This morning we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. We celebrate it each year on the first Sunday after Epiphany and very near the beginning of the New Year. Much has happened in the life of Jesus since the last verses we encountered in Luke’s gospel.
Jesus has grown up. No longer a small infant carried about by worried and devoted parents – no longer an adolescent studying under the wisdom of the local rabbi or discussing Torah with the teachers in the temple in Jerusalem – no longer a teenager exploring his identity in 1st century Judean society.
Jesus has grown up. He stands on the threshold of a new beginning. God is about to do a new thing. The curtain is going up on a new act of God, a new aspect of the story of redemption is about to begin. The heavenly orchestra strikes up the overture and Jesus descends into the waters of the River Jordan.
-----------------------
Luke has spent several chapters in his gospel setting the stage for what is coming next. We have seen the miraculous announcements of the births of both John and Jesus. We have read about the extraordinary events surrounding the births of these two cousins. Luke has carefully set up the events, the characters and the crisis that needs resolution.
As we encounter Luke’s version of the baptism of Jesus we note that he relates it much differently than the other gospels. The changes are subtle, but important. Luke has a logical way to tell the story he will relate first in the gospel of Luke and later in volume 2 of his work, the Acts of the Apostles.
----------------------
When I worked in theater we would often ‘travel’ a show – take an evening’s performance on the road to various community theaters. When we did so, we usually took a couple of one-act plays. Why one acts? They are easier to stage. Typically they have fewer characters, less scenery and fewer props to put up, take down and pack out.
Because of all those limitations, the play is shorter – usually less than an hour. The story line is less complex and the character development less deep.
But a three act play is where things really get interesting. Its structure permits the author to fully develop story lines, define more characters and do it more fully, move the action from one locale and once scene to another and to define and resolve not just the main plot but a number of subplots as well.
Luke understands the story or redemption to be in three acts and this morning’s gospel portion describes for us the close of act one and the beginning of act two.
---------------
In the first act of a play, the main characters and their relationships are introduced as the crisis or ctirical incident that will need to be resolved before the end.
Wikipedia says that it is here that the protagonist – also known as the main character, hero or heroine – ‘attempts to deal with this incident which leads to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first turning point’.
In this instance, the story of God’s grace begins with the story of the failure of human beings and the loving response of God. But how will God resolve the issue of sin? How will a just God deal with the issue of sinful humanity? How can so much gone wrong ever come out right?
-----------------------
If we take another look at this morning’s scripture portion, we notice that Luke does not say that Jesus is baptized by John. Luke does tell us about the ministry of John and that all the people wondered if John could be the Messiah. But John is clear that indeed he is not – that they should expect someone else – someone more powerful and more worthy. John speaks of another baptism – one not with water but with the Holy Spirit and with fire – one not done by the hands of people but one that is a work done by the hand of God. John warns of a coming judgment and that judgment even applies to the King, Herod who with other evils even married his brother’s ex-wife. As we read this morning’s scripture portion, John is already in prison. The last of the Old Testament prophets has burst on the scene, played his part in the great story of redemption and added to the drama of the play as he set the scene for the greater one who is to come.
---------------------
Luke’s second act in the story of redemption begins as the now adult Jesus enters the scene. For Luke this scene comes ‘when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying’. Luke’s story starts after the baptism and while Jesus is at prayer.
Prayer will be an important part of the gospel of Luke and in Acts as well. Prayer will be mentioned again after Jesus cleanses a leper (), before selecting the disciples () and before answering their questions () and before the transfiguration (-29). It is the prayers of Jesus that motivate the disciples to ask Jesus to teach them to pray.
------------
As Jesus is praying, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends in bodily form like a dove. A voice also comes from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
In a play, the level of action rises in the second act. Things get more exciting and things happen more quickly. It’s called ‘rising action’, where ‘the protagonist attempts to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point, only to find themselves in ever worsening situations.’[1]
In Luke, Jesus faces greater and greater opposition from the powers-that-be even as he teaches about the love and redemption of God. Jesus emphasizes the importance of prayer, repentance and reliance on the holy Spirit only to be met with anger, jealousy and violence.
The height of Luke’s redemption story will come with the crucufixion and resurrection of Jesus but here again Luke will bring down the curtain as he prepares us for the next act. As he brings down that curtain, Luke will be the only gospel writer to relate the story of the Ascension, of Jesus rising to heaven – clearly ending his ministry on the earth as he leaves the disciples alone in the world – but not completing the action of God in history.
----------------------------------
Luke’s third act will begin with the work of the Acts of the Apostles. In theater, the third act features the resolution of the story and its subplots and the same is true for Luke. The climax will come with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost – the empowering of the disciples to continue the work of Christ – the enlivening work of the Spirit to lead us into all truth and empowering us to share that truth with the world. The resolution comes when those disciples go out into the world to share the gospel.
--------
For Luke, moving from one act to another requires a break in the action: John is put in prison to end act one, Jesus ascends into heaven to end act two. Yet, there are throughout the story common elements such as fulfillment of prophecies and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This morning, we celebrate the beginning of that second act: the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ. We look forward to hearing the stories of teaching, healing and love. We look forward to stories of God at work in the world through the life and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
--------------
As we do so, we will need to remember that we have the privilege – and the responsibility - of living in the third act. Too often we allow ourselves to become so focused on the historical Jesus that we forget that we ourselves are living in the new period of the power of the Holy Spirit.
We focus our attention on the facts of the life of Jesus and neglect the ministry of Jesus that continues under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We tend to keep faith in a box – or a book – as though matters of faith are interesting matters of history rather than matters of our own lives in the 21st century.
We think of the work of being disciples as something only for the formally ‘ordained’ or the overtly spiritual when indeed as the chosen ones of God we are each called to join those early disciples in the work of the Spirit.
One pastor writes: ‘I don't think that Luke tells us about Jesus' baptism just to inform us about what happened to Jesus. He relates this story also to indicate something about our baptisms, our need to be in prayer, our anointing with the Spirit, and our subsequent battles with evil and ministry in the world. We have a ‘beloved’ and ‘well-pleasing’ relationship with God. With that comes the responsibility to live out of that relationship -- to fulfill the mission God sends before us -- to live up to the confidence God has placed on us. Jesus' baptism prefigures Pentecost. The era of Jesus' ministry prefigures the era of the Church's ministry -- our ministry -- in the world.’[2]
Let us go gladly into the world to so pray and do. Amen.
