On the church calendar, the season of Epiphany takes us from Christmas to Lent. It’s the season of light, which is really helpful given that it’s pretty much the darkest, coldest time of the year around here.
The word epiphany means a revealing, a manifestation that brings a sudden understanding. An enlightening, even. Epiphany begins with the story of the magi following the star - there’s the signature “light” of the season - that brings them to Jesus and that’s followed by stories of Jesus’ ministry that reveal who he is and what he’s all about.
First among those is the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. It’s quite literally the first story of the adult Jesus in each of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus is baptized, he retreats to the wilderness (the story that inspires Lent), and then begins his ministry. We’re hearing Matthew’s account this year, but each of the gospels tells essentially the same story with their own little variations.
John is preparing people for the arrival of the messiah by calling them to repent and be baptized in the river. Full submersion was likely his style. Jesus comes to the river, John recognizes who Jesus is and initially balks at baptizing him but Jesus says no, this is the proper way for things to happen. John baptizes Jesus and, as he emerges from the water, God’s spirit appears as a dove and a voice is heard saying “this is my beloved son, with whom I am pleased.”
It seems like we should all be just as surprised as John that Jesus would want to be baptized. After all, baptism was the sign that accompanied John’s call to repentance. Why would the Son of God need to repent? Why would Jesus get in line with everyone else?
“With everyone else” is exactly why.
From the very beginning, Jesus tries to establish that he is one of us. I think Jesus knows that we will try our best to set him apart, to worship him as “God beyond our reach,” not “God with us.” But Emmanuel - “God with us” - is what was promised. And here’s Jesus being just that. He comes to John like everyone else, with everyone else, because that’s who he is and what his life and ministry will show. Not something that’s meant to show power beyond us, but to reveal the power that is within us, the spirit of God that has been in all creation from the beginning.
I’m not surprised that baptism is the first story of the adult Jesus. I’m not surprised that it’s followed by his journey of discovery in the wilderness and then, only then, his ministry. We begin with a story that reveals the Holy Spirit to be with Jesus and that he is the “beloved son,” and then hear a life of stories that try to show us that the Holy Spirit is with each of us, too, and that we are all beloved children of God.
Jesus comes to baptism as one of us and leaves as one of us, spirit-filled and beloved by God. His life will show us how to reconnect with that spirit, to live into the divine that is in each of us and to restore our relationship with God. We’re in good company if we struggle to understand that. I seems like John didn’t get it at first, either.
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