Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 11, 2009 - The Baptism of the Lord
[Isaiah 55:1-11; 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11]"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
If we place the four gospels side by side, the Gospel of Mark stands out for its lack of any preliminaries in regard to introducing the hero of the story! Matthew and Luke have their "infancy narratives" and John has his "Prologue." But Mark simply announces in one sentence that the book is a gospel and then introduces John the Baptist who will baptize Jesus three verses later! The important verse is the one quoted above. Jesus is definitively identified but the rest of the gospel is about how nobody can understand this till after he is dead and risen! In any case, the words used by the voice from heaven are taken from Isaiah 42, and identify Jesus with the mysterious "Suffering Servant." Right away our hero is identified and given a destiny. All of this is in keeping with good story-telling! Just knowing who the story is about is meant to bring us into listening - and like children at bedtime, we want to hear it over and over again. The moment the hero appears in the story is, however, important. Much has gone into the preparation - all the time since creation, in fact! Despite what we know from the "infancy narratives," Jesus has disappeared from the stage publicly and for all intents and purposes, the story begins anew with his baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus appears to have been associated with John the Baptist in some way. Although Luke identifies the two as "cousins," Mark seems to have no knowledge of that and simply recounts the inaugural event. Once John has been arrested by Herod, he is effectively removed from the stage and Jesus begins his brief career in public. His own message echos John's as well: Repent! The invitation, for all of us all these centuries later, is to enter into the story itself. Repentance hits us in the face from the very outset. What is it about this preacher that should make us listen to him, let alone change our lives by repentance? Perhaps the challenge can be met right away by reading the whole Gospel of Mark right away and then recalling it bit by bit through this liturgical year, especially in Lent. In the meantime, our own lives and faith are challenged and renewed. We cannot repeat our own baptism, but we can always renew our lives! AMEN
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