Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness

Baptism of Christ, 15th cent. from Kythera;  Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece 

 

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  

 

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 

- Matthew 3:13-17 

 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.   But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 

 

  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  My study Bible comments that Jesus does not need purification.  He makes the purification of humanity His own, and thereby washes away humanity's sin, grants regeneration, and reveals the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  So, therefore, Christ's baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation.  St. Gregory of Nyssa comments, "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."

 

 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  My study Bible says that the Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Genesis 1:2).  Now, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove in order to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at this beginning of the new creation.  Jesus does not become the Son of God here on this day.  What is happening is that He is revealed to all as the Son of God at this occasion.  The Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  The feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (meaning a manifestation of God), is celebrated on January 6th.  In the Eastern Churches it commemorates this occasion.  In the most ancient practices of the Church, Theophany and Nativity (Christmas) were celebrated together on January 6th; in the Armenian Apostolic Church, this practice is maintained today.

 

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."   This quotation is from Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son, / Today I have begotten You."  My study Bible asks us to note how the Baptism of Jesus reveals the great mystery of the Trinity -- the Father speaks; the Holy Spirit descends; the Incarnate Son is baptized.  

 

In a particular sense, we can think of the occasion of Christ's Baptism as an icon, and it is among other things an icon of the Holy Trinity.  There is the voice of the Father, identifying Christ as God's Son, and the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God) descending like a dove, all together, and declaring the tripartite God; that is, one God in three divine Persons.  This great mystery is revealed in this "icon" of Baptism, in which God has chosen to manifest God's realities for us human beings.  This greater revelation of God comes as Jesus encourages John the Baptist to baptize Him in order to fulfill all righteousness.  So here, at this very beginning of Christ's ministry, we are immediately offered a manifestation of God, the Holy Trinity.  That is, a revelation of God in an expanded sense.  While in second temple literature in the Jewish tradition, from the centuries just immediately prior to the coming of Christ, there existed opinions that there might be more Persons of God than One, here that is confirmed and expanded.  So this beginning of Christ's public ministry both reveals God in greater fullness than was known before, and at the same time inaugurates His preaching and teaching mission.  It's a way that we understand that He is the One who is Sent among us, as the Beloved Son.  So even as Christ is fulfilling all righteousness by being baptized by John the Baptist, the fruits of ministry have begun, and humanity is enlightened into an understanding of God in a fuller way than before.  As Christ's ministry unfolds, He will teach us that to see Him is to see the Father, and we will also witness the effects of the Spirit, even as Christ's ministry prepares us for Pentecost.  Let us take a moment to think of these gifts given to us, this illumination brought by Christ who is Sent, and manifest to us through the Holy Spirit, and be grateful for what we have been given, for even in this moment, the world is transformed and Christ's gifts and effects continue among us.  Christ is placed in the waters of Baptism, sanctifying the waters of the world for Holy Baptism to come, transfiguring what we know of God, giving us gifts that will continue to give and will not stop coming.  Let us not be dismayed by the evil that works in the world, for we know that He has come to enlist us in the fight for this world, and all that He does is for us.  Let us be blessed with this knowledge, this revelation, and with the gifts of the Spirit that continue to bless us, including baptism, holy water, our prayers, and all the sacraments and mysteries this moment offers and opens up for the Church to come.  Let us learn from this icon of the Holy Trinity that where One Person of the Trinity is present, so there are all Three among us, with Christ who brings us this depth of connection to God.  For the whole world is blessed as sacrament from this moment fulfilling all righteousness.

 

 

 

 

 

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened

 

 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  

 

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch,  being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

 

- Luke 3:15–22 

 

 Yesterday we read the dedication of Luke's Gospel, to Theophilus:  Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.  Then the lectionary took us to Luke's chapter 3:  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the Baptist son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

 

  Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  My study Bible comments that fire in this context has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Moreover, this declares the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2-8).  But it is important to understand that this fire is one:  it is the same Power and the same Spirit, my study Bible notes, which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.  

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch,  being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.  My study Bible explains that Herod had divorced his own wife and married Philip's (his brother's) wife Herodias while Philip was still living. 

