The Sánchez Archives BAPTISM OF THE LORD Year B

By
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez

An Inaugural Event

ISAIAH 42:1-4, 6-7
ACTS 10:34-38
MARK 1:7-11

In a few days, a president will be inaugurated in the United States. There will be an official oath of office taken and a speech will be given, intended to inspire and set the course of the nation for the next four years. Occasionally some of these speeches or inaugural addresses have been memorable; quoted again and again, the words stir the hearts of those who hear them with a renewed sense of purpose. In his second inaugural address (delivered 4 March 1865), Abraham Lincoln invited the nation to live “with malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right. Let us strive on to finish the work we are in.” In representing his ideas to the nation, Franklin D. Roosevelt noted, “In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor“ (Inaugural Address, 4 March 1933). John F. Kennedy, in his January 1961 inaugural declared, “Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out ‘rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation’ -- a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.“ Sadly, each of these men died while in office, Roosevelt of illness, Lincoln and Kennedy at the hands of their assassins.

There is a certain serendipitousness in the fact that the church commemorates the Baptism of Jesus at this time of the year. Not a political event per se, Jesus’ baptism could be compared to an inauguration in that it prefaced a ministry that did indeed have political as well as religious repercussions on the world in which he lived. Like Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy, Jesus also died while in the process of realizing his inaugural ideals.

In today’s first reading, the Servant Song of Deutero-Isaiah offers readers what could be thought of as an anticipation of Jesus’ inaugural address and job description. But unlike ordinary political candidates who compose their own speeches, or are aided in their efforts by a bevy of speech-writers, this inaugural is presented as being delivered by God. Anointed, not by votes or public opinion, but by God, the Servant was also empowered by God to serve the cause of universal justice.

Luke in the second reading from the Acts of the Apostles also referenced Jesus’ baptism; anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, Jesus went forth from that inaugural event doing good and healing all. Mark’s version of Jesus’ baptism (gospel), also includes a divine inaugural declaration. Jesus is identified by the heavenly voice as the beloved Son, whose person and mission God’s favor would rest.

If indeed, Jesus’ baptism can be considered an inaugural event, then the baptism of his disciples should be similarly regarded. Recall the tried and true definition of the sacrament as presented in the now defunct, but never forgotten, Baltimore Catechism: Baptism: (1) forgives our sin, and fills us with grace; (2) makes us temples of the Holy Spirit; (3) initiates us into the death and resurrection of Jesus; (4) welcomes us into the Body of Christ which is the church; (5) makes us sharers in the ministry of the gospel. Not an end in itself, baptism marks the beginning of what should continue to be a life of consecrated service and covenantal love for God and one another. An inaugural sacrament, baptism sets the tone and maps out the course for the future of the believer and the church.

Lamenting the fact that baptism does not always occupy the place it should in Christian awareness, Jean Frisque and Thierry Maertens (Guide for the Christian Assembly, Fides Publishers Inc., Notre Dame IN: 1971) have cited two reasons for this anomaly. Many Christians baptized as infants and do not have “any natural feeling about Baptism influencing their person or that as a result of it all their energies ought to be mobilized for the cause of the kingdom! Secondly, many baptized believers are estranged from the life of the church in all essentials and no longer live the faith.

Perhaps today’s commemoration of Jesus’ baptism will provide an occasion for considering the importance of this sacramental experience and for being renewed in its true significance. Obviously, those who are not present among the gathered assembly (fallen away, lax, disenchanted Christians) cannot avail themselves of this opportunity. Therefore it devolves upon members of the congregation to be responsible for reaching out, in invitation, in understanding, and in love to these disenfranchised disciples. Such a ministry is part and parcel of our baptismal commitment. To paraphrase a far more eloquent American, “and so my fellow Christians, ask not what your church (community, brother/sister) can do for you -- ask what you can do for your church (community, brother/sister).“

ISAIAH 42:1-4, 6-7

Included in the ceremonious inauguration of an American president is the salute to the flag, the words of which declare allegiance to “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.“ Liberty in this context means freedom from confinement, servitude or forced labor as well as the right to act, believe and express oneself in a manner of one’s own choosing. Justice means equity, fair treatment and due reward in accordance to law. However, these ideals pale significantly when compared to the liberty and justice which were to be effected through the mission of the Servant of God, as outlined in this excerpted text.

