Baptism of Jesus C

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine."
Isaiah 43:1-7

• Overview of Luke's Gospel

Luke 3:15-17; 21-22

¹⁵ As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶ John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Season of Epiphany

After the Great Fifty Days of Easter, we experienced a half-year of green and growing Ordinary Time that lasted until Reign of Christ-Christ the King concluded that year of grace. Ordinary time is more organized and structured than it is commonplace and conventional.

Sundays between the Day of Epiphany and Transfiguration that protestant churches celebrate three days before Ash Wednesday form a shorter segment of ordinary time. With the date of Ash Wednesday being variable because the date of Easter Sunday varies, the length of the Epiphany season is shorter or longer, maxing out at nine Sundays when the day of resurrection is late.

Note: Roman and Eastern rite catholics as well as Anglicans celebrate Transfiguration on August 6th.

The baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration create trinitarian bookends to the season of Epiphany. The word trinity isn't in the bible but the concept is, and because we know a lot of the rest of the story, we often interpret scripture backwards. In 325 the Council of Nicaea formally defined the Trinity.


Intro

Very few events in Jesus' life are in all four gospels; all the gospels don't even have a birth story or a resurrection narrative. But we find John baptizing Jesus in all four—sit up and take notice!

• Mark 1:9-11
• Matthew 3:13-17
• Luke 3:21-22
• John 1:29-34


Jesus' Baptism

Jesus's baptism by John was not the same as our trinitarian baptism into Jesus' death and resurrection. John's baptism signaled a new political, religious, and economic beginning. Jesus' baptism also continued the Jewish practice of the bath, washing, or mikvah that may have begun at Mount Sinai during the Exodus, before Moses went up the mountain to receive the Ten Words or Commandments. Contemporary Jews continue the tradition of the cleansing mikvah.

• Exodus 19:10-14

Immediately after Jesus' baptism and God's identifying Jesus as beloved son, Luke brings us Jesus' genealogy that ends with son of Adam, son of God. Although scripture implies Jesus Christ as fully human and completely divine, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 first formally described the two natures of Jesus Christ.


Water and Identity Formation

For God's people Israel, the Jordan River was border and boundary between their old existence as slaves in imperial Egypt, followed by decades of wilderness wandering, and their new lives of grace, obedience, and freedom in covenanted community in the land of promise.

For Jesus, the Jordan River was border and boundary between his earlier, more private life and a public life of grace, obedience, and keeping righteous covenant. Notice how Jesus praying and an icon (dove) of the Holy Spirit appear in this account. Prayer and the Holy Spirit are prominent throughout Luke's gospel.

For us, living waters form a border and boundary between our more private lives (think first and second spaces-places) and our public lives of grace, obedience, keeping covenant with creation, and advocating for justice in third spaces-places as well as our presence and testimonies in the fourth space of the internet.

Every baptized person is a public theologian!

Notice that only in Luke does John announce Jesus will baptize with Spirit and with fire (3:1). What does that mean to you?

My header art from the first reading, Isaiah 43:1-7, describes God's people as created, formed, redeemed, called, named, and claimed. Particularly related to your own baptism, how does that comfort, challenge, and inspire you?

"You are my son the beloved
With you I am well pleased."
Luke 3:22