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."  Jesus Himself, of course, does not need baptism.  But in being baptized, my study Bible says, the Lord accomplished several things.  First, by doing so, He affirmed John's ministry.  He also thereby was revealed by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, the beloved Son of God.  Moreover, Jesus identified with His people by descending into the waters with them.  Baptism prefigures His own death, giving the ultimate meaning to baptism.  As Jesus entered the waters, He sanctifies the water itself for future baptisms.  The many types given in the Old Testament, such as when Moses led the people from bondage through the Red Sea (Exodus 14) and when the ark of the covenant was carried into the Jordan so the people could enter the Promises Land (Joshua 3, 4) are fulfilled in His baptism as well.  Finally, Jesus' baptism opened heaven to a world separated from God through sin.  In the Orthodox Church, Christ's Baptism is celebrated on January 6th and is commonly known as Epiphany; but more properly it is called Theophany in Greek, meaning "God revealed."  In the very ancient Church, Nativity and Epiphany (Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan by John) were celebrated together on January 6th; in the Armenian Apostolic Church this remains the tradition.  My study Bible says that the Son is revealed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and by the voice of the Father.  It notes that this is the greatest and clearest public manifestation of God as Trinity in human history, as in the words of an Orthodox hymn for this day, "The Trinity was made manifest."  Also, my study Bible says, the words which are spoken by the Father also apply to everyone who is baptized and lives faithfully, as sonship is bestowed by adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).   The Holy Spirit appearance as a dove is not an incarnation, it says, but rather a visible sign for the people.  This appearance, moreover, further fulfills the type prefigured at the Flood:  Theophylact writes, "Just as a dove announced to Noah that God's wrath had ceased, so too the Holy Spirit announces here that Christ has reconciled us to God by sweeping sin away in the flood waters of baptism."

Luke writes, "When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened."  Today I notice this powerful phrase that hasn't struck me before, that it is while Jesus prayed that the heaven was opened.  What a powerful statement about prayer this truly is!  It should give us a sense -- so often missing from modern life -- of the reality of what it means to pray and to worship.  In so doing, we connect ourselves with something much greater than ourselves, than our worldly notion of ourselves and our lives, in a way that happens through grace, the power of God.  The reality of the Kingdom of God is present to us even through prayer, though we so frequently seem to lose sight of this.  Modern life often conditions us to think this way.  We're used to a secular sense of who we are and what our world is about, in which we don't necessarily consider God in all that we do and all the choices that we make.  But this isn't the reality that is shown to us in the Bible.  The reality of the Bible is this constant sense of the Kingdom breaking in upon us, brought to us in the voices of the prophets calling us back to it, brought to us in the teachings of Christ, brought to us in the experiences of Israel in the Old Testament, brought to us in the disciples who would later become apostles sent out to  all the world, and brought to us in the establishment of the Church and our ongoing worship and prayers, and especially -- of course -- in the Eucharist given to us by Christ.  Here Jesus fulfills all righteousness (Matthew 3:15) by submitting to baptism by John like everyone else in these scenes of John the Baptist's ministry.  While of course, we may think that our prayers will differ from those of Jesus (after all, He is the Son of God), the text in this sense teaches us once again that we are meant to be like Jesus; we are to do as He does.  His prayer is so powerful that it opens up the heaven, but it is His prayer and His life that bring the Kingdom of heaven to us so that we also may participate in its reality -- and we do that through prayer ourselves.  Let us remember that it is God's grace, the true reality and powerful presence and action that Christ brings to us, that is working in us and among us, in our midst.   But we need to do our part to participate and to receive it; we are invited in to "work the works of God" through our faith and trust in Him, through worship, through prayer, through all these things that we are given. 

 

 

 

 

Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight

 

 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

* * *

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the Baptist son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight. 

Every valley shall be filled 

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough ways smooth;

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

- Luke (1:1–4) 3:1–14 

 

On Saturday, we read Jesus' final words addressed to the crowds in the temple during Holy Week. He cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

 

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.  Today the lectionary transitions from readings in John's Gospel to the Gospel of Luke.  Here is the dedication of Luke's Gospel, to the disciple Theophilus.  My study Bible comments on this passage to remind us that Luke was not a disciple from the beginning, and yet he has a perfect understanding of the Gospel, because his sources were the apostles themselves.  Those apostles are the eyewitnesses of Christ.  Luke dedicates his gospel to Theophilus, who was a prominent Gentile who had received instruction (see also Acts 1:1).   Theophilus means one who loves or is a friend of God in Greek.  According to St. Ambrose, this name can simply mean any "lover of God."  And so therefore, he says, "If you love God, it was written to you."

 

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the Baptist son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  Luke is very careful to be precise in dating the events he reports in his Gospel.  So he first mentions the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and then those who rule over the territories that constitute Israel.  My study Bible comments that while Caiaphas was the sole high priest, people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas, who was  a previous high priest deposed by the Romans.  

 

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins . . .  My study Bible comments that the call to repentance was traditional for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  John the Baptist is a figure of the Law, in the sense that -- like the Law -- he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  My study Bible says that John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.  

 

. . . as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.   Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  In John 1:23, John the Baptist declares this role of "the voice" to be his own.  This is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah found at Isaiah 40:3-5. 

