Baptism of Christ B

image: “Baptism of Christ” by David Zelenka (wikimedia)

image: “Baptism of Christ” by David Zelenka (wikimedia)

  • Voice in the Wilderness: Charles Dirico on Genesis 1:1-5

Musician: The Steel Wheels, “Rain in the Valley” from their album Lay Down, Lay Low, @thesteelwheels, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram

Mark 1:4-11

Initial Thoughts

  • Mark- remind folks you are now in year B- focusing on Mark!

    • Oldest Gospel~written around 70 CE (just before or just after the destruction of the Temple)

    • shortest Gospel

    • The immediate‚ Gospel: “immediately” appears 41 times in Mark and only 10 times in the rest of the NT. Communicates the revelatory, imminent breaking in the God’s incarnate presence and grace into the world. “In the Gospel of Mark the teaching, deeds, and life of Jesus reveal the intrusion of the good news into human experience.” (Paul S Berge, Enter the Bible)

  • How the story begins according to Mark - we have just heard from Matthew, Luke and John

    • Overlap with Advent 2B - Mark 1:1-8, but a different focus

    • Advent the anticipation of Jesus

  • Epiphany/Baptism of Jesus - Jesus’s ministry among us

    • The First Noel! - the word, Noel‚ may derive from the french word Nael which in turn comes from the Latin natalis meaning birth OR it may come from the French word nouvelles which means news. Taking this second etymology this is the story of the first Good News!

    • Epiphany was the second of the traditional days of baptism (leading to the development of Advent as‚ St. Martin’s Lent, to allow catechumens to prepare for their baptism on Epiphany).

Bible Study

  • Opening passage of Mark points both backward and forward.

    • Starts with words from Isaiah, moves through John the Baptist, who concludes looking forward to the one who will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.

    • Jesus baptism, like Advent, is rooted in both the past (Isaiah- see verses 2-3) passage of Mark Advent, which points both backward and forward and the future (new life and promise)

    • The beginning of the Good News begins with the prophets.  The beginning is not a beginning at all, but a part of God’s greater story.  Just like the ending of the gospel is not an ending at all, but the transition to the church.

    • Baptism is not a beginning or an end, but a pivotal moment of grace on the journey- a sacramental rite of passage that marks an individual's choice to turn toward God.

    • Jesus of Galilee enters the story - Galilee carries with it some meaning.

      • “Mark stresses Jesus’ obscure origins. ‘From Nazareth’ tantamount to introducing him as ‘Jesus from Nowheresville.’” (Myers, p. 128)

      • “Galilee, on the other hand, was notorious; the northern border of Palestine, it was regarded with contempt and suspicion by most southern Jews… Galilee was surrounded by Hellenistic cities, populated heavily be gentiles, predominantly poor, and geopolically cut off from Judea by Samaria.” (Myers, p. 128)

  • Parallels between John and Jesus

    • Both begin in the wilderness

    • Have disciples who are to follow them (not just ‘believe in them’)

    • Proclamation of the gospel

      • Repentance, baptism, Kingdom of God

    • Betrayal and executed.

    • “What Mark creates then, is not a simple identification, in which disciples become John or Jesus or their equivalent. Instead, disciples follow in the way of John and Jesus.” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 20)

    • But they are NOT the same - see verse 7. What John begins (or continues in the tradition of the Prophets- Jesus culminates into a more holistic invitation to grace for all people)

  • John the Baptist

    • Who is he wearing? Elijah

    • “Just as a gaunt, bearded face and a stovepipe hat would immediately conjure the image of Abraham Lincoln for those socialized into American mythology, so would John’s garb have invoked the prophet Elijah for Mark’s readers (2 Kings 1:8)... The political dimension of this representation is usually overlooked, however.” (Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, p. 126)

    • “John the Baptist is presented as the new Elijah” (The Jewish Annotated New Testament, p. 71)

  • Verse 4 and 5 - How are baptism, repentance, and forgiveness related?

