You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased

 

 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 

 

In yesterday's lectionary reading, we were given the beginning verses of St. Luke's Gospel from chapter 1:  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 skipped to 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 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.'"  In John 1:23, St. John the Baptist ascribes to himself the role of "the voice of one crying in the wilderness." 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."  And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  My study Bible comments that fire in this context has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This is given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Moreover, it declares the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8).  My study Bible asks us to note that this fire is one.  It is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless. 

 

 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.  Herod the tetrarch (also known as Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee) had divorced his own wife and married Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, while his brother was still living.  Herod's dynasty ruled for Rome, but portrayed themselves as Jews.  St. John the Baptist had publicly denounced this marriage as unlawful according to Mosaic law (Leviticus 18:16).   She, moreover, had initiated her divorce from Philip in the Roman style, but a wife unilaterally initiating divorce was not recognized under Jewish law.

 

 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."  My study Bible comments that Jesus Himself does not need baptism.  But in being baptized, He accomplished several things:  First, it is an affirmation of St. John the Baptist's ministry.  Moreover, Christ is revealed by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, God's beloved Son.  In addition, He identified with His people by descending into the waters with them.  This baptism also prefigures His own death, and thus He gives baptism its ultimate meaning.  Also, by entering the waters, Jesus sanctifies the water itself for future Holy Baptism.  He, in fact, fulfills 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 Promised Land (Joshua 3; 4).  Finally, Jesus opened heaven to a world separated from God through sin.

 

 The baptism of St. John the Baptist was meant to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.  Thus, the text tells us that the people were in expectation; it is the expectation of the Messiah that is indicated here.  But the Baptist's preparation of the people also carries with it the preparation for Holy Baptism, which is instituted through Christ.  In Holy Baptism, we are not simply baptized for repentance, but we are also chrismated.  We are baptized with water and the Spirit (John 3:5).  In the stories of the Holy Bible, we are given a constant stream of one story fulfilling another.  It is these stories which prefigure the story of Jesus Christ that are called types.  My study Bible noted all the ways in which Christ's Baptism in today's reading fulfilled a number of those types, such as that of the Israelites crossing the Jordan out of slavery and toward the Promised Land.  When we read of a prophecy fulfilled by Christ, it is a similar process, but based in the fulfillment of the word of God, rather than historical type.  The stories and prophecies of the Bible do not simply repeat themselves, but we understand them as being fulfilled.  That is, they are leading us to a more full truth, toward the perfection of the fullness of the revelation of Christ and what it means that He gave Himself "for the life of the world."  Each fulfillment brings more deeply the realization of a greater truth, a deeper reality of the spiritual life, the life of God for us.  And in so doing, Christ brings the kingdom of heaven more fully into the world for us, so that we in turn may participate in that life, even in this world.  Without Christ's Baptism, we ourselves would not have Holy Baptism, and we would not have the understanding of what it is to be cleansed in the fullest sense of this spiritual renewal made possible by Christ.  For it is He who can release us from sin; it is through Him we have received the Holy Spirit, and the fire that both purifies and revivifies.  When we are "born again," or "born from above" (as the Greek literally means in John 3:3), then a new pattern is set for us in Christ, and for our participation in the life of Christ which He offers to us.  We die to the old, and are born into the new.  But as my study Bible says, Christ's Baptism also prefigures the Cross, and in so doing we find Baptism's ultimate meaning (see Romans 6:3-5). For we also may live a daily story of birth and renewal, of death to something we need to discard, and a type of resurrection God holds for us.  It is Jesus who told us to take up our crosses daily (Luke 9:23), and so our stories may also be in fulfillment of His, just as St. Paul also testified:  "I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31; see 1 Corinthians 15:20-31).  As the stories unfold in St. Luke's Gospel, let us consider how we, too, must live our faith.  

 

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"

 

 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 

 

In yesterday's lectionary reading, we began the Gospel of Luke.  First, Luke's prologue:  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.   From here, the lectionary began 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 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 the 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."  And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  In this context, my study Bible notes, fire has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Moreover, "fire" declares the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8).  We must note also that this fire is one.  It is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.  

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.  Herod Antipas, the tetrarch or ruler of Galilee (popularly called king) had divorced his own wife, and married his brother Philip's wife Herodias while Philip was still living.  John the Baptist preached publicly against this marriage as unlawful as it violated Mosaic law.  Herod Antipas, like his father Herod the Great, ruled for Rome, although the family adopted Jewish customs and nominally called themselves Jews.