 

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  My study Bible comments here that while parents and ancestors help to impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself does not make a person worthy of God.  Each one in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance.  Stones are symbolic of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  

In a sense, today's reading reports the people coming to John the Baptist as revealing how desperately the people were looking for a redeemer or deliverer for Israel; that is, as eagerly awaiting the Messiah.  All the questions they ask reflect this.  John at first scathingly rebukes the multitudes, calling them "brood of vipers."  In Matthew's Gospel, John uses this term for the Pharisees and Sadducees, and Jesus does so as well (Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:33).   But Luke's Gospel then shifts to the people, perhaps bewildered, sincerely asking, "What shall we do then?"  He tells them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."   The tax collectors, despised by their own people, come to be baptized, and they ask John, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Even the soldiers, who of course work for the Romans, ask him, "And what shall we do?"   And he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."   Each of these responses by John is an important reminder that it's not so much what we call ourselves in life, not what group we belong to, what our ancestors called themselves, or even what we inherit in a conventional sense that makes us who we are in the sight of God.  It's rather what we do that is emphasized in the Scriptures.  The tax collectors are generally shunned as great sinners within their own communities; they are, after all, Jews who work for the Romans and who often use extortion not only to collect Roman taxes but to take some home for themselves.  John tells them to stop extorting the people and to do their jobs in an honest way.  The soldiers (who back up that Roman power that enables the tax collectors to extort their people, by the way) are told also to be content with their wages, and not to extort the people, not to intimidate or accuse falsely.  The people themselves are told something echoing what we'll hear from Jesus in His preaching, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."    This notion of two tunics must have been seen as something perhaps ostentatious or perhaps a kind of minor luxury; at any rate, Jesus will teach his apostles to go out on their first mission with only one tunic so as not to appear anything but humble as they preach (Matthew 10:10; Mark 6:9).  Food they should share with others who are lacking.  These good works emphasize righteous behavior, right-relatedness to neighbor, doing as God would ask.  It is the same with John's advice to the tax collectors and soldiers: they must do what is righteous, good within the community.  This is all by way of preparation for the One who is to come, the Messiah, who can remit or forgive sins (in the Gospels, it is the same word used for the two, meaning to "put away" or to "let go").  Let us note that all of this is meant to be in service to God, not just good works for their own sake, or even purely for the sake of the community -- but all is seen in context of what is pleasing to God, and even in that sense is indistinguishable from building good community.  That God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones is meant to imply that God doesn't just need descendants to Abraham, but what God calls us to is to be like Abraham, to do as Abraham did (as Jesus will also say in John 8:39:  "If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham").  In Saturday's reading, we read Christ's final teaching in the temple during Holy Week, the last week of His earthly life.  There, we discussed the idea of doing good works, abstracted from the teachings of Jesus, and outside of worshiping or loving Creator.  Here we could make the mistake of supposing that simply doing good work for its own sake is what these teachings are all about.  But we would still be in error, for John comes as a prophet and a holy man, not simply a moral scold.  He's preparing people to face the judge, the Messiah, the One who will come to save and to redeem.  These are not merely moral imperatives, and for that matter, neither is righteous behavior.  Righteousness is all about right-relatedness in both a communal and spiritual sense, with God who not only directs our conduct but with whom we are in communion, extended through community.  And this is the foundation for these teachings:  we are meant to be in a Person-to-person relationship, manifest also in our relationships among community.  Let us consider what "doing good" looks like with an eye toward Creator, the One who knows who we truly are, the One whose eye we really want to please.  For this is where John points, and the great concern of how we are saved.  These teachings and actions are meant to "prepare the way of the LORD, and to make His paths straight."  If He were to return today, how would you be prepared in this sense?

 

 

Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness

 

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

 

- Matthew 3:13–17 

 

Yesterday we read that in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD;  Make His paths straight.'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him. My study Bible comments here that Jesus does not need purification.  As He makes the purification of humanity His own,  Jesus would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  So, His baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation, my study Bible says.  St. Gregory of Nyssa is quoted:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."  

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. My study Bible points out that the Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Genesis 1:2).  Now, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at the beginning of the new creation.  Jesus does not become the Son of God on this day.  Instead what we are witnessing through the Gospel is Christ being revealed as the Son of God.  The Holy Spirit has always rested on Him, as He was begotten as Son before all ages (Creed).  The feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation), in the Eastern Churches, commemorates this event on January 6th.  In the very early Christian church, Christ's baptism and nativity were celebrated together on this same day, a tradition continued in the Armenian Apostolic Church.  It is also called Theophany, which means a manifestation of God.  The commemoration of this day also points to the age to come. 

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  This is a quotation from Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son,/Today I have begotten You."  My study Bible asks us to note how the Baptism of Jesus reveals the great mystery of the Trinity (thus making it a Theophany).  The Father speaks; the Holy Spirit descends; the Incarnate Son is baptized and declared.

