BAPTISM OF THE LORD, CYCLE A

MATTHEW 3:13-17
TODAY'S GOSPEL DESCRIBES THE MOMENT WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BY JOHN. FOR 2000 YEARS PEOPLE HAVE WONDERED WHY JESUS SUBMITTED TO BAPTISM? SINCE JESUS WAS GOD AS WELL AS THE PERFECT MAN, HE COULD NOT SIN, AND THEREFORE HE HAD NOTHING TO REPENT ABOUT. SO THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGE ABOUT THE SON OF GOD JOINING CROWDS OF PEOPLE WHO WERE DEMONSTRATING THEIR SORROW FOR THEIR SIN, AND THEIR RESOLUTION TO REFORM THEIR LIVES.
WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THIS WAS NOT THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM AS WE UNDERSTAND IT, BUT RATHER, A RITE THAT WAS USED BY JOHN TO SYMBOLIZE THE WASHING CLEAN OF WHAT WAS UNCLEAN. THE JEWS OF THAT TIME HAD MANY RITUALS USING WATER. IF YOU REMEMBER THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA, THE SIX WATER JUGS OF JESUS TURNED INTO WINE WERE THERE PRECISELY FOR RITUAL WASHINGS. ANYTIME A JEW, ESPECIALLY A PHARISEE, DID ANYTHING THAT WAS UNCLEAN, HE OR SHE WOULD WASH HIMSELF. THERE WERE WASHING RITUALS FOR ENTERING THE TEMPLE. IF YOU HAD TO DO SOMETHING UNCLEAN, SUCH AS BINDING UP THE WOUNDS OF A PERSON WHO WAS INJURED, THEN YOU HAD TO RITUALLY WASH AFTERWARDS. AND IF A GENTILE CONVERTED TO JUDAISM, HE TOOK A RITUAL BATH, JUST AS IS DONE IN ORTHODOX SYNAGOGUES TODAY. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THIS RITUAL BATHS WAS ALMOST AN INSULT, BECAUSE IT MADE THE POINT THAT THE GENTILE WAS UNCLEAN, JUST AS UNCLEAN AS A DEAD BODY OR A LEPER. I BRING THIS ALL UP BECAUSE IT SHOWS HOW RADICAL JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS. HE WAS ESSENTIALLY TELLING THE JEWS THAT THEY WERE UNCLEAN AND COULD ONLY BECOME CLEAN BY GOING THROUGH THE SAME RITUAL THAT BROUGHT THE GENTILES INTO THE JEWISH RELIGION. IT IS A WONDER HE WAS NOT MARTYRED BEFORE.
FOUR REASONS HAVE BEEN GIVEN FOR WHY JESUS SUBMITTED HIMSELF TO JOHN'S BAPTISM:
1. TO CONSECRATE HIMSELF TO GOD. THE PROBLEM HERE, OF COURSE, IS THAT THIS WAS NOT A RITUAL OF CONSECRATION. CONSECRATION, WHETHER OF A KING, A PROPHET, OR A PRIEST INVOLVED THE USE OF OIL, AND SOMETIMES THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.
2. TO PUBLICLY ANNOUNCE HIS MINISTRY. THAT OF COURSE SEEMS UNLIKELY. A MUCH MORE LIKELY POINT OF ANNOUNCING HIS MINISTRY WAS THAT TIME IN HIS HOMETOWN, WHEN HE TOOK THE BOOK OF ISAIAH AND READ FROM IT AND SAID “TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.” AND OF COURSE, WE SEE THAT JESUS ANNOUNCES HIS MINISTRY BY HIS FIRST MIRACLE AT THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA. AND MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT THE VOICE OF GOD WAS HEARD BY ONLY BY JESUS AND JOHN.
3. TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO HIS FOLLOWERS. AT FIRST GLANCE THIS SEEMS POSSIBLE. HOWEVER DURING JESUS EARTHLY MINISTRY, WE HAVE NO INDICATION THAT JESUS DEMANDED BAPTISM OF HIS FOLLOWERS. IT WAS ONLY AFTER HIS DEATH THAT HE COMMISSIONED HIS APOSTLES TO BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. AND AGAIN WE HAVE THE PROBLEM THAT JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS NOT A SACRAMENTAL BAPTISM AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.
