MK 1: 4-11 

Marginally Mark…Baptism of Our Lord / Epiphany 1…Revised 2018

(For the Epiphany - MT 2: 1-12 - see matthewinthemargins.blogspot.com.au)

As MK sees it, the Gospel begins not in Bethlehem but out beyond the margins of society. Out we go, as Jesus does, following the Baptiser into the wilderness across Jordan. Some see this as the Baptiser offering out there a down-to-earth, grass-roots, folk alternative to the Jerusalem cultus. A geographic, political, & religious challenge to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, the big smoke! Does Church need to take more alternatives into account for today’s situations? (There are many ‘situations’ around!) We need to be prepared to move ourselves physically & spiritually to get to where JB is, even if it’s seen to be ‘political’ - (what isn’t?) Is it Crossan who suggests the Hebrews have to change the direction of their hearts, re-cross Jordan, & re-enter the Promised Land to re-conquer it for God? This time by a changed direction of life.

Locusts & wild honey are an alternative physical diet for JB. A baptism that turns our life around in God’s direction may need an alternative spiritual diet for us. In most of our cases, it will mean 'growing into' a baptism that's already happened to us, maybe long ago. Letting it really happen to us! Speaking of alternatives, those who go out to JB wondering if he's the Messiah find themselves pointed in an alternative direction. To Jesus. A Messiah different from any they may have expected & in the end, couldn’t cope with! Many today may need to be pointed to the kind of Messiah Jesus is, rather than the soft option we may sometimes be tempted to preach. That is, if we / they are to turn lives around in God’s direction. For God’s sake & our own!

JB's humility in what he says about Jesus, & the way he points people to him, is an authentication of his message. Pointing as it does to the kind of Messiah come among them. To that humility at the heart of Jesus' life & ministry. Servanthood. JB & Jesus Himself are both conscious of whose servant they are! Are we?

To focus on JB’s colourful figure, though, is to go against what he himself  points to. Let’s focus our preaching on the One Greater. The One whose sandal JB isn't fit to stoop to untie. The One who will baptise with Holy Spirit. The One at whose baptism into His role as Messiah, the very heavens can't contain their joy!

Theophanies don't sit too well with us today, but Gospel will only become real, true, & meaningful for us when we have such a change of heart that we experience, as a consequence, 'the skies opening' in some way for us. Hear God telling us we're His beloved son or daughter; that God's well pleased with us!