A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, January 11, 2009
Isaiah 42: 1 – 9; Psalm 89: 20 – 29; Acts 10: 34 – 38; Mark 1: 7 – 11
The other day, I was walking our two Cocker Spaniels, Phoebe and Zoe, when suddenly they caught a whiff of a scent that sent them scrambling. It’s amazing how strong two dogs can be: mind you, one weighs 35 pounds, and the other 45. When they want to go somewhere, especially when they are motivated by the thought of discovering something they might like to chase (or eat!), they can use their combined 80 pounds of weight to good advantage!. I see why they use dogs to pull sleds in the frozen north….they are strong!
So, these two dogs are pulling me along the street, trying to catch sight of something that their senses (in this case, their noses) had discovered.
They weren’t sure what is was, because they’d only gotten a glimmer – via their noses – of what it was they were sure had been there at some time in the past.
This illustration is a good lead-in to our gospel text for today, for Phoebe and Zoe:
- Had discovered something that they knew about, but I didn’t (a secret),
- Were single-mindedly pursuing this new discovery.
Today’s text, which recounts Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, is sort of like that: Mark gives us a glimmer of the scene, enough to put all our senses – especially our spiritual ones – on edge.
Like Cocker Spaniels on a mission, we strain to look through the pages of Holy Scripture to see for ourselves the reality of this scene. The written word gives us a hint of the reality which existed some 2,000 years ago.
That’s just what Mark wants us to do!
Mark, after all, is a writer with a mission: He’s on a mission to bring alive the reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark wants us to see the excitement of God coming among us, as one of us, he wants us to “catch the scent” of the great work that God has done in Jesus Christ. Mark wants us to see the drama that that plays out in the lives of the original 12 disciples, even as it plays out in our lives, as the Good News of Jesus Christ unfolds.
And to heighten the drama, Mark casts Jesus’ coming as a secret, one that is “bottled up” until the right time, when it explodes into reality and into the world’s consciousness. (More on that in a minute.)
And the Good News begins to unfold right here in Jesus’ baptism.
Let’s look a little closer at this text, Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism. Then, let’s consider what the implications might be for us as followers of Jesus Christ, we who have followed Him into the waters of baptism.
We begin with a look at the vocabulary Mark uses….Notice the action verb in verse 10, “And as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart.”
Mark loves action verbs! This verb, “torn apart” emphasizes the violent rending open of the heavens, indicating to us that God is coming with power and decisive action, entering our world by a demonstration of His power. God breaks into our world! His power can be felt and sensed by human beings.
Next, notice that it’s Jesus only who sees the heavens torn apart, and it is He alone who sees the Spirit descending on Him in the form of a dove. The drama of God’s acting – at least at this point in Mark’s story – is hidden!
We might pause here for a moment and remind ourselves of the overall structure of Mark’s gospel account….For Mark portrays Jesus’ coming, His teaching, and His purpose in taking on our humanity, as a secret which finally bursts open because its power won’t be stopped by anything. Biblical scholars have come to name this phenomenon in Mark as the “Messianic Secret”. Time and again, Jesus will tell those whom He has healed, “Don’t tell anyone about me.”[1] But then, after His last instruction to “keep quiet”, Mark then tells us, in Mark 8: 31 – 32, that Jesus, began to tell His disciples that he would undergo great suffering, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days, rise again. Mark goes on to say that He said all these things “quite openly”. The secret is out!
And so, what is partially hidden becomes fully known.
What is being revealed, it turns out, is the fullness of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit….Notice again what Mark tells us: as Jesus was coming up out of the water, Mark tells us that He “saw the heavens torn apart, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
So, God the Father’s voice is heard, confirming His unity with the Son. God the Holy Spirit is present in His descent on Jesus, as well. The fullness of God is present now among us.
What might we make of this scene, and what is its importance for us?
The first point we might make is that we are witnesses to the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ in a way that makes us more informed witnesses than the original witnesses who stood on the banks of the Jordan River that day. For, you see, we know about the Father’s approval. We know that the Spirit descended. We know that Jesus saw the heavens opened.
In a sense, then, we are closer to the event that the original witnesses were, even though we are separated by nearly 2,000 years of time, for we know things about Jesus’ baptism that the eyewitness of that time did not know. We’re “in” on the secret!
Secondly, we ought to recognize that the fullness of God’s power is present in this scene….it is an irrepressible power, one that nothing can stop! Mark is especially careful to emphasize the power and the unmistakable effects of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit come in indivisible unity to intervene in human affairs and in human lives.
Finally, for all the power and the presence of God as we see it in this scene, yet we see something of the character of God in Jesus’ baptism, a baptism which was undertaken at the hands of John the Baptist, a baptism that was specifically for the forgiveness of sins.
But, we should ask: “Why did Jesus submit Himself to a baptism which was for the forgiveness of sins?” Why was this necessary, since Jesus lived a sinless life?[2]
I think the answer is that we see the nature of God in this act….for the God who comes in power, also comes in humility. For God does not ask us to do anything that He, Himself, isn’t willing to do also. I think that’s the essential point….God says to us, “Do as I say, and as I do, for I’ve already done it!”
So, are your senses on edge? Have you caught a whiff of the exciting scent of the gospel, of the exciting reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who comes in power, and also in humility?
Are you eager to learn more about this mysterious Son of God, as His “messianic secret” unfolds in this season? Then you’re ready for the season of Epiphany, during which we celebrate the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, and to the world.
Welcome to the journey of discovery that is the Christian faith!
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[1] A paraphrase of Jesus’ actual words, which vary from occasion to occasion.
[2] See II Corinthians 5: 21, where Jesus’ sinlessness is confirmed by St. Paul.
