Baptism of Christ

Baptism of Christ: 13th January 2008 - Year A

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17

Today we’re going to explore Matthew’s version of Jesus’ baptism. When we arrive at the baptism story in Matthew chapter 3:13, Jesus is suddenly an adult. The last we heard of Jesus at the end of chapter 2, Joseph had just taken Mary and the infant Jesus back to Galilee in Israel after their flight into Egypt. The small babe we read of in Matthew chapter 2 is now the adult Jesus ready to start his ministry on the banks of the Jordan River. It seems odd doesn’t it that the baby being venerated in the manger is, a few short verses later, a fully grown adult about to make his first steps on the road to Calvary. No terrible twos, no toilet training, no learning to read and write or to interact with those around him. Did he suffer from teenage angst? Did he have to learn how to deal with the local Nazarene bullies? We just don’t know. This reminds us that the gospels are not just stories but theological narratives: stories told with a definite point in mind. What we might think are significant details that would help us to get to know Jesus, do not advance the theological argument of the gospel and are therefore left out.
I’m going to argue that there are 3 significant points that Matthew wants us to know about Jesus in this passage.
Point 1: Jesus is human like us.
We’ve heard the story of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan so often that it is really easy to skim over it and miss the deeper meanings within. We just accept Jesus arriving at the Jordan River presenting himself to John for baptism along with all the others. – But notice how John responds. He actually argues with Jesus. Verse 14 says: “John would have prevented him, saying “I need to be baptised by you and you come to me?” John knows that he has been sent to pave the way for Jesus. In verse 11, just preceding this passage, John has just told the Pharisees and Sadducees that: “I baptise you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.” John is disturbed that the revered one he has been paving the way for does not appear as a great hero/teacher sent to prove his power and might. Instead this first action of the adult Jesus is one of humility.

For this is the truly surprising point about this Jesus. In contrast to the powerful Jesus from John’s introduction a couple of verses earlier, the first act of this Jesus is to put himself on the level of ordinary humanity and seek to be baptized along with all of the others who sought baptism from John. Jesus who is to end his ministry on a cross being crucified between two criminals begins his ministry in a river amongst penitent sinners.
This is how Biblical scholar Fredrick Brunner puts it:
From his baptism to his execution Jesus stays low, at our level, identifying with us at every point, becoming as completely one with us in our humanity in history as, in the church’s teaching he was completely one with God in eternity. Jesus’ “at-one-ment” with the human race visible already at baptism, is as impressive and as important for human salvation as Jesus’ at-one-ment with the heavenly Father…most potent on the cross.
Frederick Dale Brunner, Matthew: Volume 1 The Christbook, Matthew 1-12
So by putting himself in the place of sinners being baptised by John in the river Jordan, Jesus emphasises his humanity. He is at one with us: he is one of us.
Point 2: It reveals Jesus’ mission:
If we hold in mind this idea of Jesus sent to be at one with the ordinary people as we look at the Isaiah reading for today, we start to get an idea of the kind of mission which Jesus is on. Isaiah 42: 1-9 is one of four poetic passages in the Book of Isaiah often referred to as "The Servant Songs." They describe Israel's mission as God's servant people chosen to bring "light to the nations." This passage was composed by an unknown prophet during Israel's exile in Babylon from 586-539BC. Although it must be noted that this passage does not exclusively refer to Jesus, and that we should not read Old Testament texts purely through Christian lenses, the early Christian church nonetheless regarded these poems as prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah.
If we do read the passage with Christ in mind it does give us a firm idea of the role which a servant messiah might play: a role which contrasts with the politically powerful warrior type messiah that the Jews were expecting. The main item on the agenda for the servant is Justice: it is clear from Isaiah verse 4 that the servant is one who will “not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.” This certainly fits with what we will discover about Jesus in the rest of Matthew’s gospel: he is indeed one who is passionate about bringing justice to the poor and the suffering. So this passage, when read with Matthew’s Jesus insisting that he be baptised by John along with the ordinary people in the Jordan, makes it clear right at the start of Jesus’ ministry that he has been sent to side with the humble and the outcast and bring Justice to all the earth.

Jesus’ baptism, coupled with his death and resurrection is an act of redemption – one which rights the injustice of the world and sets the prisoners free. The word redemption literally means “to buy back” In the ancient world there were 2 types of slaves – those born or forced into slavery and others who paid off a debt or crime by becoming enslaved. The second type could be freed if someone paid the debt. They would then be the slave of the purchase or freed completely. Thus we are like slaves who have been set free: no longer enslaved by destructive behaviour but liberated through the baptism and death of Christ. In this way, Jesus paralleling the Servant song in Isaiah brings Justice to the earth.