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."  My study Bible comments that Jesus Himself does not need baptism.  However, in being baptized, He accomplished several things, which my study Bible lists as follows:  (1) He affirmed the ministry of John the Baptist; (2) He was revealed by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, the beloved Son of God;  (3) He identified with His people by descending into the waters with them;  (4) He prefigured His own death, giving baptism its ultimate meaning;  (5)  He entered the waters, thereby sanctifying the water itself; (6) He fulfilled the many types given in the Old Testament, 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 Promised Land (Joshua 3; 4); and (7) He opened heaven to a world separated from God through sin.  

 

Possibly the most stunning aspect of Christ's baptism is what is called Epiphany ("Manifestation," "Showing forth"), or more closely, Theophany ("Revelation of God").  This is worthy of a paragraph on its own, for here is the appearance of the Holy Trinity.  The Son is revealed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and by the voice of the Father.  My study Bible calls this the greatest and clearest public manifestation of God as Trinity in human history.  It was, since the ancient founding of the Church, celebrated on January 6th, and remains so in the Eastern Churches as a whole.  In the earliest years of the Church, Christ's Birth and Baptism were celebrated on this same day, as remains the case in the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has never separated the holidays.  My study Bible adds that the words 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 -- we should understand it, rather, as a visible sign for the people.  This moreover fulfills the type prefigured at the Flood.  My study Bible cites the commentary of Theophylact of Ohrid:  "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."  

If we think about what it means here that, right at the very starting point of Christ's ministry, we are given this Epiphany or Theophany, we can see it in differing ways.  First of all, it is a heavenly declaration to the world regarding Christ.  Not only is He the Son, as revealed in the appearance of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father, but it teaches the world that where the Son is, there the other two divine Persons of the Trinity are as well.  It is, in and of itself, a revelation to the world of the Holy Trinity, and thus the foundation, or starting point, of Christian theology.  While during this period in Judaism (frequently referred to as "Second Temple" Judaism), the various names for God which already existed in Old Testament Scriptures were debated and discussed as possible differing Persons of God, this event seals the Trinitarian understanding for Christianity.  Moreover, it is intriguing that it takes place as Jesus submits Himself to the baptism of John the Baptist, for He certainly does not need to do this for the sake of repentance, nor, obviously, in preparation for the coming of the Christ, Himself.  In Matthew's Gospel, John the Baptist protests, saying to Jesus, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus insists, saying, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then, we're told, he allowed Him (Matthew 3:13-15).  So therefore it opens to us to ponder what it means that Jesus and John thus "fulfill all righteousness."  It is a time of the handing off of public authority in some sense, from John, who is the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets, to Jesus, the Christ or Messiah.  It clearly provides an opening to the whole world, through the manifestation of the Trinity and the declaration that Jesus is Son, that a New Covenant is now also going to be made manifest to the world.  It is safe to assume that Jesus' submission to Baptism, in addition to achieving all of the things my study Bible lists (as reported in the preceding paragraph), is something He does by command of the Father, without whom Jesus does nothing.  What seems explicit in Luke's Gospel, which we've just begun reading from yesterday's lectionary assignment, is that Luke centers us within history.  He marks events with a clear delineation of human time scale, by explicitly naming who is in authority in each worldly realm that is relevant.  He begins the chapter by noting that these events take place "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" (Luke 3:1-2).  Luke gives us a clear sense, then, of God "disrupting" human time, intervening within a setting of history, making an appearance to us within the worldly time and events we experience.  While a Theophany like this astonishing one-of-a-kind event is rare, it does not preclude the kind of epiphany we might experience in the life of the Church, in prayer or worship, in communion or through the sacraments, in prayer before a candle or icon, or any number of ways in which some sort of spiritual understanding is conveyed to us.  It is an announcement to us, not only of the Trinity and of Christ the Son, but also intimates to us that God appears in the middle of our worldly lives, intervenes, comes to us in ways unexpected and unanticipated.  Just as we are expected to live our faith through our worldly lives, God intersects with the world.  Nothing makes this more clear than the Incarnation of Christ itself, God become human.   It is the good news that indeed, God is here, present with us, always knowing and listening, and not so far away at all.  There is nowhere "off limits" and God finds a way to find us, even in a wilderness of unknowns -- or even where the worldly certainties would seem to crowd God out altogether.