    • NRSV: John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

    • CEB: John was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins

    • John Wesley: “That is, preaching repentance, and baptizing as a sign and means of it” (Wesley’s Notes on the Bible)

    • John Calvin: “Repentance is not placed first, as some ignorantly suppose, as if it were the ground of the forgiveness of sins, or as if it induced God to begin to be gracious to us; but men are commanded to repent, that they may receive the reconciliation which is offered to them.” (as quoted from Harmony, I, 179, in Interpretation: Mark, p. 32)

    • “The text makes it clear that repentance, baptism, and forgiveness of sins belong together,” (Williamson, p. 32)

    • In short - to come forward to baptism includes an acknowledgement of sin, an inability to overcome sin on our own (the need for grace), and a commitment to change our hearts and minds to God as revealed in Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.

    • “The Tanakh mentions water purifications (Lev. 13:6; 15:5-10); The Second Temple period witnessed an increased interest in such rites… At Qumran extensive cisterns and water channels reflect the ritual bathing mentioned… Baptism of repentance, a ritual bathing that was understood to effect the forgiveness of sins. John gives a common practice new symbolic meaning: no longer (just) a ritual designed to cleanse impurity (e.g. from menstruation or coming into contact with a corpse), it now serves as public testimony of repentance and preparation for the in-breaking of God’s kingdom. (Jewish Annotated New Testament, p. 71)

  • Baptism of Jesus (sinner or not?)

    • The sinless paradox - John proclaims ‚Äúa baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins‚ (v.4). If Jesus was sinless (as he is traditionally thought to be) then why would he come to be baptized?

    • Only Gospel that has Jesus directly baptized by John, later Gospels omit the baptism by John (Luke and John) or explain it away (Matthew)

    • Heaven torn open - foreshadows the tearing of the temple in Mark 15

    • In Mark, baptism feels more like a coronation. Jesus is given the title “Son of God” after this ritual. 

    • “In some Christian circles the title Son of God included attributes of pre-existence and equality with God (John 1). In Mark, the ‘Son of God’ was more likely understood as the raising of a human being to a special status with God; counterparts include both the Davidic king and the Roman emperor. God 'adopted’ Jesus as God’s son, as the king was adopted by God in Psalm 2:7.” (Jewish Annotated Bible)

    • Not about sin so much as Jesus’ fulfilling two roles: Royal Messiah and Suffering Servant.

  • Alludes to the whole story- this sets up the life, death and resurrection of Jesus:

    • Chapter 1: God proclaims Jesus is God’s son, in chapter 15 the centurion will proclaim Jesus is God’s son.

    • Spirit descends on Jesus - Suffering Servant of Isaiah 42 and Savior of Israel (Isaiah 64:1 - “If only you would tear open the heavens and come down…”)

    • Son of God - Davidic Kingship (Psalm 2:7)

    • Proclamation directly connects with Transfiguration (Coming up on Feb 15)

      • Also connects with Isaiah 42:1-”But here is my servant, the one I uphold; my chosen, who brings me delight. I've put my spirit upon him; he will bring justice to the nations.“

  • Does anyone else hear this proclamation? It seems this is just for Jesus (and us)‚ You are my son not ‚This is my son (Matthew 3:17) What will it take for us to make a similar proclamation (You are my savior)?

Thoughts and Questions

  • Both Rick Morley and the Rethink Church material point to the beginning scene of Godspell.  In the movie, the John the Baptist character calls people out of their everyday lives to splash and celebrate in the fountain.  Rick Morley describes the Broadway revival of the show starting with a small drip from the ceiling turning into a frollicking, splashing waterfall.

  • This is a great opportunity to talk about Baptism- what is it? Why do we do it? WHy do we (or don’t we baptize infants)? What does our baptism mean? Is Baptism an act of the individual turning to God or of God claiming an individual or both?

  • Baptism is central to many of our Christian traditions- yet for many it has devolved into a cultural thing you do to make Grandma and Grandpa happy- it is time to reclaim baptism.

    • Baptism calls us into ministry within the world, not away from the world. To be baptized is to be last, to serve or even to be crucified for the sake of love of God, neighbor or even enemy.

