Who doesn’t like a dunkin’

Can you recall your baptism or christening? Historically it was to ensure that we were welcomed into the Church i.e. God before we died. Given life expectancy back then, getting in early was a good idea. This might make us think that child baptism was the only option, but frequently in the Bible we will see examples of family baptism including adults. Hey, who doesn’t like a dunkin’?

In our passage this week, Matthew 3:13-17, we have the baptism of Jesus. Hold it, why should Jesus be baptised at all? Surely the ‘Son of God’ doesn’t need that social immersion, especially into the muddy waters of the Rover Jordan? It’s odd that the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all mention the baptism of Jesus albeit John, the spiritual gospel, does not. I wonder why that might be?

Disagreement?

Both Mark and Luke do not have the opening salvo of exchanges between John and Jesus mentioned by Matthew (3:13) John seemingly prevents Jesus from being baptised – who doesn’t like a dunkin? – but is convinced by an argument that prevails throughout the Gospel of Matthew : one of being righteous. Now, I have heard of the Righteous Brothers and their hit “Unchained Melody” but what exactly does Jesus mean?

Righteous

So a dictionary might say that righteous means morally right or justifiable. I recall the Revd Richard Coles saying that when speaking with his Bishop, if asked whether he refrained from sex with his partner, would lie as it would be morally correct. In the Royal Air Force, I was always aware that orders had to be legal, and I would hope also morally right. When faced with killing another, that was hard.

But in this context righteous means be right with God. We possibly return to the quote by Oswald Chambers, below.

In the Gospel of Matthew, being righteous is emphasised more than 24 times, compared with Mark’s mention which is only twice. Earlier in Matthew 3:11 Matthew stresses that John claims that that the one who follows him is mightier than himself. Upon baptism the whole fount of the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus and God said “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. “who doesn’t like a dunkin? – not Jesus”

Genesis?

I wonder whether the visual metaphor “like a dove” which is often portrayed is linked to the story of Noah after the floodwaters. We can understand that the ‘Father and the Son’ are intrinsically linked; however, the Nicene Creed wasn’t known by Matthew and nor had the concept of the Trinity been developed as yet. I wonder whether the release of the Spirit onto Jesus was seen by God, just in the creation myth as “and it was good”.

Northern Lights

I recently saw a programme about the flickering wispy veils of the Northern Lights. The visual evidence of the impact of radiation from the sun colliding with the magnetosphere surrounding the Earth is awe inspiring. You might wonder what those millennia might have considered it to mean. When we read of Heaven opening, this may well relate back to the Hebrew understanding of Heaven surrounding the Earth, separate but where messengers (Greek : angelos) were able to cross.

Baptism

As we have read previously, the baptism of someone at the River Jordan, entering the promised land was always to be seen as emotive. Through Elijah, John the Baptist and now Jesus there is a call for repentance, in Latin to rethink. This meant danger with the Romans ruling everyones’s lives. In Matthew’s Gospel the baptism is finally seen again in the Great Commission, where we are called to baptise and “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Perhaps baptism, once seen as a way of ensuring that we enter heaven upon death, might be more akin to living on earth, being one with God.