Point 3: It highlights Jesus’ relationship to the father.
Both the servant in Isaiah and Matthew’s Jesus come from the father.

In the Isaiah reading, God, the LORD, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who gave breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk upon it has given the servant to the people in order that he will be a light to the nations: one who is to open eyes that are blind. The servant is a gift to humanity – sent to bring justice and freedom to the world.

The Matthew reading also makes it clear that Jesus is sent by the father. The baptism of Jesus is described only briefly: he “was baptized, [and] came up from the water.” The drama is found in the aftermath when the dove like Spirit descends on him, a voice from heaven is heard, and the identity of Jesus is revealed, “this is my beloved son.” Matthew presents this as a declaration to all who hear it – “this is my son.” This is quite different to Mark and Luke’s accounts where God speaks to Jesus directly: “you are my son.” Matthew wants to declare to all who listen: “This is God’s son.” The story of Jesus’ baptism make clear both Jesus’ solidarity with suffering humanity and his “one-ness” with God.
The words with which God anoints Jesus in Matthew are very similar to those used to describe the servant in Isa 42:1 - 'This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased'. As the servant in the Isaiah reading was chosen and endowed with God's spirit to do the task of bringing justice to the earth so Jesus as God's son was the beloved chosen to reveal God's self to humanity.

Russian contemplative icons


I’ve chosen this icon to share with you because I think it makes a profound point in a pictorial form. This particular icon comes from the Russian Orthodox tradition and was produced around the 14th century. Many people, including a large group within the Uniting Church, write icons as a way of getting inside the story: they find that by painting (which is officially called writing) an icon, or just by meditating on it they come to a much deeper and more profound understanding of the truths within the story. I find that the longer I look at an icon the more things I find within it – icons are full of rich symbolism.
This icon shows us that not only does the story of Jesus’ baptism illuminate profound truths about the identity of Jesus and his role – it invites us into the story: to partake in the baptismal experience.


Here’s a modern version of this icon – it’s a little clearer and easier to read than the 14th century version. You’ll notice that the water at the bottom of the painting splays outwards almost as though we were standing in the water with Jesus. The saints who look on are faced outwards almost as if they too are looking towards us. We are part of the story. Jesus’ baptism is not only for him, it is for us.
See what “the other” Brendan Byrne has to say about this point:

“What Jesus experiences here following his baptism is something that all the baptized can claim. Each one, before any good work of which they may subsequently be capable and simply because of their union with Jesus, can take to themselves that same divine assurance: “This is my beloved son/daughter with whom I am well pleased.”
Brendan Byrne – Lifting the Burden: Reading Matthew’s Gospel in the church today.

This is one of the most personally profound truths of the gospel – and for me one of the hardest to actually come to terms with. There is nothing I can do to make myself acceptable to God –to earn my place in the kingdom. All I can do is learn to submit and accept this miraculous and awesome gift of redemption offered as a result of Christ’s baptism, death and resurrection.

SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION ILLUSTRATION:
One of the best examples in film of just how powerful the gift of redemption can be is in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption.


Andy Du Fresne is imprisoned for murdering his adulterous wife and her lover. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Andy proclaims his innocence and, without giving away too much, we later discover that he was indeed innocent. On entering Shawshank prison the men are stripped naked and hosed down, then marched upstairs to their cells. Thus the cell almost comes to symbolise a womb – “your whole life gone away and nothing but all the time in the world to think about it.” He is the prisoner of an unjust and violent prison system. However Andy holds on to hope – it is the one thing which he claims that the prison system cannot take away from him no matter what they do to him. The Shawshank Redemption is the story of one man attempting to keep his hope of redemption and freedom alive in spite of the overwhelming suffering of his present situation.
The clip I am going to show you is of Andy’s escape from Shawshank Prison. In it we see the moment of his redemption and can feel the blessed relief it brings him.


Andy’s character has experienced a drought of the soul – 20 years in which he has been degraded and dehumanised in the most appalling of ways. The redemptive moment of his escape from prison is marked by Du Fresne lifting his arms in a cruciform fashion and laughing in relief as the rain literally washes the filth of his prison life from him. After this redemptive baptismal experience Andy is able to go and live in peace on a beach somewhere – in a place with “no memory”, somewhere where he would be free of the pain and suffering of his life in the prison.

This is a powerful image for me of the redemptive experience that Christian baptism offers to all of us. Freedom. A freedom to be loved and accepted as children of whom God says: You are my child in whom I am well pleased.”