In Genesis, as my study Bible points out, the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters of the earth at the first creation.  In the understanding of Genesis, those waters were considered to be waters of chaos, and the Spirit of God hovering over them to begin creation is God creating order out of chaos, especially through the Word (in Genesis, God speaks creation into being).  Here we have the Word Himself (John 1:1) who has taken on human flesh and become one of us, plunged into the river's waters in order to create anew, and to reveal anew God at work in the world.  The quotation from Gregory of Nyssa reveals to us the foundations of our faith: "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."  In one sense, Jesus "fulfills all righteousness" by making all the waters of the world proper for Christian baptism to come, and as He is revealed as Son, and together always with both the Father and the Spirit, it is possible now for Christian baptism to be understood as regeneration and rebirth, giving new life to those who continue in the faith of Christ.  In baptism, we are to die to the old self, and begin a different life, a process that is meant to continue for our lifetimes and simply to begin a journey with God.  When St. Paul writes, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31), he speaks of this lifetime journey meant for continual regeneration and renewal, death and resurrection.  For we are baptized into the whole of Christ's life, and the Church's sacraments, and the whole of our Christian lives, are meant for participation in His life.  Baptism, then, is a type of death and resurrection, as we are plunged into the waters which symbolize death and chaos, but are reborn through the power of God, especially the Spirit of God which hovered over the waters before creation.  We have but one baptism, but that is meant to be a continual presence and reality at work in our lives, renewed through faith and faithful living in dedication to Christ and His teachings and life lived for us, "to fulfill all righteousness."  Let us think about forms of death and of chaos in our lives and our society, and what Christ's baptism to fulfill all righteousness means for us, the Incarnation of the Word that renews creation and puts all things in order.  Once again we are asked to understand the nature of time in the sense that it is given to us in the Gospels, for these things are at work for us now through participation and sacrament, even for an event that happened two millennia ago.   This nature of time and fulfillment is expressed in the repeated excerpts from Old Testament Scripture we have found so far in Matthew's Gospel; this is the prophetic nature of time.  How important is it that we may participate in His life and the work of the Spirit in the world?  How do we see our lives unfolding in that context?  Where does His command "to fulfill all righteousness" come into your life and the world around us even now?

And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:

 "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You."

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 

- Mark 1:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that, as the two disciples who had encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus were reporting their experience to the rest of them, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.

 

  The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  My study Bible explains some of the terms in this first verse of Mark's Gospel.  Gospel is from a Greek word (εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion) that means "good news" or "good tidings."  In the roman Empire, it was a word commonly used for proclamations by the Emperor.  Here, my study Bible says that it refers not to Mark's writings per se, but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That is, the good news of our salvation.  Beginning points to the opening events of Christ's public ministry, especially the preparation by His forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Christ's encounter with him.  

As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You."  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  These quotations are from the Prophets Malachi and Isaiah, and they point to John the Baptist as fulfillment of these specific prophesies.  See Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3.   John's call to repentance is traditional for prophets.  His baptism is one for remission of sins, but cannot grant this once and for all.  It is instead a prefiguring and preparation for the baptism of Christ which is to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   These verses tell us at once how widely revered John the Baptist was as a holy man in Israel, for even all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  Thus, John has made his mark on the awareness even of the powerful leadership establishment in the temple at Jerusalem.

 

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  John himself is also a prophet, and he is considered to be the last and the greatest of the Old Testament type prophets.  His clothing is also a "type" of a prophet, for he is clothed in a manner similar to that of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), which helps to show that he fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return (see Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew 11:13-15).  My study Bible explains that John the Baptist is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  But both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin. 

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Note that Jesus comes from Nazareth of Galilee to this place where John baptizes in the Jordan near Judea.  Although Jesus does not need purification, He fulfills a great deal through His Baptism by John.  By making human baptism His own, He would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity in this "theophany" (manifestation or appearance of God) of Father, Son, and Spirit.   My study Bible quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  In Matthew 4:1-10 and Luke 4:1-13 we can read a fuller version of the temptations to Jesus by Satan.  The word translated as drove literally means to cast or throw.

