First Sunday in Lent, Cycle B, February 22, 2015
Genesis 9:8-17, Psalm 25:1-10, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:9-15
As you might know, the Lenten period just started last Wednesday. Then, what is Lent? Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. It is a season of repentance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection. In this first Sunday of Lent, we are going to think about the Baptism. For those who are not familiar with the Baptism, it is one of Christian rituals of sprinkling water onto a person's forehead or of immersion in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church.
Today’s Gospel text in Mark says that Jesus was baptized by John. And when he came up out of the water, the heaven opened up and the Spirit of God was descending on him like a dove and there was a voice saying “You are my son whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”
When I was preparing this sermon and studying this bible text, I had bunch of questions. For example, why was Jesus baptized by human? Does it mean that Jesus was inferior to John the Baptist? What does it mean by that to us? If Jesus is the Son of God and has no sin at all, why did he need the ritual of purification before he started his mission? With these questions in mind, I invite you to think about Jesus’ baptism and our responses to these questions in this Lenten season.
There are four gospels in the New Testament which talk about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. And all of the four gospels talk about Jesus’ baptism very differently. The first Gospel, Matthew, focuses on the superiority of Jesus even exceeding that of Moses in the Old Testament. This is why, Matthew includes this unique sentence, "I [which is John] need to be baptized by you, and why are you coming to me?" (Mat.3:14) This sentence indicates that John confesses the superiority of Jesus. And Jesus answers that "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." So Matthew explains that Jesus’ baptism is the act of fulfilling God’s will.
Gospel of Luke talks differently than Matthew. Luke says “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.” But it does not say who provided the baptism. Moreover, right before the scene of Jesus’ baptism, Luke placed the scene where John the Baptist was arrested by King Herod. This is how Luke avoided to put the importance of John the Baptist in Jesus’ baptism.
The Gospel of John also talks differently than the other Gospels. John the Baptist testifies that “I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'” (John1:33) According to this text, John the Baptist didn’t baptize Jesus nor did he know Jesus. John simply saw the Spirit come down upon Jesus without any incident of baptism.
These differences in the four Gospels show us that there had been a huge debate on why Jesus was baptized by John. Was Jesus inferior to John or what? The four writers of the Gospels were trying their best to stay firm on their belief according to their own unique interpretation and perspective on this event
Now, let’s look closer into today’s Gospel text in Mark. In this text, we see humbleness of Jesus. Mark 1:7-8 says that “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John clearly declares that Jesus is more powerful and superior to him. But Jesus came to John and was baptized by him. Son of God was baptized by human. Son of God never boasts himself but is humble like a servant. Then, why was Jesus being humble? Hold that thought here!
Today’s Old Testament reading is Noah’s story. God punished the entire living creature including human being with water except Noah’s family. Here, water symbolizes death and the tool for God’s judgment. Noah was righteous, and his family was saved by their thorough obedience toward God. After the judgment of flood, God makes an eternal promise with Noah that the human beings and all living things will never be perished by water. 1 Peter connects and interprets the incident of Noah’s ark with baptism. If water meant death before, now it is a sign for salvation.
Indeed, for me, water means death as well. When I was very young, my family traveled a lot and one day we went to East sea of Korea. As usual, we were playing in the sea with floating tube and my father was taking a picture of us by the shore. But suddenly, there came a strong wave and hit my tube so that my tube flipped upside down. And I was stuck there in the tube. By this sudden incident, the whole world was gone but water, sand, and the sound of water. I shouted in the water but only sand and the salty water came into my mouth. I was afraid that no one is going to hear me and that I will die soon. Finally, my father came and saved me from the water but it felt like such a long, long time. After this experience, I am afraid of water and I am afraid of death.
Now, imagine when Jesus came to John to be baptized. How did he feel? What was he thinking? The baptism of Jesus signifies the coming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a very near future. When he sinks down the water, he might have thought of his death on the cross for our salvation. Why did Jesus come to this world? Why did the Son of God try to die? Why did he confront death? Why??? It is because of his overwhelming love toward us. He wanted to taste our distress, sickness, anguish and even death just as we experience in our lives. Furthermore, it is because he is the only path of our salvation… only through his death and resurrection. Jesus couldn’t just remain as a spectator when our destiny was set only toward death and judgment of God.