Profiled in four separate poems or songs which are interspersed among the prophecies of Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) the Servant was variously identified as: (1) the sixth century B.C.E. prophet himself, struggling to minister to the needs of his contemporaries during their exile; (2) Jeremiah, who suffered under the burden of preaching an unpopular message (repent, return to the Lord) to an unreceptive and often hostile audience; (3) the collective people of Israel themselves who, by virtue of the blessings of the covenant should have been a light to the nations; (4) the anawim or poor ones whose enduring fidelity to God set them apart as witnesses; (5) some future messianic figure upon whom Israel could pin its hopes for prosperity, peace and justice.

When considered together, the four songs describe the Servant as one called and anointed by God. Endowed with God’s own spirit, the Servant would be patient, meek, merciful, and forbearing. Despite persecution and rejection, the innocent Servant would be willing to suffer cruelty, abuse and even death so that the sins of others might be forgiven. Because of the Servant, the life-giving covenantal relationship between God and humankind would be firmly established and sustained.

When the songs first appeared in the sixth century B.C.E., the liberty won by the Servant (vv. 6-7) for the sake of his people was equated with the end of his people’s confinement as exiles in Babylon. Freed from their oppressors they would once again experience tsedaqah or mishpat, i.e. the justice or righteousness of God on their behalf. Not a juridical term, justice could be thought of as salvation, not as a human achievement but as a divine gift. Through the Servant, God had set right the relationship with Israel; what their sin had broken and alienated, God, through the Servant had healed and restored.

Given the description of the Servant and his mission, Christian believers understood that these ancient songs of hope had been fully realized only in the person and through the ministry of Jesus. Each of the New Testament evangelists has reflected this belief in their respective contributions to the Christian scriptures.

With Jesus, however, the liberty effected was not accomplished by a trek across the desert from Babylon to Jerusalem. Rather, Jesus’ words and works, have forever ended the exile created by human sin. In Jesus’ own dying and rising a new and everlasting covenant has been forged and justice, or salvation, has been made available to all who would repent of their sins, return to God and appropriate these gifts by faith.

ACTS 10:34-38

For some of the early disciples of Jesus, the universal scope of his mission as God’s Servant was easier to envision as a far-off future ideal than as a present challenge to be realized through the mission of the church. . . a case in point? Peter! and other Christians of similar ilk (James et al.) whose passion for their Jewish heritage sometimes restricted and clouded what should have been the community’s limitless horizons. Although they had fully accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and had been baptized in Jesus’ name, some of the Jewish converts to Christianity had not left behind a deeply ingrained attitude toward those who were not Jews, viz., the gentiles. Understandably, Jesus’ short ministry was not sufficient to eradicate centuries’ old prejudices and a nascent Christianity needed more time and much effort to assimilate the loving mind and heart of Jesus. No doubt, the first decades after Jesus’ resurrection were marked by conflict; something of the turmoil of that tumultuous period is clearly evidenced in the Acts of the Apostles.

Peter had been invited by Cornelius to come to his home. A centurion in charge of the cohort Italica, Cornelius was stationed at the Roman garrison in Caesarea. Attracted to Judaism’s monotheistic beliefs, values, and ethics, Cornelius was known to the Jews as a God-fearer. As such, he was, as Luke has described him, a devout man who gave alms generously to the Jewish people and prayed to God constantly (Acts 10:2). Cornelius also observed the commandments and may have attended synagogue and/or Temple services but did not adhere to Judaism’s strict dietary regulations or submit to circumcision. Nevertheless, prior to his conversion to Christ, Peter would probably not have thought twice about rejecting Cornelius’ invitation. In order to maintain his ritual purity and be able to participate in community, and religious functions, he would have been careful to avoid contact with gentiles.

Even after his conversion, Peter was inclined to move slowly with regard to the gentile mission of the church. However, as Luke teaches his readers again and again in Acts, when humankind, left to its own resources, reaches an impasse, the Spirit begins to move. In what could be characterized as a giant leap forward, and due, in no small measure, to divine prompting (Acts 10:2-5, 11-15, 19-20) Peter’s vision broadened, his faith deepened and his grasp of God’s universal concerns became more firm. Upon arriving at Cornelius’ home, he gave voice to his new insight, “I begin to see how true it is that God shows no partiality“ . . . “Jesus is Lord of all“ (vv. 34, 36).