Right from the beginning we see Jesus' ministry completely bound up with the activity of the Holy Spirit in the world.  His first act is to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan, and at that Baptism, the Holy Spirit makes quite a dramatic appearance.   We're told that "immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove."   And then there is another immediate action by the Spirit:  Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. It seems important to note all of this involvement by the Spirit, and it reminds us also that a prophet (such as John the Baptist) does not become a prophet except through the action of the Spirit also.  In the prophecy of Malachi quoted by John the Baptist, we read, "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face" (Malachi 3:1).   Through whom else but the Holy Spirit does the Lord send prophets and messengers to the people?  Let us note also that in each of these example, the Holy Spirit participates with some sort of dramatic action.  The Spirit does not simply appear but rather descends upon Jesus like a dove.  In another dramatic action, the Holy Spirit does not simply direct or give instructions to Jesus to go to the wilderness, but rather acts.  The Spirit immediately drove Him into the wilderness.  This tells us about God's active work in the world, God's participation in the world.  The action of the Holy Spirit also echoes what we are to do in our lives as Christians.  We're called not simply to believe, but to act as does the Holy Spirit.  We're called to live our faith by what we do in our lives, to put our faith into action, in the way that the Holy Spirit puts God's will and energy into action in these verses.  It's deeply significant that our first verses in Mark follow the final reading in Luke in our lectionary readings (see yesterday's reading, above).  For, just as we begin Christ's ministry with these actions of the Holy Spirit, so Jesus, in yesterday's reading, Jesus' final words to the disciples before blessing them and ascending to heaven are as follows:  "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  This Promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit.  And what is the action He promises?  They will be endued with power from on high.  In Acts 2 we read of the fulfillment of the sending of the Promise of the Father at Pentecost, and the action simply never seems to stop.  The apostles are endowed with the Holy Spirit, and tongues of fire appear above each one, even as each speaks in languages not their own, but in the tongues of those who hear the good news they preach.  St. Peter is inspired by the Spirit and preaches to the "men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem," teaching about Jesus and the fulfillment of prophecy, also given through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Peter preaches by giving them the words of the prophet Joel, also of David whose psalms prophesy of Christ.  When his audience asks what they should do, Peter responds telling them to be baptized and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Thousands are baptized, and the Church begins its growth.  But none of this action happens without the participation of the Holy Spirit, who acts among us and with us and through us.  Even the sound accompanying the fulfillment of this promise at Pentecost comes as one that suggests tremendous action:   it is "a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2).  The movement suggested here is unmistakable.  The word for Spirit means breath in both Hebrew and Greek, but this sound that accompanies the appearance of the Spirit, like a rushing mighty wind, and which fills the whole house with its noise, leaves no doubt of the experience of bold action and movement setting something in action, and meant for activity in the world.  Let us consider when we pray to the Spirit, when we look around at our world and see its state, what action we would like to see in the world.  What effects can this action like a mighty wind create?  What has the Holy Spirit created?  Are we aware of God's action in our lives?  Are we prepared for God's action in our lives?  Can we be like Christ, "thrown" by the Spirit into the actions God asks of us, endowed with the capacity to do as God would ask of us to participate in God's life in the world?  How do we live our own baptism, in which we die to the old life, and are born into the new through the Spirit?  How does the Spirit lead the action of a blessed way of life?

 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight"

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:

"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, 

Who will prepare Your way before You."

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  

'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  

 

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

 

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was  baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

- Mark 1:1-13

 

  The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Today, following the commemorations of Nativity and the Christmas season, the lectionary begins a new daily cycle with Mark's Gospel.  It is the shortest and most brief of all the Gospels, with events happening in quick succession.  My study Bible explains that the word gospel is in Greek εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion, which quite literally means "good news" or "good tidings."  This was a Greek word commonly used in the Empire at Christ's time, as it was used for proclamations and messages coming from the Emperor and setting out policies or declarations.  So, in that sense, this is the gospel of another kind of kingdom.  It does not refer to Mark's writings per se according to my study Bible, but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the good news of our salvation.  Beginning, it says, points to the opening events of Christ's public ministry.  That is, the preparation by Christ's forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Jesus' encounter with him.  

As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your   way before You."  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.   John's first quotation is from Malachi 3:1, and he is declaring himself to be this messenger sent by the Lord to prepare the way for the coming covenant.  The second quotation is from Isaiah 40:3, a message meant to comfort a people in captivity and desperate for redemption.   These quotations would have been understood in the context of the time and the history of Jewish spirituality to invoke those prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah, and were given to a people under the power of another historical empire.  But this gospel is not simply political nor historical, and neither is the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.  John preaches a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  As we can see from the response of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem, the very center of Jewish life, they come to the wilderness (a barren region from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea) to the Jordan to be baptized for repentance, and confessing their sins.  To repent in Greek is μετανοια/metanoia, which literally means "change of mind," and indicates a deep change of heart, a total reorientation of one's life.  Note it is accompanied by confession of sins, and baptism, to be followed by a life of fruits worthy of the change.

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  The clothing of John the Baptist evokes yet another prophet, as he is clothed in the manner of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).  This is an indication that he fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return before the Messiah, as prophesied in Malachi 4:5.  Note the humility of John the Baptist, whose life is dedicated to service of this coming Lord and His kingdom.  His life was the inspiration  and model for the monasticism that would develop in the early Church.  John prophesies the power of Christ and the divine nature of Christ's baptism to come.

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was  baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Christ's Baptism by John was commemorated by the early Church on January 6th, together with Nativity.  In the Eastern Churches, Christ's Baptism is still commemorated on this day.  It is often called Epiphany (meaning "showing forth" or "manifestation") or Theophany, which means a manifestation of God.  Manifest here in these short verses in Mark is the Holy Trinity as witnessed, with the Spirit descending upon Christ "like a dove" and the Father's voice declaring from heaven God's beloved Son.  

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  We may read details of Christ's temptation by Satan in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.  In each case, Jesus is challenged regarding His identity as Son, and His loyalty to the Father.  Forty is a significant number, evocative of the forty years that Israel was tested in the wilderness, proving to be at times both disobedient and disloyal.  Christ's responses to Satan in Matthew and Luke come from Deuteronomy, and the story of Israel's testing.

