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Why did Jesus go
to be baptized by John? John was out there in the wilderness, like a modern day
Elijah, preaching up a storm, telling people they need to shape up, to stop
messing around and do God’s will, be obedient to God’s laws and ordinances. And
people were coming from miles around to hear this. John the Baptist is like
Joel Osteen in reverse. Osteen says things that tickle our ears and make us
feel good, with his slicked back hair, polished teeth, and tailored suit. John
the Baptist is the exact opposite and he isn’t giving out platitudes about
positive thinking. But people are eating it up. Throngs of people are coming
out to see and hear John the Baptist. They confess their sins and then John
baptizes them in the Jordan. And they believe that in that baptism they are
being cleansed from the stain of their sins and they are getting a new start in
life. Everyone wants a new start, right? A chance to start fresh? John was
offering that fresh start.
Then Jesus shows up. Why did he feel
the need? He had no sins to confess. He didn’t need a fresh start. There’s no
obvious reason why Jesus would be there, unless he was just going over there to
check this thing out, see who this John the Baptist was that everyone was
talking about. But Jesus wasn’t there just to check things out. He got in line.
And John shares our confusion. He
doesn’t understand what Jesus is doing there either. He knows a little bit
about Jesus. He knows that Jesus is his master, that he is more holy, more
powerful. He sees Jesus standing before him and he says what we all are
thinking, “Jesus, you should be baptizing me.”
But then Jesus says something that
helps explain why it is that this sinless man is standing in the water to be
baptized so that his sins, which he doesn’t have, can be washed away, which
makes no sense. Jesus says, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this
way to fulfill all righteousness.” Both John and Jesus care about being
righteous, about being obedient to God’s will. That’s what it means to be
righteous, to do God’s will. So there is something about John baptizing Jesus
that is a part of God’s will. God’s will is the unfolding of salvation. That’s
what God is up to. God’s will is that all of creation be saved, be renewed, be
restored to life. And in this moment, John and Jesus had a specific role to
play in the unfolding of this great drama, this epic unfolding of God’s will
that all of creation be made new. So that is what is going on here. That is why
Jesus is being baptized by John, because it has something to do with fulfilling
God’s will.
But what does baptism have to do
with it? Why does God want John to baptize Jesus so that God’s plan of
salvation can continue to move forward?
Water is a powerful symbol in the
history of Israel. I’m not going to take time to review all the key points in
the history of Israel where water is involved in significant ways. Water shows
up at Genesis 1:2, where it says the Spirit of God was hovering over the face
of the water. You could say that the history of Israel is dripping with water.
One moment where water shows up is
in the Great Flood. The earth needed a good scrubbing. God’s creation had
become so corrupt, so impure, so far from what God had intended, that God
decided to start fresh. So God opened the flood gates and wiped out every
living thing on the earth with the exception of one righteous man, Noah, with
his wife and kids, with their wives, and two of every kind of living creature.
They were put up safely in the ark so that after the flood waters receded and
they got off the boat, they could start anew. God’s plan of making everything
new was fulfilled by wiping everything out with water and then starting over
again with Noah.
John was calling the people to
repent of their sinfulness, to be sorry for what they have done, and to make a
vow to start over. And then they got into the Jordan river and had their own
Great Flood experience. They got into that water, all the way in, and then came
out, declared clean, and given a new beginning.
And here comes Jesus. The angel said
that he was to be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.
The one who saves his people from their sins goes out to the place where people
are looking to be saved from their sins. Looking at it that way, where else
would Jesus go, than to be with a bunch of sinners wanting a fresh start?
Then Jesus, the sinless one, gets in
the water with the rest of the sinners. Back in the days of Noah, only Noah was
the sinless one, the only righteous person on the planet. And when the Flood
came, he was above it all, safe and secure in the ark, while all the sinners
drowned to death. And here stands another Noah, the only righteous one on
earth, but he isn’t safe and secure above it all. This righteous one gets in
the water and goes under with the rest of the sinners. Jesus identifies
completely with the sinners. In this baptism, Jesus identifies, stands with,
you and me.
And as Jesus comes out of the water,
the heavens open. Maybe it was a cloudy day when Jesus went out to see John
that day. Maybe it was raining a little bit. But when Jesus came up out of the
water, the clouds broke, the sun came out. I wonder if maybe a little rainbow
was forming. And a dove appears out of nowhere and lands on Jesus’ shoulder.
Do you remember, after the rains
were over, and after the ark had settled down on a rock outcropping, that Noah
released a dove? The dove circled around but couldn’t find anywhere to land, so
the dove came back. Noah waited a few days and then sent the dove out again.
This time the dove returned with an olive branch in its mouth, a sign that it
was about time to get out of the ark, for the waters were receding. Then Noah
releases the dove a third time, and the dove didn’t come back.
The dove came back.
There is something about the baptism
of Jesus that marks a new beginning for all of creation, a new covenant for all
God’s people, for Israel and the nations. Jesus’ baptism, in a way, was a
watershed moment. It marked the beginning of something. And at the end of the
gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to go to all the nations, baptizing in
the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching everything
that Jesus had taught them. It is this same baptism that you and I have
received. It is a baptism that marks a new beginning. It is a part of the
fulfilling of God’s righteousness for our lives, our participation in God’s
ongoing work of redeeming, making right, bringing back to life, all of
creation.
It is good for us from time to time
to be reminded of this mystery, this new covenant that has been established by
God for us, the new beginning that baptism provides for us. We come to the
waters to remember that we too are sons and daughters of God, God’s beloved,
with whom God is well pleased…most of the time. We come to be reminded that
these waters that once symbolized death and destruction, as in the days of
Noah, now symbolize cleansing and renewal. Today, we will come forward, to gaze
upon and touch this water, and remember what this water represents, in all of
its mystery, in the unfolding of God’s plan to make all things new.
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