In addition to underscoring the universality of God’s saving power, this excerpt from Acts is apropos for today’s feast in that it references God’s baptismal anointing of Jesus and affirms the manifest presence of God in all Jesus’ words and works (v. 38). Because of Jesus’ saving death and rising, the former rules of clean/unclean have been obviated. Washed in baptism, and freed from the defilement of sin, sincere, upright people of any nation are acceptable to God and should, therefore, be acceptable to the church.

But important lessons are not easily learned. As Paul indicated in his letter to the Galatinas (2:11-14) Peter, yielded to pressure from James and other ultra-conservative Jewish Christians and backed down from his acceptance of gentiles. No doubt, he had to return many times to the memory of this experience with Cornelius and repeat what he had learned. . . “I begin to see how true it is that God shows no partiality.“ Contemporary believers would do well to learn from Peter and repeat his words as a mantra whenever human prejudices threaten the universal ministry of the church.

MARK 1:7-11

In his excellent and comprehensive study, John P. Meier (A Marginal Jew, Rethinking the Historical Jesus - Volume Two: Mentor, Message, Miracles, Doubleday, New York: 1994) has described Mark’s narrative of Jesus’ baptism as a Christian “midrash, a learned use of various OT texts to present the reader of the Gospel with an initial interpretation of who Jesus is.“ As the originator of the literary genre known as gospel, the Marcan evangelist was the first to associate the ministry of Jesus with the messianic prophecies. However, as Meier explains, before looking at the OT texts there is the question of NT prophecy, namely the preaching of John the Baptizer. In the descent of the Spirit (v. 10), Mark indicates that Jesus is indeed the “one more powerful“ (v. 7), who “will baptize with the Holy Spirit“ (v. 8), as promised by John. Apologetically, the reference to John also placed the Baptizer and his ministry in its proper context, as preparatory to, and subordinate to Jesus.

Looking back now, at Hebrew tradition, the description of the rending of the heavens (v. 10) evoked the prayer of post-exilic Judah as it cried out for God to act on its behalf, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down“ (Isaiah 63:19). Mark’s narrative infers that God had indeed “come down“ in the person and mission of Jesus.

By describing Jesus as “coming up out of the water“ (v. 10), Mark recalled the exodus event whereby the escapees from Egypt passed through water, by God’s power, and became a people (Exodus 14:22). Also referenced is the prayerful request of Trito-Isaiah: “Where is he who brought up out of the sea the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who put his holy spirit in their midst?“ (63:11). Mark’s account of the baptism by John portrays Jesus as a new, Moses-like, shepherd, who, filled with God’s holy spirit will form a new flock and lead this new people from death to life through the waters of baptism. The presence of the Spirit (v. 10) further recalled the consecration and anointing of the Servant, as prophesied by Deutero-Isaiah (11:2) and Trito-Isaiah (61:1).

Additional clarification of Jesus’ identity and purpose is provided by the bath qol, or “daughter of a voice“ that came from the heavens; the term, “beloved Son“ cast Jesus in a royal messianic light and recalled the enthronement psalm wherein Israel’s anointed king was addressed by God as “You are my son“ (Ps 2:7). Moreover, the adjective beloved may have been made in order to associate Jesus with Isaac, son of Abraham, whose willingness to sacrifice his “only beloved son“ (Genesis 22:2) was thought to foreshadow the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.

Because the Marcan account of Jesus’ baptism is so heavily laden with apologetic and theological riches, some scholars dismiss its historicity and regard the narrative as an inner psychological experience of Jesus or as an early Christian composition. But, as John P. Meier, Raymond E. Brown and other fine scholars have noted, the midrashic quality of the telling of the event does not explain away the reality. After all, Jesus’ submission to John’s baptism of repentance for sinners was a source of confusion and embarrassment for the early church. Each evangelist did his best at “damage control“ by clarifying the identities and roles of John and Jesus. Had the baptism been simply an inner psychological experience or the handiwork of early theologians, it would not have posed such a problem.`

What remains clear is that Jesus’ baptism marked a turning point in his life; from then on the beloved Son, through the power of the Spirit, was consumed with the work of the kingdom. In this fact lies a challenge for all baptized in Christ’s name. Beloved sons and daughters of God, empowered by the Spirit, we are to be similarly consumed with the ministry we have inherited from our brother, Jesus.

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