Avery United Methodist Church
Washington, PA
Rev. Erik A. Hoeke
Mark 1:4-11
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
The obvious question on this Sunday - the day every year in which we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus - is, "WHY?"
Why does Jesus get baptized? Why on earth does the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah, the one who is God incarnate, need to be baptized?
All four Gospels tell this story in some form, but they give few answers. And the answers they do give aren't very good:
- Mark, the text for today, gives no explanation - just that it happened.
- Luke mentions Jesus' baptism as more of an afterthought - "all the people were baptized," he writes, and "oh yeah, Jesus was too."
- Matthew clumsily explains it as some vague fulfillment of righteousness, but then doesn't tell us anything about what he means by that.
- And the Gospel of John conveniently leaves out any mention of Jesus being baptized, though all the other elements - the Isaiah reference, John's water baptism, even the Spirit descending like a dove - are there.
So, why does Jesus need to be baptized?
Some have suggested a spiritual reason: that baptism was symbolic of his call into earthly ministry. Though just a few weeks ago we celebrated his birth, we have already moved on to his age 30 year, when his ministry begins. And maybe this ritual purification affirmed from God above serves as a "kickoff" for his ministry. At the font we start our journey, as the song goes, and Jesus does too.
Or, perhaps there is a theological reason for Jesus' baptism: In becoming human and taking on every aspect of humanity, does he take on original sin from the fall of Adam and Eve? Does Christ becoming human make him in need of purification by baptism? That's a rabbit hole we could descend into and get lost for a while.
Maybe it's more simple; a practical reason: in being baptized, Jesus is just showing us what he wants us to do; being a good leader by modeling proper behavior for his followers.
Whatever the reason for Jesus' baptism, it does mark the beginning of his earthly ministry. For the writer of the Gospel of Mark, this is the beginning of the story of Jesus. His readers would not have had the benefit of the birth stories of John the Baptizer nor Jesus to explain what all this meant. This baptism story is the beginning of the good news of Jesus.
But if you're paying attention, you notice that Jesus starts his ministry really passively. I mean, he doesn't even do anything. It seems like he just wanders into the scene, John leads him into the Jordan and baptizes him, then as he comes up, both a Spirit dove and a voice descends upon him as the heavens are torn apart.
This is pretty compelling action here, but little (if any) of it is coming from Jesus. John, the heavens, the Spirit, and the voice are the primary actors, and Jesus is the one acted upon. Even the names show this - John the Baptizer and Jesus the Christ or Lord. Jesus has a title; while John has a job. Whose ministry are we talking about?
But I think that's the point Jesus is trying to make. Sure, he may not need to be baptized with repentance and forgiveness of sins, because he is the Son of God - he is God. But he submits to the ritual act to model and encourage the behavior for the rest of us, but maybe also to avoid appearing snobby, turning his nose at purification rituals that drip with the essence of humanity: sinfulness, confession, repentance, begging for forgiveness. This is sooo not the scene of a messiah.
Or is it? Again, that's why he came. He came to save us from these things. He came as God's tangible sign of forgiveness - the same forgiveness we beg for.
As he is baptized, Jesus does this other strange thing: he has John baptize him. He didn't need to do that either. After all, he's Jesus. But as parents invite children to help even when the help isn't necessary, or as pastors ask others to pray for them even though they can do it themselves, Jesus is someone with complete authority who invites John the wilderness prophet to baptize him. He doesn't need John to baptize him, but he asks him anyway.
In this story, we discover the humility of Christ. Here is the Son of God asking a camel's hair wearing, locust and honey eating human to do a ritual purification that he could have done himself, and that maybe he didn't even need in the first place.
Jesus' ministry begins so humbly, and it continues that way. As we read the Gospels, we see a man of great humility:
- A man who listens to "the least of these" without an air of superiority.
- A man who kneels down to wash the grimy feet of his followers.
- A man who humbles himself to the point of death on a cross, setting aside his own glory so that we humans may participate in that glory too.
Jesus' life and ministry had a humble beginning, and a humble ending too. Along the way, he disarmed people continually with his humility; people who valued power and superiority and beating their chests and climbing ladders and always being right and never needing anyone's help, least of all someone from Nazareth - for what good can come from that Godforsaken place anyway?
Jesus modeled a different way, a better way. In his example, we see that all our power-grabbing and chest-thumping and defensive rhetoric can be replaced by compassion, service, love, and sacrifice for the sake of others. And when he invites John the baptizer to do something he could just as well have done himself, we realize we can do that too. Just because we can make it on our own doesn't necessarily mean we should try.
Christ's humility teaches us that. He teaches us how to be more like him as we move through this world. He teaches us that everyone we meet has something to offer to us, if only we invite them to share it. And he teaches us that humility enables us to shed our sins with the waters of baptism, to receive the Spirit, and to hear those same words from above that he heard: this is my son/daughter, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