  • Repentance and confession can often be met with resistance. Can we reclaim the language of repentance and confession not as an acknowledgment of how lowly and worthless we are, but as an unburdening. New Year’s is a time when people begin cleaning out, making resolutions to simplify. Confession and repentance is a simplification- remove the clutter of sin from your life and focus on God in Christ. How can we invite people to unburden themselves and simply their lives for ministry?

  • Pheme Perkins states, “From the Christian perspective, John the Baptist did not awaken a repentance that heralded God’s judgment. Rather, repentance and anticipation evoked by John’s preaching provided a receptive audience for Jesus’ ministry.” Do you agree with this? Does repentance and the anticipation/hope for/acceptance of God’s grace prepare us to hear Jesus’ message or is this Jesus’ message?

    • Perhaps we need to repent (message of John) before we can hear the good news. Can we “be saved” if we do not believe we need to be saved?

Genesis 1:1-5

Initial Thoughts

  • Repetition

  • Order

  • Poetry - like the prologue of John

  • “Many in our time insist that it be read, not as theological reflection on God’s creative activity, but as reportage… The need is as great as ever to move beyond a reading of this majestic song to the creator God as narrative, and to understand it as an exclamation of praise.” (Walter Brueggemann, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 338)

Bible Study

  • “When God began to create”- Robert Alter’s translation captures the continual creative acts of God beginning here, but by no means ending here

  • “Formless void” or “welter and waste” the Hebrew, tohu wabohu denotes an emptiness or futility which has been associated with the “trackless vacancy of the desert” (Alter, Hebrew Bible)

  • Order in the midst of Chaos

    • Context: Babylonian Exile

      • chaotic, unknown future

      • The very rhythms of nature are a promise of God’s presence

      • Formless void - eternal, chaotic, alone

      • God enters - relationship, order, separation

      • There is not a morality - God creates but does not condemn

      • Darkness is kept - not declared evil or bad

        • “goodness concerns the use to which it can be put for God's intention.” - Melinda Quivik

    • Context: Other competing contemporary creation myths

      • “The Priestly creation hymn appears to call into question the views concerning the origin of the world that prevailed among Israel’s neighbors, especially the Babylonians… ‘It was not Marduk (or some other god) who created the heavens and the earth,’ our text insists, ‘but Yahweh, the God of Israel!’”

      • Babylonian Creation Myth

        • Similarities

          • “In the beginning, there was only undifferentiated water swirling in chaos. Out of this swirl, the waters divided into sweet, fresh water, known as the god Apsu, and salty bitter water, the goddess Tiamat. Once differentiated, the union of these two entities gave birth to the younger gods.” 

        • Major difference

          • Genesis is the story of one God working in peace and transcendent power.

          • Full of “goodness” instead of violence

  • Poetic Devices

    • Each stanza has a matched pair, except the seventh, which “lays emphasis on the human response to God’s creative activity.” (Brueggemann, Ibid)

      • 1st and 4th = God creates Day/Night and celestial bodies to rule them

      • 2nd and 5th = God creates sky and waters, and then the inhabitants of each

      • 3rd and 6th = God creates sea and dry land, and the vegetation, animals, and humanity, who “have dominion.”

  • Relationship

    • God interacts with creation from the outset and fills creation with Ruach - wind/ breath/Spirit of God

  • Goodness

    • Not a moral goodness, but an intrinsic goodness - Goodness describes the very nature of creation

    • Universal message of Genesis 1 (David Bland)

      • Torah does not begin with Israel, but with Creation

      • Walter Brueggemann - Monotheism too easily becomes monoentheism

      • All of creation is blessed and good

      • Interdependent - no part of creation exists alone, not even God

      • Light is connected to the tides which is connected to the plant which are connected to the animals which are connected to humans which are connected to God

      • There are not isolated pieces in God’s creation

  • Time

    • Which came first God or the beginning?

      • In the beginning/ when the beginning occurred - God was creating the beginning

      • May not be a specific moment but In beginning

      • Beginning may not be an exact moment but a general period of time - “Once Upon a Time…”

Thoughts and Questions

  • How might we claim God’s presence in the midst of chaos? In what ways do we lift up the rhythms of nature and see God at work and in relationship with creation and us?

  • How do we live out the interdependence of creation? What about the interdependence of the churches?

