Mark 1:4-11
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
John was one weird dude. He leaves town, heads out into the wilderness, eats bugs, and proclaims that “the one who is more powerful than I is coming after me.” I can imagine the skeptics in the area thinking to themselves “who isn’t more powerful than this loon? Look, I can afford clothing and real food, so maybe I am this greater one that he is speaking about.” There may have been beggars who seemed more sane and powerful than John, but John was not a weak person, in spirit, body, or mind. John was a great prophet whose voice was heard by many and who prepared the way for God Himself. There is a reason that his name is still remembered all these centuries later, while those who may have scoffed at him have been forgotten. Josephus, the historian who lived around the time of Jesus and John and whose writings are the most relied upon for that era, wrote a great deal about John and his power over the people. He lead a major movement and it was considered divine retribution when Herod’s army was killed following John’s execution. While he may seem a bit nuts to us, this is not a man to be a trifled with, but rather is one that held as much, if not more, sway than Martin Luther King Jr. And here he is talking about one coming who is more powerful than him, one that not only will baptize with water but with the Holy Spirit.
And how is Jesus introduced? He is shown merely as one who is baptized by John. That is, until God decides to make a grand entrance and let the people know that John was not kidding when he said that there was one coming even greater than him. As Mark puts it, “the heavens are torn apart.” Torn Apart! Could you imagine looking up and seeing the heavens torn? What would that even look like? I mean, it wouldn’t be like in Monty Python when God just pushes aside some clouds and peers down at the knights. And it wouldn’t be like a door opening. Instead the heavens being torn apart is more like Jack Nicholson tearing down the door with an axe in the Shining. The heavens and the skies are ripped asunder, so that nothing would be missed by those watching. God wanted to see the Spirit going down upon Jesus when he is baptized. In that moment, God shows who has the power and authority to baptize with the Holy Spirit – Only God Himself. Therefore, the one who is more powerful than John is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit, and that is God’s doing, then the more powerful one must be God.
While this may seem like a “duh, of course Jesus is God” moment for us, imagine that moment for someone who was fresh to the idea, or even for one of us. What would it be like to look upon this man, coming out from the water and knowing that this man, this skin and bones person is in fact God? What would it be like to look into the eyes and to gaze upon the flesh of God? To take His hand and help him out of that flowing Jordan River?
I remember, back in 1995 there was a song released by Joan Osborne that asked the question “what if God was one of us?” It forced people to think about what they would do if they came face to face with God. I also remember people bashing the song for daring to ask that question, because of course God can’t just be like one of us, God is God after all, Immortal, invisible, God only wise, hid from our eyes. Don’t talk about a fleshy God! Yet here we have God in the flesh, God incarnate, God mortal and visible, and who preaches not the wisdom of the world, but that which is foolish to the world. Here is our God, being baptized in water and sealed with the Spirit, being cleansed in the Jordan River while at the same time announced as the beloved Son of God.
It is to my amazement that there is no record of the people’s reaction to these events in Mark. Instead, the very next verse is that the Spirit drives Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he is tempted by Satan. But imagine what it would be like if we did take a moment here and took a break from Mark’s desire to keep the action constantly moving. Did the people stop in amazement? Did they all bow before Jesus? What did John do? He had just got done saying that he doesn’t baptize with the Holy Spirit, yet when he baptizes Jesus, here comes the Holy Spirit. Did he look at himself and go “Did I do that?” or did he bow down in the river, or did he just stand there in shock?
How often do we see God in our lives and not know how to react or not even recognize God is active? If not for the ripping apart of the heavens, no one would have realized the significance of the events, they would just see it as another person being washed in the river. Seeing God in the everyday events of the world can be very difficult, since our vision is blurred by the pure mundane-ness of it all. While we have the knowledge that we are all the children of God, how often is it that we truly see God in each other instead of just seeing another flawed human being? Yet out God acts out His love and compassion through each of us, as imperfect as we may be we are the instruments of God’s revelation to the world. We can tend to forget that God lowered himself and became a mortal, emptied himself into human flesh with all of its flaws and issues, in order to be close to us. And we can tend to forget that God is alive within each of us. Our minds can become clouded by thoughts of unworthiness and we can be afraid of the power that God has given us. Yet we gather each week here as the body of Christ and we remember the love that God has shown us and we are reminded that God loves us just the way that we are and loves the mundane and the ordinary. In our own baptisms we are washed with water, as Christ was. He may have been more immersed in the water than we sprinklers are, but yet we are still washed in the water and united with Him. That same Holy Spirit that came to Christ in the form of a dove comes to us unseen and fills us. Not because of something that I have done as the pastor or because of some mystical water poured into the fount, but because of God’s actions and God’s desires. Through the completely mundane, human flesh, spoken words, and simple water, God acts and fills us with himself, in order that we may be saved from ourselves and Sin and all the powers of evil. We have been saved and we have nothing to fear, because God is on our side and not even the powers of death can defeat us. There is nothing in this world that is more powerful than God and nothing more powerful than acts of goodness and compassion, because they are the actions of God. We have been given hope and power by our almighty Father and we need not be afraid of them. He who has the power to rip apart the heavens in order to show off His Son has given us that same Spirit that was given to His Son and it is now our duty to show the world His glory and mercy. I pray that we may find the courage to see in ourselves all the wonders that God has done and the talents that he has bestowed upon us. They are not all the same and some may seem more glorious than others, but still they are given to us by God, through the Spirit. We have been united with Christ in our baptisms and that same Spirit, may we honor God’s decision to entrust us with that privilege and Honor His holy name in all of our words and deeds, in even the most mundane parts of our lives.
Amen
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