If
the reading we heard from Mark’s Gospel a few minutes ago sounds familiar, it’s
because we heard part of the same reading a few weeks ago on the Second Sunday
of Advent. On that Sunday, we heard John the Baptist talk about the coming of
Jesus and the baptism that he would provide-the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
John saw Jesus as both mightier than him and more worthy than him, and Jesus
said that no one greater than John had ever lived. John saw himself as not
being worthy enough to unite the sandals on Jesus’ feet, and that was a task
that was dirty and not very appealing according to the culture of that time.
Today,
we heard about Jesus’ baptism and the coming of the Holy Spirit on him. John proclaimed Christ’s superiority by
distinguishing between his own baptism with water and the baptism that Christ
would provide with the Holy Spirit. Several Old Testament passages speak of the
Holy Spirit being poured out like water. Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit
supplies us with supernatural power just like the Holy Spirit revealed its
supernatural power at Jesus’ baptism.
All
three members of the Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-were present at
Jesus’ baptism. The parting of heaven was a foretaste of both Jesus’ statement
in Mark 1:15 that the kingdom of heaven was near and the tearing of the veil of
the temple when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus’ birth ended the separation of
God and man that was created when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.
The
Holy Spirit changes things. It works through Jesus to bridge the gap between us
and God. Reconciliation with God was possible because of Jesus’ birth,
ministry, death and resurrection. Not only was this gap first bridged at Jesus’
baptism when the Holy Spirit descended from heaven like a dove, it was also
bridged at his death when the veil in the temple was torn in two. The Temple
was divided into several sections, including the Holy of Holies. The Holy of
Holies was separated from the rest of the temple by a curtain. The only person who
could enter this particular part of the temple was the High Priest, and even
then he could only enter on the Day of Atonement. No one else could enter, so a
rope was tied to the high priest’s waist so that if anything happened to him he
could be removed without anyone else having to enter. A bell was attached to
the high priest so that people on the outside could hear him move. If the bell
stopped ringing for any length of time, the people would know that something
happened to the high priest and that they needed to pull him out of there
immediately.
God
claims us through baptism. In the waters of our baptism, God speaks our name,
unites us to Christ and grants us the promise of new life. He says that he
loves us, he claims us and he is proud pf us. Nothing else is needed. No one
can take our new identity in Christ away from us. No matter what other names we
are called others or even by ourselves,
we are now beloved children of God. In the Baptism Service in the Anglican
Church of Canada’s Book of Alternative Services, there is a line that is read
when a person is baptized-“I sign you with the sign of the cross, and I mark
you as Christ’s own forever.” We have been adopted into God’s family. God’s
love for us can’t be changed. It guides our behaviour. Because of God’s love,
there are certain things we won’t do
and there are certain things we will do-things
that we must do. Through Jesus, we
have a love that will take risks and a family identity that can’t be broken.
Baptism
tells us that we are deeply rooted in the possibility toward goodness. That is
a revelation to us. It goes against the stain of original sin which I mentioned
earlier. It encourages us to take a risk by going into this unknown territory. God
offers harmony, intensity, peace, compassion and justice-things that are alien
to our world.
Why
did Jesus have to be baptized? After all, he was sinless. Jesus said in Mathew
3:15 that he needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” It was God’s
counsel in Luke 7:29-30 that people be baptized of John. In other words, God
tells us to repent. Jesus asked John to baptize him as an act of obedience to
God’s purposes. Jesus wanted to set a good example for us by doing the Father’s
will. His baptism also served to introduce him to John and the people of Israel
as the long-promised Messiah.
Jesus’
baptism was necessary in order to fulfill the requirements of the Old Testament
law, which required repentance from sins and hence John the Baptist’s baptism
of repentance. Jesus had to be baptized because he was born and died under the
law to deliver us from the law (which was so strict that it could not be obeyed
perfectly). The Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus at his baptism commissioned
Jesus for a unique service. Jesus carried the Holy Spirit wherever he went and
gave it to those who were receptive to his message. When the Holy Spirit comes
upon us, we are empowered to do God’s work in our world.
Jesus
was God’s answer to Isaiah’s prayer that God would come down to earth and be
fully present with humanity. He was and is God’s son in a way that others
created in God’s image are not. Jesus was the Son of God, but his baptism gave
him the verbal assurance that he was indeed God's son. He was born of the Holy
Spirit, but his baptism gave him the visible assurance that the Spirit was
certainly present with him. Jesus’ baptism gave him the positive assurances
that he would need during his temptation, his time of ministry, his sufferings
and death.
