January 10, The Baptism of Jesus

Today we celebrate a bifocal Epiphany – the two fold manifestation of Christ as truly human and also really divine. In this brief gospel reading, the account of Jesus baptism, everything important and deeply significant about Jesus is revealed up-front. And what we learn at Jesus’ baptism provides answers to some frequently asked questions about the Christian faith.

The scene is the bank of the Jordan River, where John the Baptist has been preaching. John preaches judgment: the One mightier than him is coming who will be messiah and judge. John baptizes with water; the one coming after him will baptize with fire.

Yet the mightier one, Jesus, stands humbly in the Jordan River, submitting to John’s baptism. Jesus is also seen praying, a gesture in which someone bows and humbly submits to God. Jesus is clearly a human being, showing the humility that is appropriate for men and women in the presence of God.

But when Jesus is baptized by John, something happens that happens in none of John’s other baptisms - a sound and light show. The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him and there was a voice like thunder from heaven, “You are my Son, the beloved.”

The gospel makes clear that Jesus is definitely a full human being, and also the Messiah, the Christ. He is fully God and fully human.

Why is that important?

It’s the key to answering some questions - some challenges to our faith.

Years ago in New York, after a funeral I’d be invited back to the home of the deceased, where the family gathered for a “dead spread”. There’d be a table laden with food, the dead spread. and on one side of the room, another table set up as a bar. Some folks would pick up a plate of food but no one went to the bar to mix a drink. Maybe it was just for decoration and they were all tea-toddlers. Finally, some would ask if I’d like a drink. I’d walk over to the deserted bar, mix myself a drink, turn around and surprise - now ten people were on line to get a drink at the bar.

Often the drinking resulted in a problem for me. After two drinks, Uncle Charlie - the family atheist - would decide this was an occasion to challenge the pastor’s faith in front of a few other family members.

His question, which was really a challenge, was often something like this:

You can’t really trust the Bible, since it is a thoroughly human product, full of the errors and contradictions that characterize any human endeavor.

The implication is that if scripture has a human taint – shows any creaturely weakness – the Bible can’t be trusted to talk about God.

But what about Jesus? He was a man, yet he was also God. The message of today’s gospel is that God comes to us through human means. That’s the very way God has chosen to communicate with us. Christ shows us that the human can convey the divine – and lift it up. It implies that men and women – even you and I – can be bearers of the Spirit of God.

So where on earth would we expect to know anything about God except through a medium that is human? God came to us where we are, met us where we live – in the man Jesus who becomes the presence of God – in the human words of scripture that become the very voice of God.

You say I would hear God; we say listen to His word read from this Bible. You want to draw closer to God; we reply kneel and have some bread, some wine. You say I would see God; we say look at your brothers and sisters, for the Spirit of Christ dwells in them.

God comes to us and speaks to us in common, very human forms. God chose to come to us in the man, Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible is a human book, because it is written for men and women. As Jesus is a man and truly God, so the bible: human words while at the same time truly God’s word.

A Sunday school teacher taught her class the Apostles' Creed by giving each child one phrase to memorize. At their presentation before the congregation, the class began beautifully:
The first child said: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth,"
The next said” "I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,"
They went on perfectly until they came to the child who said, "He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead."
Then an embarrassing silence fell, until finally a girl spoke up saying, "The boy who believes in the Holy Spirit is absent today."

Another question I got a lot:

How can you believe in God with all the suffering and heartache in the world?

Maybe that question implies a limited idea of God. It suggests a supreme being who is above and beyond the world, and who controls everything. But the Bible truth is that we live in a broken creation. The world is in rebellion against God and His way. Men and women have declared their independence from God and His way. We sin against God and each other – indulge our selfish desires and fall victim to the evil of others. Hence, undeserved suffering.

Look at the cross – the ultimate consequence of our independence and rebellion. Look at the cross – and see the God who suffers with us. He understands us and is there for us.

Why doesn’t God just eliminate suffering? He’s working on it His way – by changing people rather than changing circumstances. God in Jesus Christ is reconciling the world through service and suffering, sacrifice and love. Maybe that’s not an appealing message for a culture that values self-sufficiency and potency.

But we’re part of that program, for he would change our hearts and minds that we might follow in His way. We are created for God’s glory and called to be his servants. We have the opportunity to bring glory to God by worshipping him, by loving one another, and by using our talents to serve the world around us. “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” St. Irenaeus

Another question begins, I don’t believe in God. And you’re an intelligent person, so how can you believe in God?

Maybe the best answer is “Tell be about the God you don’t believe in, because I probably wouldn’t believe in that God either.” Often the God they don’t believe is distant and threatening, overpowering and controlling - recording every bad things you do, so he can zap you. But that’s not the God revealed in Jesus. Our Lord is not that distant, controlling figure some imagine, but rather God incarnate – God in the world – God close to us.

At the other extreme, some don’t believe in the God whose primary function is to grant wishes. They say, when I was young I asked God for a bicycle - a bee-bee gun - and He didn’t deliver – so I stopped believing. But Jesus is not in the business of granting wishes, but rather our Lord who makes demands. The one who would lead us in His way and asks that we trust Him. Remember that Jesus never asks anyone to simply think about him, or agree with Him. He asks people to follow Him – to do what he said.

To be a Christian requires some intellectual humility. It means letting God be God – rather than the simpler God we might think up on our own. The God revealed in Jesus Christ came to transform the world in the name of the kingdom of God by transforming us – by bringing dramatic, personal change.

That gospel truth - the revelation of Jesus as truly human and also really divine - corrects a lot of false notions about God. God is not distant and far away, but has chosen to be close to us - even one of us. The Lord is not here to grant our desires, but rather to show us His way.

That same truth shows us something about being human. God chose to communicate with us through very human, earthy means - He elevated human nature by being one of us, showing us what we could become with His help. He speaks to us through human words - through the words of the Bible and sometimes also through our brothers and sisters.

God was in Jesus, and promised His Spirit to each one of us.

Christ became man that we could become more like God.