TSJ 11-01-2015
Mk 1:1-12
Our Gospel reading this morning is from beginning of Mark’s Gospel and it is about John’s baptism of Jesus.
Mark’s Gospel starts with these words:
The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And then goes on to tell us about Jesus baptism by John
The incarnation of Jesus was not some afterthought God had.
It was planned from the beginning of time.
The beginning of the Gospel is earthed in the Old Testament, where the coming of John the Baptist - the messenger or herald coming ahead of Jesus the Messiah - is predicted.
The first part of the quote attributed to Isaiah is in fact a quote from Malachi 3:1 which reads:
“See I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me”
And second part from Isaiah 40:3:
A voice of one calling: “In the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
It was quite usual in Hebrew writing that when two quotes are put together to attribute the whole to the more important prophet – in this case to Isaiah
The idea of a messenger going ahead is bit foreign to our 21st Century ears, but to Mark’s original audience it would not have been
Donald English the Bible Commentator in his commentary on Mark’s Gospel says this:
“In the Greek city-state the herald
(a) preceded the king, drawing attention to his coming and
(b) called the citizens to the assembly which determined the city’s life.”
Indeed when an important king was coming it was not unusual to send a herald ahead to tell the local population to fix the roads to receive the king in proper style.
John and his message are foretold in the Old Testament
And Mark starts his Gospel where Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament left off.
For with coming of John the Baptist, God breaks a three hundred year silence with his people, the Jews.
John the Baptist was Jesus’ forerunner or herald
But I would like to explore the question this morning/evening :
Have you ever wondered: Why did Jesus need to be baptised?”
Or put another way: If Jesus is the perfect Son of God why did he need to respond to John the Baptist call for repentance and subsequent baptism in water?
Does Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God need to repent?
After all John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance
Well before I am accused of heresy let me say no I don’t think Jesus needed to repent.
But I think when we read St. Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism we get a clue why Jesus was baptised.
This is what Matthew records:
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he consented. (Mt 3:13-15)
What did Jesus mean?
I think Michael Green hit the nail on the head when he said:
“By submitting to baptism, Jesus acknowledged God’s claim on him, as on others, for total consecration of life and holiness of character”
(The Message of Matthew – Michael Green p. 80).
I believe there are four reasons that Jesus was baptised.
1. The first reason was that it was a sign of his complete dedication to following the will of God.
For everyone else who came to John for baptism, this required a change in direction – hence the call for them to repent of their old ways and turn to God’s way of life.
But for Jesus baptism was simply a public declaration of
i) his love of God the Father and
ii) that He was following the will of God in His life.
Jesus’ baptism was a public declaration of his commitment to the Father
2. The second reason was that it announced the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Both John the Baptist and God the Father both confirmed Jesus unique calling publicly.
Remember in Jewish Law for a fact to be established you needed tww witnesses.
Here it was John the Baptist and God the Father.
Jesus baptism was a consecration for ministry.
3.The third reason that I think Jesus was baptised was as an example to us.
Jesus taught his followers to be baptised – and here he is giving a firm lead.
His baptism was an example that we do well to follow.
The Great Commission in Mt 28 reads as follows:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Mt. 28:19-20)
And we see God the Father’s response in Mk 1:11 to Jesus’ baptism
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
I think this a nugget that we do well to apply to our own lives.
Doing what we are told is something that doesn’t come easily to me – just ask Maddy.
But when God tells us to do something – if he really is our Lord and Master then we do well to obey him.
We should live so that the Father is pleased with us.
For when God is pleased, nothing else matters
Story: Caspar ten Boon
In her famous book and film, “The Hiding Place” Corrie ten Boom tells the story of a Dutch Christian family - her family, who had a heart for the Jewish people.
Her grandfather Wilhelm started a weekly prayer
group in 1844 in the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam
for the salvation of the Jews.
And this weekly prayer meeting continued uninterrupted until 1944 - when the ten Boon family were sent to a concentration camp for helping Jews to flee from the Nazi persecution in Holland
Corrie tells a curious story about her father Caspar.
When the Jews were forced to wear a “Star of David,” as a symbol of shame and so they could be easily identified on the streets as Jews making it easier for Nazi’s to abuse them publically - Casper lined up for one.
He wore it because he wanted to identify himself with the people for whom he and his family had been praying for all those years.
He was prepared to be so completely identified with the Jews that he was willing to wear their sign of shame.
He was prepared to suffer persecution for the sake of the people he loved and for whom he had been praying.
He didn’t have to wear the Star but chose to.
4. And this brings me to my fourth reason why Jesus was baptised.
Jesus chose to identify with us and our sinful nature.
Just as Caspar ten Boon wore the Star of David to identify with the Jews.
And his baptism was a prefiguring of the Cross which was to come.
The Cross on which Jesus would so identify with the human race that he took the penalty of our sins on himself.
So what is the significance of Jesus identifying with us in His baptism?
What practically does it mean to us today?
Well, I think the answer can be found in the Book of Hebrews:
14Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebr. 4:14-16)
Jesus has identified so completely with us, that we can approach Him totally confident that He is interested in all we do in our lives.
Jesus has identified so completely with us, that we can approach Him totally confident that He will understand how we live our lives
Jesus isn’t on the balcony; he has joined us on the road.
What do I mean by that?
Story: When I lived in Switzerland, Maddy and I had a holiday house in Oberegg, which had a balcony overlooking the road between Oberegg and Heiden.
As long as we sat on the balcony and looked down
on people walking along the road, the road was no use to us – other than as a topic of conversation.
The road only became useful to us if we were to leave the balcony and go down onto the road.
Jesus joins us on the road of our pilgrimage through life and he is interested in all aspects of our lives – our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures.
Jesus’ identification with us - at his baptism and more completely on the Cross - gives me permission to approach His Throne of Grace with my fears and anxieties.
Let us not be afraid to come to Him.
Jesus is not some distant Deity that has set the world spinning and now leaves us to “get on with it”.
Rather “let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
We call that PRAYER.
Conclusion
So in summary, what can we learn from Jesus’ Baptism
1. No one is too important to do the humblest task God asks him to do – even if he feels it isn’t necessary.
Jesus didn’t need to be baptised – but did so in obedience to God.
2. And secondly, Jesus was baptised to identify with His people.
We too need to be willing to identify with Jesus – out in the workplace, among our friends.
Let us remember too the words of Jesus
33 But whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven (Mt 10:33)
You see being a Christian has responsibilities as well as rights.
When we received Christ we received the right to become Children of God.
But with rights come responsibilities – for we are God’s ambassadors.
What people see in us will be a reflection of what they think of Christ.
May I conclude with a legend
There is an old legend which says when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the angel Gabriel asked him,
"Lord what plans have you made for carrying on your ministry in the world?
How will people learn of what you have done for them?"
Jesus responded, "I left that to Peter, James and John, Martha and Mary.
They are to tell their friends and their friends will tell other friends until the whole world has hear the good news."
Gabriel then asked, "What if Peter is so busy with his nets and Martha so full of her housework and the friends so preoccupied that they all forget to tell their friends?
Don’t you think you should make a “Plan B”"
Jesus answered, "I have no Plan B .
I am counting on My Children to spread my name and my love.