We might wonder why Jesus needs to be tested, and that this testing immediately follows His Baptism and the appearance of the Trinity, including Christ's divine identity as Son.  We understand the confession of sins of the people who come from Judea and Jerusalem, and their desire to receive a Redeemer, the Messiah.  But why does Jesus need to be tested here?  Why does One who is essentially sinless (as we've been taught) need testing?  This tells us something essential about our own journeys in the world and the spiritual life.  It does not matter what one has already understood and endured with prayer; we will be called upon for greater growth, new testing, and an expansion of our faith on this journey.  Repentance and redemption are not simply one-time incidents, but rather constitute a pattern and a lifetime of the growth of faith and reliance upon God.  Just as Israel journeyed on the forty year trek in the wilderness, so Christ is here driven by the Spirit into the wilderness.  (In the Greek language of the text, He is literally "thrown" or "cast" by the Spirit into the wilderness.)   The testing is part of the journey, and notable for its emphasis on worldly ways of thinking that question God's providence, our capacity for faith in what doesn't necessarily make pragmatic material sense to us.  Christ's responses in Matthew and Luke are all powerful rebukes that emphasize loyalty to God, and they are meant to be an example to us for our own lives.  What is more important to us?  Is there something God wants to teach us?  Is there a road of faith, a deepening and growth of faith?  Are there things in our lives we need to reject or "change our minds" about?  Whatever the path of faith, it is clear that a reliance on God is a journey and a struggle for growth, not simply a mental declaration or signing up for the teachings of one group or another.  Faith is a much deeper kind of encounter, an entrance into what Christ will repeatedly call the kingdom of heaven in His teachings.  It is not just a way of life but a way of being in the world, an awareness that our lives hold so much more than the material alone.  As Jesus teaches in Luke's Gospel, this kingdom is within us and among us (Luke 17:20-21).  He will say in John's Gospel, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), indicating to us that our faith is a "road" (the literal meaning of the word translated as "way"), and it is truth and life.  These words are not simple metaphors for a code or a set of values we ascribe to.  They denote the complete experiential reality of this lived faith which touches upon all of us and all that we perceive, including the struggles of we encounter.  There is nothing that is lost to this journey, nothing in which there is no hidden capacity for meaning or redemption, for this is truly the mystery of God -- that even at the Cross we may find our deepest faith and most powerful transformation and purpose in the redemptive power of Christ and the meanings we're given -- even the destruction of death and the transfiguring power of life in abundance, connecting us to what is eternal.  Let us follow this good news, this deepening power of faith, and open up to the confidence it may give us in a sense of who we are, and whom we are called to become, even as we walk through the challenges that meet us on the road of Christ.  The voices in the Gospel call to us from times past and all throughout history to prepare the way of the Lord.  Even the voices of the prophets echo to make His paths straight, for we do not journey on this road alone, but with the Lord, and with God's faithful.  That is and remains timeless, ever-present, if we are but mindful and awake to it.

Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:

"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, 

Who will prepare Your way before You."

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

 

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 

- Mark 1:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that as the disciples discussed the experience of the two on the road to Emmaus with the risen Christ, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  And He led the out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  My study Bible comments that gospel (in Greek εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion, literally meaning "good news" or "good tidings") is a reference not to Mark's writings per se -- but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That is, it is the good news of our salvation.  Beginning, my study Bible writes, points to the opening events of Christ's public ministry given here in Mark's Gospel.  Specifically, it begins with the preparation by the Lord's forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Christ's encounter with him. 

 

As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"   Mark the Evangelist quotes from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, indicating John the Baptist's highly significant place in salvation history.  John the Baptist's ministry is the fulfillment of these cited prophecies.  Mark reminds us that for the first Christians, the Scriptures were the Old Testament Scriptures; there was no New Testament when this -- the earliest dated Gospel -- was written.  

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  John preaches a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  In the Greek, the word for repentance (μετάνοια/metanoia, pronounced "metanya" in Greek) means "change of mind."  This call to repentance was traditional for prophets, but John calls people to preparation for the Messiah.  My study Bible comments that John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.  We can see how revered and popular a figure he was in that all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

 

 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  John is notably clothed in a manner which is similar to that of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), and this distinction is a clue that he fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return (Malachi 4:5-6).  This will be later affirmed by Jesus (Matthew 17:12-13, Mark 9:11-13).  Again, the significance of John as fulfillment of prophecy indicates his stature as a figure of great importance in the Church.  Here, John reveals his own capacity as a prophet, as he prophesies baptism with the Holy Spirit.

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Mark's is the shortest of the Gospels, and here we read a brief exposition of Christ's baptism by John in the Jordan.  But this highly significant event, which in the earliest times of the Church was celebrated together with Christ's Nativity, is an Epiphany or Theophany.  My study Bible comments that Jesus does not need purification.  But by making the purification of humanity of His own, He accomplishes several things:  He would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  (Thus, the revelation here of the presence of Father, Son, and Spirit is a Theophany or manifestation of God.)  Therefore, my study Bible adds, Christ's baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation.  It quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him." 

