary gives us a reading from Matthew Chapter 3 and verses 13 to the end. This describes the moment and the conversation between John the Baptiser and Jesus at the Jordan, introducing the rest of the Gospel.
While we cannot be certain that Matthew records the exact conversation (he wrote it down some 40 years later), we do know that it was an "oral tradition" almost from the beginning. This landmark event appears in all four Gospels, each author having his own slight variation on what Matthew describes. For those of an analytical turn of mind, a court of law would take the view that these variations "prove" the event - as human memory would make the variations show that there was no collusion between the witnesses. But, for us, why is this event so important?
Firstly, it marks a beginning. John the Baptiser had prepared the way; many, as St John's gospel tells us, thought that the Baptist was the Messiah, but, from this point on, it is clear that John himself is pointing the way to Jesus.
Baptism, or a ritual washing, was a long practiced tradition in Judaism. It symbolised a new beginning, a washing away of the old, a repentance of previous sins or errors, and a fresh start. It was something you did ritually as frequently as you might need to, and, indeed, elements of this can be seen in the ritual washing of head, hands, and feet before prayer in a mosque and in some of the Jewish preparations for major feasts or events. John the Baptiser came with a different vision. His baptism was a once for all time event, a public declaration and whole body washing away of sin with, as a total immersion experience, the whole element of death (descending under the water) and rebirth (rising from the deep) into a new life. This symbolism was very important and has its origins in the Old Testament - one example of which can be found in the cure prescribed for the leper prince Uzziah.
All four gospel writers make it plain that Jesus did not need to be baptised for any of the reasons we would need to undergo baptism. This is why John is recorded as saying to Him that, "I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus reply is seemingly enigmatic, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all rigtheousness."
What, therefore, is this all about? Firstly, it marks, as I have said, the beginning of Christ's ministry among us, but it also marks His identification with us and in us of the purpose of His ministry. Secondly, it marks this act, whether by sprinkling water or total immersion, as the point at which someone becomes a follower of Christ. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all make mention of the revelation of the Holy Spirit descending on Christ as He rose from the water, some saying it came like a dove and some that it was a voice heard from heaven. The import is plain, this was no ordinary man, no ordinary baptism, and it marks out this baptism as something quite different from the norm.
It is right that we should celebrate this event at this time, since, in the Epiphany, we celebrated the revelation to a wider world of the arrival of the Christ Child, the babe of Bethlehem. Then it was the small group of the Magi and their servants and followers, the shepherds and their sheep, and the immedaite family and friends, who, up to this point, had known who He was and that He was different and special. As St Luke says in his gospel, "Mary stored up all these things in her heart and pondered them." Now, in the baptism, He stands revealed to a very much larger audience and following, now, in the Baptism, He has received the blessing of His Father and the commissioning of the Holy Spirit to begin the short but world-changing ministry.
This baptism rather than our own marks the beginning of the salvation open to every living soul.
We should give praise to God for this.
Posted by The Gray Monk at January 9, 2005 12:01 PM