Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 11, 2015 - The Baptism of the Lord - B (optional; new)
[opt: Isa 55:1-11; opt: 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11]It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." [Mark]
The Gospel of Mark is the oldest of the gospels. It does not have an "infancy narrative" like Matthew and Luke, nor a "prologue" like John. It just starts with Jesus' debut at the Jordan, leaving all kinds of unanswered questions about Jesus and his origins! What's more, this account leaves us with all kinds of other questions that we may never know the answer to! Why did Jesus come to be baptized? Was he a disciple of John the Baptist? What need did Jesus have to "repent?" Where did Mark get the image of a dove to describe the Spirit? Why does this event seem more personal - Jesus is the only one who sees the Spirit and hears the voice - than the accounts in the other gospels where the voice from the heavens seems more public? Scripture scholars long to know these things.
Every story has to have a beginning and this is where the Gospel of Mark begins! Mark identifies Jesus with a figure in Isaiah known as the "suffering servant" in Isaiah 42. This is how the evangelist introduces Jesus and we have to take it from there. Mark's story makes it clear that even Jesus' closest associates were trying to figure out who he was until he rose from the dead! We have the benefit of the centuries of faith and meditation of the church. We have the other three gospels. What do we make of this debut? AMEN
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