Reflection for the Baptism of Our Lord

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John the in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’”

Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. We begin this season of Epiphany, the season after Christmas and before Lent, by celebrating Jesus' baptism by John.

It makes sense, and is wonderful, that we celebrate this seemingly very normal thing for Jesus to have done. After all, in our lives today, we're used to baptism, it's a fairly standard event, at least for families of faith.

John was in the wilderness baptizing, promising a baptism for the repentance of sins. All sorts of people were flocking o the wilderness, to the river, to be baptized by John. And then Jesus shows up.

The last time we saw Jesus, he was just getting presented at the Temple, an infant still, with much growing and learning to do. Now, he's an adult, and has come to John in the wilderness, to the river, to be baptized. Of course, this throws John a bit. After all, he has been proclaiming that there would be one coming after him would be above him, because this one was before him. And now, here is Jesus, the very one about whom John prophesied, seeking the water. What sins could Jesus have to want to be baptized away? What reasons could this powerful Son of God have for wanting to be washed by John, this prophet in the wilderness? These questions and more were likely running through John's head as Jesus approached.

And John baptized Jesus in the river Jordan, and as Jesus rose up from the waters, “he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” This was no ordinary baptism. This was no ordinary moment, no ordinary washing in the river. This was the Son of God being claimed and named as such.

Which is where the story comes back to our own. It starts off sounding familiar: go and get baptized. It takes a turn with the tearing of the heavens and the appearance of the Holy Spirit. And then, Jesus is claimed and named as God’s own.

And what else happens to us in baptism but that we are named and claimed as children of God? It’s huge, it’s holy, and it is brilliantly simple. When the water touched your head and the Word of God was proclaimed over you, “baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” you were claimed by God, to be a child of God forever.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.