4. FINALLY SOME HAVE SAID THAT JESUS ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE BAPTIZED SO THAT HE COULD SANCTIFY THE WATER THAT WOULD BE USED TO BAPTIZE HIS FOLLOWERS. I GUESS THAT COULD BE AS WELL.
BUT I THINK THE BEST ANSWER IS THAT HE WANTED TO IDENTIFY HIMSELF WITH SINNERS. WE KNOW THAT AT THE CRUCIFIXION HE TOOK OUR SIN UPON HIMSELF AND CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH. WE KNOW THAT HE BECAME FLESH AND BECAME A NEWBORN BABY AND TOOK UPON HIMSELF ALL THE BURDENS OF BEING HUMAN. SO IT WOULD CERTAINLY NOT BE OUT OF CHARACTER THAT AT THIS POINT OF BAPTISM HE TOOK OUR HUMAN SINS AND FAILINGS UPON HIMSELF AS WELL AND IDENTIFIED HIMSELF COMPLETELY WITH US.
THE MYSTERY OF OUR SALVATION IS WRAPPED UP FUNDAMENTALLY IN THIS IDENTITY THAT JESUS HAS WITH US. HE KNOWS THAT NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS HE WILL NEVER LOSE THE LOVE OF HIS FATHER, AND BY BECOMING EXACTLY LIKE US WE IN TURN BECOME BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO HIM. JESUS DRAWS THE LOVE OF HIS FATHER TO US THROUGH THIS IDENTIFICATION.
THIS OF COURSE SHOULD GIVE US A GREAT SENSE OF JOY. NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, NO MATTER HOW FAR WE FALL, WE CAN NEVER ESCAPE THE LOVE THE FATHER HAS FOR JESUS AND FOR US, WITH WHOM JESUS IDENTIFIES. THAT LOVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ARE OURS TO ACCEPT AND REJECT.
BUT ANOTHER CONSEQUENCE OF THIS IDENTIFICATION STEMS FROM THE FACT THAT WE CAN REJECT THE LOVE OF GOD. JESUS CALLS US, HIS FOLLOWERS, TO EXTEND THAT LOVE TO THOSE WHO DO NOT YET APPRECIATE THIS GREAT FACT. FOR CERTAINLY PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE LOVED BY GOD WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO RESPOND TO GOD THAN THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THAT. AND OUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE LOVE OF GOD, IS THE ESSENTIAL STEP TOWARDS WINNING OUR SALVATION.
ONCE A MINISTER WHO WAS VISITING MOTHER TERESA IN INDIA ASKED HER, "WHAT DO YOU THINK THE GREATEST PROBLEM IS IN THE WORLD?". MOTHER TERESA THOUGHT FOR A MINUTE AND REPLIED, "WE DO NOT MAKE THE CIRCLE OF OUR FAMILY LARGE ENOUGH." MOTHER TERESA'S POINTS WAS THAT WE TREAT FAMILY MEMBERS VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM THE WAY WE TREAT STRANGERS. WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS. WE WORRY ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. WE WORRY ABOUT THEIR PHYSICAL WELFARE. WE WANT TO SEE THEM SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY. AT THE EDGE OF THE CIRCLE, PEOPLE MATTER FAR LESS. WE USUALLY WISH THEM WELL, BUT WE LEAVE THEM ALONE. FAR BE IT FROM US TO BOTHER THEM IN ANY WAY. WE DO NOT EXTEND THE CIRCLE OF OUR FAMILY FAR ENOUGH.
SO TODAY AS WE REMEMBER THE BAPTISM OF JESUS, WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE LOVE THAT IS GIVEN TO US THROUGH JESUS' IDENTIFICATION WITH US. AND AT THE SAME TIME WE RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS OUR JOB TO TELL OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS THE GOOD NEWS THAT GOD LOVES THEM UNCONDITIONALLY AND THAT THEY HAVE ONLY TO RESPOND TO THAT LOVE. IT IS TIME FOR US TO EXPAND THE CIRCLE OF OUR FAMILY.