Acts 19:1-7

Initial Thoughts

  • Obviously a perfect pairing with the Mark text, and brings up a lot of theological issues that might be well-worth discussing.

  • Teaching moment about what baptism means. Search your denominational documents. There is probably good stuff there.

    • United Methodist Understanding of Baptism

      • “The word sacrament is the Latin translation of the Greek word mysterion. From the early days of the church, baptism was associated with the mystery that surrounds God’s action in our lives. That means that at best our words can only circumscribe what happens, but not define it… In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, ‘we are initiated into Christ's holy church, … incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit… All this is God's gift, offered to us without price.’”

    • United Church of Christ understanding of Baptism

      • “The sacrament of baptism is an outward and visible sign of the grace of God. Through baptism a person is joined with the universal church, the body of Christ. In baptism, God works in us the power of forgiveness, the renewal of the spirit, and the knowledge of the call to be God's people always.“

Bible Study

  • Literary Context

    • This passage must be read in the context on Acts 18:24-28

      • Beginning of Paul’s third (of four) missionary journey

      • He is preceded in Ephesus by Apollos of Alexandria (18:24-28; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:10-17)

        • Apollos knew only the baptism of John

        • Priscilla and Aquila have to instruct Apollos “more accurately” in the “Way of the God”

  • Rebaptism? Water or the Spirit?

    • This reveals the diversity within the early Christian movement between those who saw Baptism as initiation into the church and those who saw it as a gift of the Spirit.

      • “A prime conviction in Luke-Acts is that the true Christian movement or the Way is associated with the apostolic party of which Paul, who once famously persecuted it, is now a belated member (whereas Apollos is not). Another prime conviction is that the true Christian movement is both united and driven by God in the power of the Spirit.” Douglas F. Ottati, “Theological Perspective on Acts 19:1–7,” in Feasting on the Word: Year B, vol. 1,p 232.

    • “Paul does not berate them for their failures… He merely asks a relevant theological question, followed by another, and then by instruction… Paul’s perceptive queries became the means for growth” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 101).

    • Baptism of John vs Baptism of Jesus

      • “Later commentators who saw in this story of Apollos’ baptism an affirmation of two baptisms - that is baptism in water followed by baptism of the Holy Spirit - misread Luke’s intentions… It would have been inconceivable to Luke that someone could be ‘in’ Jesus and not also be ‘in’ his Spirit. Baptism ‘in the name of Jesus’ is baptism in the Holy Spirit… Luke would not have understood any conception of discipleship without the Spirit.” (Will Willimon, Interpretation: Acts, p. 147)

    • Baptism by water (the baptism of John) was in important initiation into the early church, but must be accompanied with an understanding of the Baptismal gift of the Spirit.

      • Perhaps we can see the baptism of water/repentance as the personal acknowledgement that we have fallen short and our desire to change our hearts and lives, the baptism of the Spirit acknowledges that we cannot do this on our own. The Spirit hold us in love and grace and empowers us, from a position of grace to prophetically act and “speak good news to the poor, sight to the blind, release to the captives” etc.

      • “This gift of prophecy calls us to proclaim what God is doing even now in our world, and to do so with boldness. This Spirit moves us to proclaim God’s good news to the poor and liberation to captives. This gift empowers us to “speak truth to power,” confronting the “rulers and authorities” of this world with the revolutionary message of the gospel, and trusting that when we are called upon to offer this witness the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. This Holy Spirit inspires us to risk our very lives for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ, and to trust that with God nothing is impossible.” Ruthanna B. Hooke, “Pastoral Perspective on Acts 19:1–7,” Feasting on the Word: Year B, vol. 1, p.  234.

  • Movement of the Spirit

    • Acts is as much the story of the Spirit as it is the early church

    • “Acts chronicles the Spirit-empowered expansion of the Way from Jewish apostles to Parthians, Medes, Mesopotamians, Cappadocians, Egyptians, Cretans, and Arabs, to Rome, the center of the known world, where Acts will close with Paul himself preaching “without hindrance” (Acts 2:9–11; 28:31). The gift of the Spirit, which now is poured out even on the Gentiles (Acts 10:45), has an inherent evangelical and expansive dynamic, so that the Way comes to be universal, inclusive of all peoples and nations.” Ottati,p. 232.

