Year B
Mark 1:4-11
The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn
A Baptism of New Beginnings
On this First Sunday after the Epiphany, the Feast of Epiphany occurred yesterday on January 6, when we celebrate the mysterious travelers from the East that made their way to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem with their gifts, as they have now gone home, and as we start a new year, it is fitting to hear about new beginnings. Every year, on this Sunday, we begin this season of Epiphany with an “aha” moment, this is what an Epiphany is, with the story of the Baptism of our Lord. We hear this story because not only did Jesus begin his ministry with his baptism, his baptism revealed that he was God’s Son that eye opening moment, a moment when we come to see that God wants to have a relationship with us, and Jesus’ baptism is a model for how all Christ followers are to live their lives.
We begin our Christian lives with our baptism. Harris Hopkins Horton will make a new beginning today as he begins his Christian life with God in his baptism. Baptism is an inauguration ceremony and Mark treats our Lord’s baptism today as a kind of inauguration ceremony. Jesus’ ministry and mission hinged on it, for as far as we know from the scriptures, he healed no one, taught no one, raised no one from the dead, cast out no demons until he had been baptized. In that baptism, he received the power of the Holy Spirit to do his ministry. The overall message in Mark’s gospel is that in baptism we receive power and authority to carry out Jesus’ ministry through the water and the word by the Holy Spirit.
Our texts today, show us that the Spirit of God who descended upon Jesus at his baptism is none other than the Creator Spirit or God’s “breath,” or “wind” that moved over the face of the waters in the beginning of creation of which we read of in Genesis today. The prophets later came to understand that their God who was present with them in all times bringing order out of chaos and light out of darkness, was indeed Creator of the world. The breath of God was at work in the beginning breathing the Spirit upon all creation. God breathes the breath of life into Adam and Eve. The breath of God, God’s Spirit was upon Moses to lead them out of slavery from Egypt and continued to breathe upon powerful leaders, and especially upon the anointed Kind David.
In later centuries the prophets, filled with the Spirit of God, proclaimed God’s will for justice in the world and hoped for an anointed Messianic king, or servant of God, upon which the Spirit would rest, to bring God’s reign of peace to all the nations. Against this background we begin to understand the baptism of Jesus. Mark identifies Jesus as the expected anointed one, the Messiah on whom the Spirit rests in a heaven-opening Epiphany event, to prepare the way and bring God’s reign into the world. Jesus’ baptism was the beginning of the messianic age when the Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh. It was Jesus’ calling to be the Spirit-bearer and beloved Son of his Father who brings salvation to all people.
He identifies with the sinners at the river Jordan who have flocked to John’s baptism and answered God’s call to repentance. Following his baptism the Spirit leads him into the wilderness to confront the power of evil and to discern the nature of his mission. Anointed by the Spirit, he then begins his ministry to the people of healing, proclaiming the kingdom of God, good news to the poor and forgiveness for sins. Throughout the gospels, the baptism event is a story of Jesus the beloved Son, sent by God, empowered by the Spirit of God, for the sake of bringing God’s love and reign to the world.
The purpose of the Son’s mission is to draw all human beings into a share in this triune communion, with God, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. According to Mark, it is Jesus who baptizes with the Holy Spirit then baptism in the name of Christ brings us into communion with God and God’s Spirit. The Book of Acts tells us that, after the resurrection, through the ministry of the apostles, the Spirit was given in dramatic ways to all. The Spirit gave the followers of Jesus power to proclaim the gospel with boldness. They were able to proclaim the life-giving gospel of Jesus before “rulers and authorities,” even at the cost of their own lives.
The Spirit guided them to bring this gospel far beyond where they had initially though it could go, leading them to open the church to Gentiles, like the Ephesians in today’s epistle text. And like the disciples that Paul finds in Ephesus, there are many Christians today who might say that they “have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Paul teaches us in his writings that all who confess Jesus is Lord have received the Holy Spirit and are drawn into this pouring out of the Spirit upon all who come to God. This gift given to us at baptism empowers us to proclaim the gospel message.
To “speak truth to power, confronting the “rulers and authorities” of this world with the message of justice and peace, and trusting that when we are called upon to offer this witness, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. The creator Spirit that empowered Jesus at the beginning of his ministry empowers us for life, mission and ministry. Today’s reading from Acts reminds us to claim the full power of that baptism. A baptism by the One who “swept over the face of the waters” and gave the Holy Spirit to welcome us into God’s family so that we could grow in faith and love, and have the ability to seek God’s will for our lives.
It was for the sake of God’s kingdom that God anointed Jesus for his ministry. The rest of the gospel describes how this beloved Son fulfills the mission given to him by God-a mission that will result in his execution on a cross but death does not have the final word for him and for all the baptized believers. When we are baptized we rise with Jesus from death into his new life in the Spirit with God. The same Spirit empowers all of us to carry forward his ministry of love and reconciliation, overcoming the chaos and darkness of the world so that the Creator’s will, may finally be fulfilled.
So now let’s us begin the words and actions to receive Harris Hopkins Horton into the household of God as a child of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ as Christ’s own forever. This is a day of new beginnings.