 

 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  Here we see the immediate action of the Holy Spirit, beginning Christ's public ministry.  The first thing necessary is this preparation of forty days in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, with the wild beasts, and the ministering  angels.  To be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  For the details of Christ's temptations by Satan, see Matthew 4:1-10, Luke 4:1-13.  Each temptation is regarding the use of His power, and especially Christ's loyalty to the Father.  The language here tells us of the powerful action of the Spirit; the word translated as drove (ἐκβάλλω/ekvallo) means to throw or cast out. 

If there is one thing we can gather from this beginning of Mark's Gospel, it is possibly an understanding of the need for preparation for an important event or undertaking.  Everything in the story of Christ's life and ministry unfolds with a certain level of preparation, a sense of proper steps to be taken in the accomplishment of something.  God does not just drop upon us, all at once, the most profound changes and mysteries.  Instead, we are prepared.  The prophets have come throughout the spiritual history of Israel, preparing the people for the Messiah, calling the people back to God.  Without the prophets, we would not have an understanding of the mission and ministry of John the Baptist.  The people would not have understood what he was about, what it meant that he was preparing the way of the Lord, that John is the messenger, the forerunner, the one sent in advance to prepare the people with baptism and preaching -- yet again, in the words of the earlier prophets -- repentance; that is, a call back to God and to the ways of God.  Ultimately, everything is a preparation for the Messiah, for the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ.  John comes in fulfillment of the prophets, crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight."  But then we observe, even in this briefest of the Gospels, the preparation of Jesus for His public ministry.  He first submits to be baptized in the Jordan by John, a way to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:14-15).  This accomplishes all manner of things, because Christ Himself prepares the waters for Christian baptism through this process.  Moreover, the Holy Trinity is revealed in the voice of the Father, the identification of Christ as Son, and the presence of the Holy Spirit which rests upon Christ.  Powerfully, Christ's public ministry begins with a manifestation of the Trinity, the fullness of the Godhead.  And then, immediately the Holy Spirit acts to throw Christ out into the wilderness, where He is tempted and tested by Satan in preparation for His ministry, with the wild animals, and ministered to by the angels.  The temptations of Satan test Christ's loyalty to the Father and seek to break that loyalty, which will be the all-encompassing power to complete His saving mission for the world.  Without that loyalty, we would not have our Savior nor our faith.  It is the one thing that the evil one must break in order to prevent Christ from successfully completing His ministry and mission to the world.  It is the thing that will be severely tested through rejection, heartbreak, pain and suffering, even betrayal by one of His chosen Twelve.  It is the one thing that will make His mission complete.  It is the one thing He will teach us that remains for us above all, as He taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10), and to be like Him.  For all of the fullness of this mission, and for our own understanding of it, all of this preparation is necessary.  It is paving the way for the salvation mission of Christ.  God helps us to make Christ's paths straight, so that we are prepared to accept this giant, colossal gift we have been given, and to understand its fullness as it manifests as we are able to grasp it in our lives.  Jesus will go to the Cross, but we -- and the disciples -- will have been prepared along the way to understand the meaning and power of the Cross, and the mission of Christ to save, to redeem, to transform, and how we are also invited into that mission to follow Him as well.  Let us consider the power of preparation in our own lives:  how we are tested and prepared by circumstances for deeper challenges we might not understand in advance, how the power of prayer helps us prepare to be the people we need to be when we are challenged, how our own circumstances give us opportunities to make a deeper commitment to Christ and to living God's love in our own lives.  If we look upon life the right way, we might come to see everything we have received as preparation, including our mistakes and heartaches, the bad times and also the good.  The Gospel teaches us about the Old Testament Scriptures, and how they are preparation for the New, just as the Law and the Prophets were preparation for the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of our Lord.  John baptizes with water, but he knows the Lord will baptize with the Holy Spirit -- as we are taught to find and serve the things God asks of us.   Finally, let us look at a detail included by Mark, that Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, and is with the wild beasts.  This hints to us deeply of preparation, for the first Adam in naivety and unknowing, and against the teaching of God, made a choice for wisdom beyond what humankind was ready to have (Genesis 2:16-17).  But Christ, who is the New Adam, is here to undo the effects of that choice, and to bring to us what it means to resist temptation and testing, to set aright and put us back in relationship not only with God, but even with the wild beasts of the wilderness, to set a world back together after it had been broken.  He gives us the way, and all that has gone before has been preparation.  Let us follow Him, for we may all become "beloved sons" by His preparation for us.

 

This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

- Matthew 3:13-17

Yesterday we read that, as he preached repentance in the wilderness of Judea, when John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather his wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  My study bible explains here that Jesus does not need purification.  It says that by making the purification of humanity His own, He would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and also reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  Therefore, this particular Baptism is fitting to fulfill God's righteous plan of salvation.  Gregory of Nyssa is quoted by my study bible:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."

