During my first year at seminary, I had opportunity to baptize a baby–my first such experience. Being pretty anxious about this, I practiced all week on the cat. The cat did not like this. This upcoming Sunday is considered the Baptism of Christ–a time not just to consider the mysteries of this sacrament, but to affirm God’s presence in our own “rescue” from deep waters. “…the Spirit of God swoops down–the Holy Spirit like the dove who returns to Noah on the ark with an olive leaf, a sign of life. This Spirit is like a bird at the beginning of Genesis who hovers over the waters, who broods over the oceans.” (Isaac S. Villegas, SOJOURNERS, Jan. ’21: 49)
Genesis 1:1-5 begins us, literally. “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” Remember that Palestine was landlocked, and our earliest ancestors feared the “chaos” of the sea. Creation stories included Tiamet and Leviathan, sea-monsters of disorder; and relied upon the super-human (God?) to put them in their places and thus make Creation safe for humanity and “lesser” creatures… The Deep represents all that would drown our direction or wreck the harbors of our safety from terror. The waves are seen as “natural” forces, as opposed to a holy order. In Baptism, the Believer submits to this ritual capsize in order to live out the redeeming salvation of being brought through the storms by God.
In Acts 19:1-7, we find Paul traveling into Ephesus, a major port in Asia Minor. There he meets a dozen or so disciples who’re familiar with John the Baptizer’s immersion for cleaning away sins and turning from them; but they hadn’t actively known the Holy Spirit. Paul baptized them in the name of Jesus and “the Holy Spirit came upon them…” with attendant signs. These signs would seem to indicate to the rest of us that when the Spirit hits, we have little option but to proclaim God’s grace by word and action.
Which brings us to the actual account of Jesus’ baptism as remembered by Mark in the First Chapter of his gospel, verses 4-11. For the first time in Mark’s gospel, Jesus appears “from Nazareth” (quite a hike!) and is baptized by John. “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…'” Was this dove and Voice for Jesus alone, to reinforce his conviction of Messiahood? Matthew’s Gospel account makes this more public. Whatever, this was a further stage in the redemption story of God’s great care for humans: what was begun when the Spirit originally calmed the chaos has now been personalized in the individual of Jesus and those who bear his message of grace. He saw the heavens torn apart–“The baptism of Jesus tears through the border between heaven and earth. The Greek verb here is SCHIZOMENOUS, having to do with gashing something open, ripping apart. God slashes through the sky.” (Villegas, op.cit. page 48)
Who can define this mystery? The more I write, the more muddy my words seem to get. Perhaps it’s best to bask in its wonder, to remember our own baptism and be glad.
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
My brooding on passages of Scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be enjoined every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
My Blog 
Leave a comment