Our Gospel reading today tells the story of the Baptism of Jesus. It’s an important event in the life of Christ. There are not many stories about Jesus that are told by all four Gospel writers, but this one is. So it must be important! But the importance of this story, the message of this story, the good news of this story really has nothing to do with Jesus being baptized.
Baptisms are something to celebrate, to be sure! They are VERY important! Baptism is a means of grace for us which means it delivers life and salvation! Through Baptism we become a child of God and a member of the body of Christ. Forgiveness and grace are poured out in baptism.
But Jesus’ baptism really had nothing to do with any of those great and wonderful gifts of Baptism. In fact, Jesus did not need any of those things. John the Baptist himself said that Jesus did not need to be baptized. The fact that Jesus went out in the wilderness and stepped into the Jordan River has nothing to do with Jesus getting himself baptized. Two weeks ago we heard the story of Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the temple as an infant because it was the requirement of the law. That’s when they met Simeon and Anna. But there was no commandment about getting baptized. Except for maybe ritual washing after you touched a leper or corpse. Otherwise no mention about baptism with water in the laws of Moses.
Baptism in the first century was not something unique to John the Baptizer. There is evidence to suggest that the Qumran community, a group of Jewish scribes known for the Dead Sea scrolls, practiced baptism for spiritual cleansing. Some think that John the Baptizer may have been a member of this Jewish sect. So at the time of Jesus, people were baptized as a sign of repentance – it was a thing SINNERS did.
And that’s the point. Jesus did the thing that sinners were doing. That’s the important part. And therein lies the good news for us. It’s not about Jesus being BAPTIZED; it’s about Jesus being WITH US. Jesus went where sinners were. He got in line with those in the sinners queue. He stood by the lost and broken – the impure and the unclean. If you track Jesus’ movements during his ministry you’ll find that he is most often found among those who were on the fringes – those who were cast out – those who were considered sinners by the rest.
This is good news for us. This is what it means when we call Jesus EMMANUEL — God with us. It doesn’t just mean that God came to be with us. It means that God is with us at our worst – that God is in solidarity with us not after we get our sin under control, but even and especially when we are lost in it – that God does not run away from our brokenness, but is drawn toward it – that God is found where sinners are. A river where sinners come to be baptized – that’s where Jesus went right at the beginning of his ministry. A cross – that’s where sinners hang. In fact that is where the WORST sinners hang. That’s where Jesus ended up. And that’s where we find God.
This is how Mark begins the story of Jesus’ baptism. But THIS is the last line of the story and THIS is what it’s all about. “with you I am well pleased.” This is what God said to Jesus, not when he was doing something awesome and miraculous, but when he was standing in for sinners. Which means that THIS is what he says to you and me. “with YOU I am well please.”
This is the surprise of Jesus coming to earth. This is the obstacle: Jesus’ association with and love for sinners – that became the stumbling block that most could not get over. It is the EPIPHANY that we find in our Gospel today. Epiphany is the “aha!” we experience when something old and familiar gets replaced with a new and better understanding. And the fact that God is pleased us – that he loves us – that we belong to him – even in our broken sinner state – opens our eyes to see God more clearly: as a God standing with us sinners – pleased with us sinners – loving us sinners. That is the real AHA that changes things.
We might think that in order to be loveable and acceptable we have to BE something we are not. It’s a new year and we all resolve to be better – to improve ourselves. And while it’s not a bad idea to cultivate healthier habits, God is very pleased broken sinners. And if he is OK with ordinary fragile vulnerable human flesh and blood, then he must be ok with me and who I am. With all my weaknesses. And even at my worst.
Which means that for once in my life I don’t have to climb a ladder or cross the bridge. God is coming my way. I don’t have to try to be something other than who I am. God already loves me and is pleased with me. My importance and my value is not shaped by what I accomplish or what tribe I’m from but by an act of sheer grace and unconditional love that just reaches down and says, YOU’RE MINE!
In fact, that’s exactly what he says to us in OUR baptism: YOU’RE MINE. And YOU ARE ENOUGH – ALREADY – AS IS. That’s a big deal. It’s the biggest deal of all. Because each of us also longs to hear words of love and acceptance. Which is precisely the gift of Baptism. We do not have to do anything to receive God’s promises. We are called God’s beloved children not because of something we do but because of who God is – a loving God who is surprisingly very pleased with sinners and wants to be with us.
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