Then he allowed Him.  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  The Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation in Genesis 1:2.  Here the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove in anointing the Messiah, the Son of God, at the beginning of the new creation.  My study bible makes the important point that this anointing does not make Jesus the Son of God upon this day.  Instead it is understood as a revelation of Christ's true identity to the world.  The Holy Spirit has always rested upon the Son.  On January 6th, the Orthodox Churches celebrate a feast day known as Epiphany (meaning, in Greek, manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (meaning a manifestation of God).  This celebration both commemorates this day and points to the age to come.  In the earliest years of the Church, this event was commemorated on the same day as Nativity, and this is still the case of the Armenian Apostolic Church.  We understand through such that Christ's birth into the world, and this beginning of His ministry (and thus also the beginning of "end times" - the age in which we still live)  are understood in the same sense.  Thus is "all righteousness" fulfilled, as Jesus indicates.

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."   This quotation is from Psalm 2:7:  "You are My Son, / Today I have begotten You."  In Christ's Baptism at the Jordan, the great mystery of the Holy Trinity is revealed:  the Father speaks, the Holy Spirit descends, and the Incarnate Son is baptized.

Let us consider what revelation is; in this case, the revelation of the Holy Trinity takes place at Jesus' Baptism.  Does that mean that this is the first time the Holy Trinity exists?  No, it does not.  Neither does it mean that Christ became "beloved Son" on this day.  The words of God the Father about the beloved Son, "in whom I am well pleased" give us a sense not only of the Father's love of the Son, but also of the ministry which is begun in a way fitting to fulfill all righteousness.  The revelation is to us, it is "good news" to us, something to startle the world -- and perhaps something "hidden from the foundation of the world" (13:35).  The Trinity exists in an eternal state, without beginning discernible in the sense in which we could understand it.  Therefore what is revealed to human beings is that which has existed since before time -- before the world as we know it and experience it.  But Christ's Baptism helps to fulfill all righteousness by manifesting this eternal truth and reality into our world, so that we can understand it and move toward that fulfillment in ourselves as well.  And this is the reality of prophetic revelation:  it gives us something that may be eternal, but it is something of which we are either ignorant or need to be reminded.  In this light, from the beginning of our faith, and before, it has been understood that time exists in at least two different states.  There is the time of this world and of our lives, in which we grow as human beings, moving from one choice to another, from one understanding or state to another.  And then there is the "time" of God which is no time at all, but outside of time as we understand it, an eternal reality, from "before" time existed.  As such, we might consider time itself as a gift to us, as a sense in which we might grow and change, and to have time for repentance.  It is also necessary to our own gift of free will; that is, so that we may exercise our own choices for direction in life, for choosing that in which we place our trust, and that in which we don't.  In these senses, Christ's Baptism in the Jordan by John opens up for us all considerations of all of creation and why it exists, and also our place, seemingly in the middle of it.  For if the waters for Christian baptism are sanctified through the Baptism of Christ by John, then time indeed seems to double back upon itself in which we might even consider a type of Eucharistic sense:  God gave us the world and everything in it, but when those waters are given to God through Christ's Baptism by a human being, God returns them to us sanctified for baptism with the Holy Spirit (see in yesterday's reading, above, the Baptist's words about the Christ:  "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire").  Therefore time as we know it, and time as it exists in an eternal sense of Father, Son, and Spirit intersect.  In our liturgies we commemorate the sacrifice of Christ for the love of the world, and over and over again, as such, time continues to intersect, even as we celebrate and worship with the angels of heaven.  In this way we know creation as both a gift and also fitting for sacrifice -- and to be returned to us with God's greater blessing and grace.  And so it is that this teaches us how each of us can live our lives.  What do you have in your life that you would like redeemed, blessed, sanctified, returned to you with greater blessing from the Lord?  He is baptized in the waters of the earth and sanctifies them for us all for the blessing of our baptism with the Holy Spirit.  Do you have a problem that needs help?  Give that -- even in sacrifice -- to the Lord.  Do you have a blessing such as may be considered personal wealth?  Then do the same.  Are you blessed with certain talents and gifts, or perhaps with what you consider to be handicaps, one way and another?  Then "sacrifice" them, any and all, to the Lord, and see how the Lord returns it to you.  Through the Baptism, we understand the revelation of the Lord and of the Holy Trinity, not as something merely given to us just then, but as something which intersects our world through our own capacity for interaction and worship, to reveal what we need and what is good for us, what it is that truly blesses us.  Remember that Crucifixion has taught us the same, in which the most dreaded instrument of punishment reserved for the worst criminals was given to God, and returned to us as symbol of salvation, redemption, and victory over even the last enemy, death.  Let us think of the blessings of our faith, the choices we can make, even for "sacrifice" in this sense -- and move into the revelation God offers us, all the time.