After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. Matthew 3, 13-17
Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: “The truth I have now come to realise” he said “is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God.” Acts 10: 34-38
It seems that Baptism rituals have been part of religious sects and communities for a long time. There is archaeological evidence that the Essenes, a Hebrew sect, had ritual baths for members who wanted to be cleansed of their sins. The Essenes lived in caves in the desert between the Dead Sea and the ancient city of Jericho during the period of approximately 200 years BC or BCE. And we all know of the Baptism to which John the Baptist invited people to participate when he called them to repent of their sins in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Mark, Matthew and Luke all made reference to the fact that Jesus presented himself to his cousin John for baptism in the Jordan. But this presented those three Gospel writers with a theological conundrum. Why would Jesus, who was sinless, qualify for a baptism for repentance of sins? Matthew took the story of Jesus’ baptism by John from Mark and proceeded to embellish it. Matthew included what was something of a debate between John and Jesus. John initially protested to Jesus that he was the one who should be baptized by Jesus not vice-versa. Jesus effectively said to John: “Leave it like this for the time being for the sake of “righteousness – because that’s what our prophets had foretold.” Matthew then simply stated that John gave in to Jesus and went ahead and baptized him. A close look at today’s gospel-reading from Matthew reveals that it gives more attention to Jesus’ identity, the role of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven than to the fact that Jesus was baptized. In Mark’s version the voice from heaven was God’s affirmation of Jesus: “You are my Son, the Beloved” (words from God directed to Jesus). Matthew made it clear that the voice from heaven was for the benefit of all those who were looking on: “This is my Son, the Beloved.” In his Gospel, John the Evangelist made no mention of Jesus’ baptism or the debate between Jesus and the Baptist or the voice from heaven. John the Evangelist did no more than state the Baptist’s words when he saw Jesus passing by: “Look, there is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29).
In the earliest years of the Christian community, the years immediately after the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension, admission to Christian baptism was something that required proof of qualification. While Matthew, at the conclusion of his Gospel, quoted Jesus’ directive to the Eleven: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations (gentiles); baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.”, admission to the Christian community was granted only after a candidate demonstrated that she/he appreciated that becoming a Christian put one at risk of persecution, ridicule and even martyrdom. Preparation for baptism took months or even years. It was not until the year 312 CE, when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, that seeking Baptism ceased to be a risky business.
That aside, whatever our or anyone else’s theological view of Jesus’ request for a baptism of repentance, it is clear that Jesus’ insistence that John baptize him was an indication of his wanting to be identified with the crowds who had heeded the Baptist’s call to prepare for the arrival of the one who would come after him and who would usher in the kingdom of God.
That Jesus, in due course, chose to follow a different ministry did not diminish his admiration for the Baptist and what he had done to convince the general populace to ready themselves to welcome the long-awaited Messiah.
What led Jesus to pursue another path was his life of prayer and his openness to the promptings of God’s Spirit. Therein was the double inspiration that motivated Jesus throughout the remainder of his life and in the ministry he undertook.
Our Baptism into Jesus calls us to commit ourselves to keeping his mission and ministry alive in our world. It leaves no room for excuses that we are inadequate or not good enough. Created in the image of God, we are made for love and service in imitation of Jesus our brother; we are made out of love for love and blessed with creativity, imagination and a unique combination of personal talents and gifts, all of which make no allowance for excuses.
In that context, I put to myself and to all who read this reflection the story of a man who claimed to have no religious affiliation but who was searching for purpose in his life. He approached a Jewish rabbi with the following question:
“Why, of all things, did God choose the lowly thornbush as the place from which to speak to Moses?”
The rabbi responded: “If God had chosen a cedar, a carob tree or a mulberry bush, you would have asked me the very same question. Still, I can.t let you leave emptyhanded. That’s why I’m now telling you that God chose the humble thornbush to tell us all that there is nothing or no place on earth in which God is not present, not even a thornbush.”
God’s Spirit has already settled in our thornbush, aspidistra or rosebush lives.
Who else could have selected Peter to lead that slow-witted group who were the first apostles? Who else could have called a man like Paul, who opposed, ridiculed and persecuted the earliest Christians, to champion the Gospel of Jesus? Who else might have invited a charming young playboy and lover of French poetry like Francis of Assisi to rebuild the Church and care for the poor?
Today’s reading from Acts, with its story of the conversion of the Roman centurion and his family underlines the reality that God has no favourites. We hear of how, in a dream, Peter heard a message from God that all food was suitable for eating because nothing created by God was profane. When, at God’s insistence, Peter accepted this truth, he was able to transfer what he had learned from God to people. There was really nothing unworthy about gentile people that excluded them from access to God’s love. Accordingly, Peter accepted Cornelius and his household (all foreigners, all previously regarded as ritually unclean because of their gentile origins) into the community of the baptised.
If we care to ponder this, we will realise that we are all Conelius – imperfect, broken sinful and of gentile origin, all in need of conversion and all beloved of God.