  • Gifts of the Spirit

    • Given to all, not just those who have achieved a deeper understanding. Gifts of the Spirit as evidenced here are not passage into a deeper Christian club, nor are the prerequisites for being “in.” 

    • Speaking in tongues and prophecy.

      • Speaking in tongues - not just about speaking in other languages as the CEB changes it to. This is ecstatic speech.

      • Spirit of profound worship - that moves someone beyond words and rationality.

      • Prophecy - Not about telling the future, and not necessarily connected directly to the speaking in tongues.

      • Prophecy is sharing testimony about Jesus Christ. To state that “Jesus is Lord” is a prophetic statement, especially when it is over and against the popular understanding that Emperor is Lord.

      • Must be for the building up and education of the Church. 

      • “An integral piece of spirituality, then, is the declaration of the faith, clearly and intelligibly.” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 102)

    • “While not all baptized Christians have the gifts of tongues or prophecy, the giving of them reminds us of two things. First, all Christians are endowed by the Spirit, and there are many gifts. Tongues and prophecy are not the litmus test of whether or not one is a Christian. The true test is whether that person makes the confession that "Jesus is Lord," which is prompted by the Spirit and cannot be made otherwise (1 Corinthians 12:3). Secondly, we are reminded that being baptized entails the use of whatever gifts one has to witness to what God has done in Christ.” (Arland Hultgren, Working Preacher)

Thoughts and Questions

  • How do we celebrate baptism or confirmation? As a rite of entry into the church or as a sacrament of the Spirit outwardly revealing the inward invisible grace of God?

  • “The narrative may be especially instructive in a day when people struggle for meaning in life and for a new depth of spirituality. Individuals long for something more real than what can be found in a frantic, impersonal, and materialistic world. The very word “Spirit “ becomes an attraction by suggesting an animating force, a reality giving ardor, vitality, and warmth of feeling. The quest for spirituality however, is open to distortion, to the search for strategies and methods that seek to force God’s hand and that neglect the divine freedom. God is free to act where and how God wills. The promise to be claimed from our text is that the Spirit is to be sought in the word preached and the sacrament enacted.”  (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 102)

  • The evidence of their baptism was immediate and obvious. What are the discernable marks of our baptism? For those who were baptized as babies, this is a difficult thing to discern, but can we at least wrestle with the question, “What if I were not baptized?” How would life be different? If baptism is only about passage to heaven and avoiding hell, that seems to be an empty understanding of what is happening.

  • Most mainline churches have moved away from the speaking in tongues as described in Acts. The Common English changing it to “speak in other languages” seems to remove some of the mystery of this act. Speaking in tongues is not a simple experience, and the practice of it has been abused - since Paul’s time. Have we, however, lost something important by ending this practice altogether? 

    • “Mysticism is inherent in a spirit-filled universe.  God moves through the sighs too deep for words and at times these spiritual insights may burst forth in ecstatic hymns and super-sensory awareness. This is not supernatural, but a heightening of consciousness and a deeper sense of the causal relationships of life.  The world is filled with magic and mystery and possibilities beyond our wildest dreams.  God’s lures are more than we can ask or imagine.” (Bruce Epperly, Process and Faith)

  • “Speaking in tongues, inasmuch as it circumvents and destabilizes conventional patterns of discourse, can pave the way for kingdom change in the world. Tongue speaking can be construed as a mode of discourse that refuses to conform to reificatory patterns of thought and speech. It overwhelms speech by exposing it to an otherness beyond convention. Such discourse, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can dismantle systems of thought that subjugate and marginalize human others. We catch a glimpse of this in the work of womanist and black feminist writers, writers who endure a double marginalization on account of their race and gender. As Mae Gwendolyn Henderson observes,” (Jacob Myers, Working Preacher)

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND GET IN TOUCH:

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”), Paul and Storm (“Oh No”), and Bryan Odeen for our closing music.

Epiphany BEric FistlerMark, Acts, Psalm 1-74, Genesis2 Comments