We
long for someone to tell us the truth even if it will hurt us. God created this
longing in our hearts. We long to have someone who can help us understand what
is going on in the world and what we need to do. That person may or may not be
a prophet as long as he or she speaks the truth of God’s word. Take me, for
example. I don’t consider myself to be a prophet, but each and every message I
preach is based on the truth of God’s word as written in the Bible.
Jesus
and John the Baptist also spoke the truth. They spoke of the need for
repentance, and repentance is the first step in a journey that leads us to
baptism by the Holy Spirit. It requires us to change our direction. In other
words, we have to “turn or burn.” Baptism is the second step in the journey. It
means a burial with Jesus and resurrection to a new life in Christ. Baptism
with water is a symbol of the washing away of the dirt of our old, sinful life.
Forgiveness of sins is the third step. It is ushered in by our baptism and our
repentance. When God forgives us, he wipes our record clean. He takes his big
bottle of Liquid Paper or his big roll of correction tape and crosses out the
mistakes of our lives, just like the father forgave his wayward son in the
Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Jesus’
baptism ushered in a new way of dealing with sin. People did not have to go to
the temple in Jerusalem because Jesus became the new temple. Repentance is not
something we can do only once in our lives and then forget about it. Repentance
must be done each and every day because each and every day Satan will try to
get us to move in a different direction. When we come together in worship, God
tells us that he loves us, and in return we tell him that we love him too.
Baptism
with the Holy Spirit allows us to see ourselves as gospel peacemakers in our
world. It allows us to be merciful to those who ask for forgiveness. It allows
us to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves-the poor, the hungry, the
oppressed, prisoners and so on. It allows us to spread God’s love to everyone.
When I was preparing this homily,
I saw a story about a mother who was at home with her two young daughters one
lazy afternoon. Everything seemed to be just fine until the mother realized
something strange. The house was quiet. And as every parent knows, a quiet
house in the daytime can only mean one thing: the kids are up to no good.
Quietly walking into each of the
girls' rooms and not finding them there, she began to get worried. Then she
heard it: the sound of whispering followed by the flushing of a toilet.
Following the sound, she soon realized where it was coming from. It was coming
from her bathroom. Whispers, flush. Whispers, flush. Whispers, flush. Poking
her head into the room, she was able to see both of her daughters standing over
the commode. Whispers, flush. One of them was holding a dripping Barbie doll by
the ankles and the other one had her finger on the handle. Whispers, flush.
Wanting to hear what her daughter was saying, she slipped quietly into the room.
Whispers, flush. And this is what she heard: "I baptize you in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and in the hole you go." Flush.
We know what it feels like to
have life grab us by the ankles and dangle us over the waters of chaos. And we
know that this happens in spite of our faith. We even know that, at times, it
happens precisely because of our faith. When this happens, we can take comfort
in the knowledge that because we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, we
have the strength we need to face life’s challenges.
Baptism means that God has broken
through the barrier between him and us. In return, we are to break through the
challenges and problems of the world with everything we have been given by the
Holy Spirit. Saying yes to our baptism means saying yes to facing the
challenges of our world and yes to a life torn open by God’s love. Saying yes
to our baptism means that our sins have been forgiven and we have been given a
new start in life through Jesus Christ.
As soon as he was baptized, Jesus
was on the move, and that fits in with the urgency of Mark’s Gospel. We have a
similar calling. We are baptized for action. We are baptized to go out into the
world and be the hands, voice and presence of Christ. We are baptized for the sake
of others and for the sake of the world. For example, I publish all of my
sermons on my blog-www.sermonsfrommyheart.blog.ca-and they have been viewed
over 88,000 times by people from all over the world. Regardless of what we do, say or think, we
must be bold in our actions and faithful to our calling. That way, when we get
to the Pearly Gates, we can hear God say to us, “Well done, good and faithful
servant.”
1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV
(Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013)
2. McKenna, D.L. &
Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary
Series, Vol. 25: Mark (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982)
3. ESV Study Bible. Part of
Wordsearch 10 Bible software package.
6. Jude Siciliano, O.P.,
“First Impressions, Baptism of the Lord, (B)”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org
9. Rick Morley, “Handling
Sin: A Reflection on Mark 1:4-11.” Retrieved from www.rickmorley.com/archives
10. Brian P. Stoffregen,
“Mark 1:4-11, 1st Sunday after the Epiphany/Baptism of Our Lord-Year
B.” Retrieved from http://www.crtossmarks.com/brian/mark1x4.htm
12. Pastor Dave Risendal, “Baptism: the Heart
of our Faith.” Retrieved from http://onelittleword.org/?p=6765
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