NL 121: Baptism of Jesus

image: Baptism of Christ, 1389 CE Armenian, artist unknown (Wiki Commons)

Matthew 3:1-17

Matthew 3:1-12

Initial Thoughts

  • Why must John the Baptist ruin my Christmas?!

    • Only 2 Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ birth - ALL the Gospels have John the Baptist...all four of them.

  • Issues with Baptism

    • Forgiveness of sin and acceptance of God’s grace

      1. Not needed - traditionally: Jesus was sinless

      2. John baptized Jesus - who is greater?

  • Gospel differences

    • Mark - John Baptizes Jesus, but Jesus is greater than John (Mark 1:7)

    • Luke - unclear, assumes John baptizes Jesus but simply says “When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized” (Luke 3:21, CEB)

Bible Study

  • Wilderness

    • John meets us out in the wilderness

    • Wilderness - after we have already been saved, before we are where God wants us to be

    • Wilderness - where we learn who God is and who we are in relation to God

    • Wilderness - when we are our most rebellious (a brood of vipers, if you will)

  • Repent - metanoia, literally, “Change your whole self”

    • Preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven

    • Not about guilt or acknowledging your depravity, but aligning yourself to God and Christ

    • This strange man in the wilderness puts an end to our romanticized, emotional look to the coming of an infant.

    • “We must not speak of God’s love coming down at Christmas without remembering that the divine love is fierce in its judgment upon those who resist love’s demand” (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew).

    • John warns against “resting on your laurels.”  It is not enough to just claim Abraham as your Father.  A changed heart has to follow.

    • “The Christian equivalent of ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ Is ‘We have Christ as our savior.’  While trust in Christ’s salvation is a first requirement, it is not the last” (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew).

    • Radical message that being a descendant of Abraham was not enough.  One had to have faith and action like Abraham as well.

    • “Bearing fruit” is the key to John’s message.  The only way to know if there has been repentance, is with fruit.

  • “Brood of vipers”

    • “When vipers are hatched, they remain together, until they begin to mature. But if something threatens them, they spread out and flee...Something has warned them of the wrath to come, and they are leaving the comfort and security of their lives.” Gonzalez, p.49

    • Interesting opening to a sermon or a new member class - “you brood of vipers”

    • “Brood of vipers”

      • “When vipers are hatched, they remain together, until they begin to mature. But if something threatens them, they spread out and flee...Something has warned them of the wrath to come, and they are leaving the comfort and security of their lives.” Gonzalez,  Belief Commentary: Luke p.49

      • “The insult is fierce: vipers were thought to eat their way out of their mother’s body and so kill her.” Amy-Jill Levine, “Luke”, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, p.116

    • Wakes people up with unapologetic anger.

      • These are people that are coming to be baptized by him, and he warns them not come with simply a desire to be baptized. This isn’t some “get clean quick” scheme.

      • The declaration that a ritual is not enough is consistent with the other prophets (cf. Isaiah 1)

        • Water isn’t enough, but a total change of heart is what is needed.

    • Being Jewish isn’t enough either.

      • Radical claim for a people who defined God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

      • Generational ties were of utmost importance.

      • “Say not within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father” - That is, trust not in your being members of the visible Church, or in any external privileges whatsoever: for God now requires a change of heart; and that without delay.

    • Harsh, Urgent, Concrete

      • John’s message is harsh - you brood of vipers

      • John’s message is urgent - the ax is at the base of the tree

      • John’s message is concrete - repent- change your heart and mind

  • Kingdom of Heaven

    • “Heaven” used instead of “God,” probably because of Jewish reluctance to use the word “God.”

    • While there are elements of Matthew that tend to “spiritualize” the good news, this is more about respect to culture than a shift in premise.  The Kingdom of Heaven is not about where you go after death.  It reflects the power and ‘Kingship’ of God in the here and now.

    • Eschatological message of John is unavoidable.  Symbolism of wilderness, clothes, diet, and chopping the tree, all signify that John is operating outside of the current era.  He is speaking to an end, and a new beginning.

    • “John sees the judgment as already on the horizon and the basis for his urgent call for repentance.  An appeal to belong to the elect group… will not save one in the fiery judgment” (Eugene Boring, New Interpreter's Bible: Matthew).

