On Tuesday we celebrated the Epiphany with the account of the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem. Today we continue to celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus with the celebration of his Baptism by John in the Jordan. The Baptism is another clue to the identity of the Child in the Manger who still lies in his creche. With the coming of the Magi we think of the universality of the Christ Child; this child is for all people everywhere. Today in the Baptism we get more clues as to the significance of Christ.

Mark's account of the Baptism is brief, almost bald. There is no elaboration, no waste of words. “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” Period! In Advent we visited with John the Baptist several times: he is truly an Advent figure, looking forward to the one who is to come both as Messiah and Judge. John helps us prepare the way for the coming of the Christ child. So our Baptism of Christ gospel begins once again with John. Again it is John pointing away from himself and his ministry to the Christ, the one who is to come. “He is more powerful than I”; “I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals”; “I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” With a remarkable degree of humility John recognized that the one he witnessed to was in a different category from himself. The one who was coming would be the “real thing”, the Messiah, the Holy One of God.

When it comes to Jesus' baptism there is no dialog between John and Jesus about the appropriateness of John acting in the capacity of the baptizer as in the other gospels. No, Mark simply reports it in a matter of fact sort of way. But we need to pause for a moment to take in the stupendous nature of what is happening and its significance. Why should Jesus the sinless one be baptized at all? Of what does Jesus need to repent to receive John's baptism of repentance? Those who argue against infant baptism sometimes say why should babies who could hardly have sinned receive baptism? Should not they wait until they have had opportunity to sin properly? But there is more going on here than may meet the eye. As we look at the Creche and see in the tiny child something about the fragility and the vulnerability of God become human; about God's full participation in our human messiness; so in his baptism Jesus the sinless one fully identifies with us in our sinfulness, our basic falleness. His baptism by John in the Jordan is an act of solidarity with what I called our human messiness, the reality that we are children of Adam and Eve and share in their Fall. Incarnation in its fullest sense is about God embracing the totality of our humaness and redeeming it.

Just to touch again on the issue of infant baptism, we baptize babies as well as adults not because of particular sins but that all of us are born part of that same fallen humanity from which we all need to be redeemed and saved. That is part of who we are as humans and as Christians we believe that is only through the grace of God in Christ that we can find true salvation, the breaking of the cycle of sin and despair.

But note in today's gospel that Mark does not linger on the subject of John's baptism of Jesus. He mentions it in rather perfunctory way. And straightway he moves on to two other phenomena linked to the Baptism in the Jordan. The first is of course the Spirit descending like a dove on Jesus and the second the heavenly Voice. Both have a host of associations. In Mark's schema the words spoken by the Voice of God echo the opening words of the Gospel, “the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” “This is my Son, the Beloved; with I am well pleased.” These words echo also the words spoken at the Transfiguration on the Holy Mountain. And they echo the words spoken by the Centurion in Mark after the Crucifixion, “Truly this was God's Son.” Mark makes it abundantly clear from the beginning of his Gospel who Jesus is: he is the Messiah of God; the Son of God; the one chosen by God to reveal God's very self. But in addition to the Voice of God is the action by the dove like Spirit which descends upon him. It is the Spirit of God, that same Spirit which hovered over the waters at Creation; that Spirit or breath from God which gave life to all things. This Jesus is not only fully identified with humanity but is also at one with the Spirit God. He is truly Man and truly God. And the Voice affirms this. Action and Word stand together as Jesus' identity is fully recognized.

And this brief passage in Mark sets off a whole host of associations with other parts of scripture as illustrated by the other two readings. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him.” He is the one who will bring justice and light to the nations; hope to the prisoners and sight to the blind. This passage from Isaiah is echoed in Jesus' sermon at Nazareth. Jesus the Spirit bearer is to by God's light to the world, the hope of humankind. And Peter in his speech recorded in Acts locates the beginning of the ministry of Jesus at his baptism and “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” As we see in Mark's Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles, the Baptism is the open declaration of who Jesus is and marks the beginning of his ministry.

But what has the Baptism of Jesus to do with us? Why are we baptized? As Jesus' baptism is his outward act of solidarity with and identity with our humanity, so as we are baptized we are identified with Jesus, the bearer of the new humanity. Paul says that by baptism we die and rise with Christ. It is an outward sign of our participation in the mystery of God in Christ; in the mystery of the Incarnation. And as we identified with Christ in baptism so we identify with his Spirit driven ministry and mission; in his commitment to justice and peace; to compassion and healing; to bringing hope and future to those who are without. That is why at each baptism here at Transfiguration we join in the words of the baptismal covenant in the prayerbook as a reminder of what our baptism means. It is not simply some past event which may well have happened in infancy but rather a living reality which shapes and molds our life.