Today’s Gospel reading is all about Jesus’ baptism on the Jordan river. So I started unpacking the topic of baptism, and the more I looked into it I found out that baptism is not a simple thing. And so I looked for a focus, a package in which to present this vast and inspiring subject. And then I thought about last Sunday’s service. We were asked, “How is Jesus present in our lives? And it was great service! Jesus is with us and we can see it. And while Epiphany presents mystical and heavenly events and scenarios, it also shows us Jesus in earthly terms, being with us and sharing our humanity. Jesus’ baptism on the Jordan is an example of God coming to earth and partaking in our lives, and revealing his saving mission. Jesus is with us in baptism too, because he was baptised, just like us.
When I imagine the baptism of Jesus, I see a busy crowd of people, on the banks of the Jordan. There would’ve been John and his disciples present, other people getting baptised, and curious onlookers too. Jesus would have lined up like the others, patiently waiting his turn. John was humble too. I can imagine, that he may have taken Jesus quietly aside and said, “Do you think this is a good idea? I’m the one that needs baptising more than you.” John was baptising people for the repentance of sin and John knew full well that Jesus was without sin. John really didn’t want to baptise Jesus.
But Jesus told him that it was right for him to be baptised just like everyone else. He said: “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus was basically saying, let’s do this anyway, because it’s what God wants us to do. Jesus came specially to the Jordan, to that spot, with the intention to be baptised by John and nobody else. And he used the word “us”, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. “Us” being Jesus and John; It meant that both of them needed to be involved, in order to fulfill all righteousness, in other words, to do God’s will.
Everything had to be right, God’s plan as mapped out in the prophesies of Isaiah needed to be followed to the letter, because what was important was the fulfillment of God’s will. Isaiah was the blueprint for Jesus’ mission and John’s as well. Jesus and John were in this plan together. Isaiah prophesied the presence of John in Is 40:3. He is referred to as, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.” And in Is 53:11, the prophet refers to Jesus when he says, “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.” It is this interaction between John the baptiser and Jesus the baptised, out in the wilderness, that reveals Jesus as Lord, and fulfills prophecy. And it’s a family connection too. They were cousins and their destinies were intertwined right from the start.
Jesus’ baptism is also an act of humility. He consents to be counted as if he were a sinner, along with everyone else. This act foreshadows the time on the cross when he takes on the sins of the world. In 2 Corinthians Paul writes, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus allows himself to be covered over by the waters of the Jordan and arises, renewed and ready to take on his mission, as a servant of God. He was like one of the many being baptised that day and just like everyone who decides to be baptised. Baptism means dying to sin, turning away from it, that’s what the word repent means, to turn away. And you can’t be unbaptised, it’s not something you can undo. Baptism means that each step forward is a step away from selfishness, and a step towards God. There’s no turning back.
John was telling people to repent, to make straight the highway for our God. He was not just talking about geography. The highway can be looked at as a metaphor for our hearts and our lives. For Jesus to travel the highway of our lives, the road needs to be straight, without bends or detours or obstacles. And this is where repentance comes in. John’s baptism of repentance was a way for people to straighten that path, to remove obstacles that interfere with receiving God’s word, and having Jesus live in them. Clearing away past sin, by the act of baptism, is a way of making our road straight for Jesus to walk through our lives.
Most of us, I gather, were baptised as babies, but infant baptism is a different scenario altogether. It started sometime in the second century AD and some scholars think that it was linked to the Antonine plague which devastated Europe around this time. Baptism was a way for Christians to consecrate their baby to God, and for the baby’s soul to go straight to heaven in case the worst happened. This would have been a totally understandable practice. But it is was purely symbolic; all babies, baptised or not, are precious, and from the moment they’re conceived they belong to God. Today, baptising infants is a means of initiating them into the Christian faith, and marks their entry into the Church.
Adult baptism on the other hand is a turning point in people’s lives, it’s sometimes called a rite of passage. This is what Jesus experienced too; it was the end of the old part of his life and the start of a new one, and a total surrender to God the Father and his will. Gone was the life of Jesus the carpenter, working at his day job in Nazareth, the ordinary son of Joseph and Mary. Jesus was to play the central part in the history of redemption taking place between God and his people. It’s a relationship with all humanity, and a mighty plan that is still being played out. And we can see God’s plan happening, we can see the presence of Jesus among us.
Praise God that here in Australia (and certainly in the United States too) we are seeing a surge in spiritual hunger, and it’s being displayed in the form of mass open-air baptisms. Last Easter, In Melbourne on the Frankston foreshore, and in Perth, on the Swan River, more than a thousand believers were baptized. In June, in the United States, close to 30,000 people across the country were baptised all on the same day. This was such a powerful public witness.
I’d like to quote what the the organiser of the Frankston mass baptism event said:
“Today, we came together — not as separate churches, but as one family — to celebrate hundreds of decisions to step into new life in Christ. On this Good Friday, as we remembered the price Jesus paid, we also witnessed the power of His love. People choosing to leave their old lives behind, going down into those waters with Christ, and rising again in Him. Behold, new creations!”
When I see the photos of these scenes, it fills me with so much hope, knowing that the Spirit of God is moving in the world. What an amazing and uplifting experience it would have been, to be there on the beach in Frankston that day, to feel the love and faith among all those young people.
Many many years ago, when I was a teenager, I was privileged to attend the baptism of Sam our next door neighbour, who was also a good friend. He was in his thirties at the time, married, with a young family. The baptism took place in a Pentecostal church not far from where we lived. I really didn’t know what to expect. It was a big church and it was full, and several people were being baptised that evening. It was such an uplifting experience to be a part of. Sam was so happy, and so was everyone in the congregation, you couldn’t help but be caught up in the power of the Spirit moving that day. It was beautiful too, he was dressed in a white robe and they had a small tiled pool with waist deep water for the immersion. It seemed like the first day of the rest of his life, he was being reborn. And Sam remained strong in his faith right to the end. His faith was his anchor and it was what gave his life meaning.
A search for meaning is what is happening with the revival that we are seeing today. The world has become a confusing place, especially post Covid, and people are searching for a spiritual anchor. The political, economic and social instability that we see around us has resulted in people, especially the young, seeking a deeper connection, and looking to God. We see people restoring their relationship with God. And so we see them going down to the river, and down to the sea, and sometimes even to back yard swimming pools, to be cleansed, to be liberated, and to go forward in strength and renewed faith. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is being showered on so many. He is here among us and we can feel his presence in this upwelling of spiritual joy.
Most of us were baptised long ago as little babies, and I’m not saying we should go out and do it all over again as grown ups. But today, as we consider the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, it’s good to be reminded of what baptism means to us as individuals as we move forward in our faith. In a way, every new day is a day of baptism, of renewal, and cleansing. Each day is a chance to affirm our devotion, to make ourselves “right with God” and to put behind us all the things that separate us from him. Every morning we can wake up and make the highway straight for our Lord. Each day we can rise up from the waters and burst into the light of his love, restored, reborn, and reclaimed, as children of God.
Amen.
Tell Out My Soul 
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