  • Judgment and hope

    • Cannot rely on history and nostalgia, repentance must be seen in fruits

    • Change is both painful and liberating- fire is used in both

Thoughts and Questions

  • Christmastime is a time of preparation for gift-giving, parties, Christmas Eve bulletins. John also brings a message of preparation: “Change your heart and lives, for the Kingdom of God is near!” Not a message of guilt, but of seizing opportunity. How will you prepare for the Kingdom of Heaven?

  • Repentance is an invitation to a new way of life which is demonstrated by its fruits. Being a son of Abraham or being born again isn’t enough- your life must change and your actions must bear out that reorientation. Are you willing to be changed by the good news?

Matthew 3:13-17

Initial Thoughts

  • Love this quote from David Lose: “Apparently, baptism was always a problem.”

  • Focus, rightly, is on Jesus, not John. 

  • Post-Epiphany season begins here, has frustrating stop in John 1 next week, then back to Matthew, especially the Sermon on the Mount, leading into Lent.

Bible Study

  • John’s reluctance and Jesus’ assurance

    • This awkward exchange is not found elsewhere. All the gospels include John proclaiming that the one coming after him is greater. Mark and Luke do not have this exchange. G of John does not even have John baptizing Jesus, but just “witnessing” to him.

      • “Perhaps Matthew wished to defend Jesus against the supposition that he too was guilty of pre baptismal sin and came to John to have it washed away. Perhaps Matthew was piqued by followers of the Baptist who claimed that Jesus must be inferior to John since he had submitted to to baptism by John.” (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew, p. 20).

    • “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness” are the first words attributed to Jesus in Matthew, and thus in the NT.

      • “The term ‘righteousness’ (used seven time in Matthew and with differing connotations) seems here to indicate a divine requirement to be accomplished. The adjective ‘all’ mean that it is not simply a special requirement for the Son of God but on that joins him with fellow Christians in carrying out ‘all that God requires.’” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 97).

      • “Why would Matthew regard it as God’s will that the Messiah be baptized? The most likely answer to this question stressed Jesus’ solidarity with sinners. The one who will save his people from their sins by submitting to a baptism of annihilation must here consecrate himself to his vocation by joining the sinful multitude in the waters of the Jordan. ...In so doing, he takes the first step on the road to Calvary.” (Hare, Interpretation, p. 21)

  • God’s response

    • Heaven opened to him

    • Spirit of God descended like a dove and resting on him.

      • A commissioning - connected to Great Commission, where Jesus send out disciples to baptize and to obey his commands.

    • Voice: “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I find happiness in him.”

      • Isaiah 42

      • Matthew did not know the Nicene Creed. “Father/Son” relationship was more about identity and vocation that metaphysical relationship. Jesus was also Son of David and Son of Abraham. 

Thoughts and Questions

  • “Our main doctrines, which include all the rest, are three: That of repentance, of faith, and of holiness. The first of these we account, as it were, the porch of religion; the next, the door; the third, religion itself.” John Wesley. At baptism, the heavens were opened. This is the entry. This idea of repentance being the porch of God’s Kingdom could be a helpful one - it is the first step toward a relationship with God. Stepping through that door is the coming of faith and living into holiness. Baptism can be seen as the transition point between repentance and holiness. This metaphor is helpful, but imperfect, because as Wesley knew as well, the process of holiness 

  • “I believe we need make teaching the significance of baptism a priority. This shouldn’t occur only in the sermon, of course. Confession of sin is a time to remember baptism. Communion is an extension of the baptismal promise. The dismissal is the time to send us forth to live out our baptism in our various roles and vocations in the world. And during hospital and home visits there are manifold opportunities to remind our people of God’s promises to us in Baptism.” David Lose

    • How do we teach baptism? Is it just something we remember once a year, and whenever a baby is born?

    • What does it mean to “remember your baptism”? Is it just the remembrance of the ritual - which many of us cannot recall; or it something else? To remember your baptism is to remember who you are. 

    • Baptism is, above all, about identity.

Year 1Eric FistlerMatthewComment