The Baptism of the Lord

 Lectionary: 21

After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. 

Context is important and Saint Luke adorns the sounding of "the voice from heaven" within three important phrases: 

1. "After all the people had been baptized, 
2.  and Jesus also had been baptized,
3. and was praying..." 

We can approach this astonishing incident slowly. First we know that John was baptizing all the people for the forgiveness of sins: 

He went throughout [the] whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: 

“A voice of one crying out in the desert:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths...."

The Gospel must remind us our sins and the opportunity of forgiveness, vindication, and freedom. It cannot be heard by those who believe they are without sin. Nor does it address them. They exist in an entirely different universe where "good" things might happen but have no meaning and cannot be called gifts. In that universe, a good thing is only "something I want," a wish satisfied. It might not be, in fact, a blessing. It might be an alcoholic's discovery of a long lost fifth of vodka. His praise of God in that moment might be sincere but is certainly misguided. 

So we begin this reflection remembering the baptism of repentance and the flocks of penitents who came to John in the Jordan valley. And Jesus was among them. 

The Lord has not yet been seen or noticed among the people. The scriptures tell us nothing about the appearance of Jesus. Was he tall or short, dark or light, slender or corpulent, bearded or shaven? Given that dearth of information, we can suppose he did not stand out when he chose to remain unnoticed. In fact, as Luke tells us in a later story, when the crowd tried to hustle him to the edge of a cliff and hurl him down, "He passed through their midst and walked away.!" On another occasion, Saint John (chapter 7) tells us: 

"...when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but [as it were] in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the feast and saying, “Where is he?”

The Lord, lost in the crowd of sinners, makes no claim of being better, sinless, or entirely innocent. He was submerged in the same muddy water of the Jordan as everyone else. The day will come when he is mistaken for a criminal and dies a criminal's death; and, once again, he does not protest his innocence.

"...and Jesus also had been baptized." 

Jesus saves us by becoming one of us. We are saved by him when we accept his love without supposing we should become worthy of his love. He doesn't love us when we become worthy. He loves us in our unworthiness. He disappears with us into a horde of sinners and only the Father came find us.   

...and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

There is One who has recognized Jesus in the crowd of penitents. Unlike the accounts of Matthew and Mark, where the Voice speaks to everyone in earshot, in Luke's telling, the Voice speaks to only one, to you. 

The Father is pleased with Jesus because he has taken upon himself our guilt, shame, and grief; because he has not said, "I thank you God that I am not like the rest of men." Rather, he has said, "O Lord, have mercy on me a sinner!" as he prayed with and in and through us. 

Who is the "you" addressed by the Voice from heaven? It is the Lord Jesus, of course. And it is you who are baptized into Christ Jesus. With you God is well pleased because you are loved by Jesus. And not because you made yourself worthy. You neither earned nor deserved it. You are worthy because the Lord has declared it so. Because you repented with Jesus and were baptized by John.