Our baptism ties together with Jesus’ baptism since it is a promise for us who follow him to give the hope of Christ’s resurrection. So many people were being baptized by John the Baptist at that time but the heaven never opened and there was no Holy Spirit coming down upon anybody but Jesus. This is a promise. Remember your baptism. You might have been baptized when you were baby and don’t remember anything about it like me. And you might not have been baptized yet. But the baptism is very significant. When you have baptism with Jesus, he will say to you that “You are my beloved child and I am well pleased with you” just as there was a voice to Jesus when he came out of water. And the Holy Spirit will be upon you and with you. Also, this is a promise that Jesus will be our companion when we get through all the hardships and sufferings and difficulties. He will take your hands and walk with you. He will be your strength and wisdom in every moment.
The Bible says that after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led him to wilderness and he was tempted by Satan. Just as Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan after his baptism, our life will follow temptations and hardships. At that point, we should follow the model of Christ as he overcame all temptations through the Word of God, trusting firmly on the promise of salvation and resurrection through baptism. Because he loves us so much, he has walked the walk that we had to walk, and now he left us all these promises and signs of his love so that we are not dismayed nor remain in despair as we walk after him until we finally run into his open arms and dwell in his Kingdom.
Baptism does not put a period in our faith but is God putting God’s seal as an inscription that we are God’s children and is an invitation to the salvation that will happen at the end of our life.
In this Lenten period, what should we do as a child of God? Firstly, God is asking us to come closer to God. Then, how? God asks us to surrender ourselves to prayer and to the reading of Scripture. In prayer and Scripture reading, we should reflect and contemplate God’s love in each of us individually as we repent our sins. What is sin? It is everything that hinders us from coming to Jesus Christ.
Secondly, God also asks us to give ourselves to others – not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents with others. Share your love with others. Serve others just as Jesus served his disciples and washed their feet like a servant. Show your kindness and generosity to all the people whom you meet in your daily life.
This is the way of renewing your baptismal commitment and the way of following Jesus. God will be pleased greatly when you observe these things diligently. And there will be a great reward from God and you will know it.
Genesis 9:8-17, Psalm 25:1-10, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:9-15
As you might know, the Lenten period just started last Wednesday. Then, what is Lent? Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. It is a season of repentance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection. In this first Sunday of Lent, we are going to think about the Baptism. For those who are not familiar with the Baptism, it is one of Christian rituals of sprinkling water onto a person's forehead or of immersion in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church.
Today’s Gospel text in Mark says that Jesus was baptized by John. And when he came up out of the water, the heaven opened up and the Spirit of God was descending on him like a dove and there was a voice saying “You are my son whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”
When I was preparing this sermon and studying this bible text, I had bunch of questions. For example, why was Jesus baptized by human? Does it mean that Jesus was inferior to John the Baptist? What does it mean by that to us? If Jesus is the Son of God and has no sin at all, why did he need the ritual of purification before he started his mission? With these questions in mind, I invite you to think about Jesus’ baptism and our responses to these questions in this Lenten season.
There are four gospels in the New Testament which talk about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. And all of the four gospels talk about Jesus’ baptism very differently. The first Gospel, Matthew, focuses on the superiority of Jesus even exceeding that of Moses in the Old Testament. This is why, Matthew includes this unique sentence, "I [which is John] need to be baptized by you, and why are you coming to me?" (Mat.3:14) This sentence indicates that John confesses the superiority of Jesus. And Jesus answers that "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." So Matthew explains that Jesus’ baptism is the act of fulfilling God’s will.
Gospel of Luke talks differently than Matthew. Luke says “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.” But it does not say who provided the baptism. Moreover, right before the scene of Jesus’ baptism, Luke placed the scene where John the Baptist was arrested by King Herod. This is how Luke avoided to put the importance of John the Baptist in Jesus’ baptism.
The Gospel of John also talks differently than the other Gospels. John the Baptist testifies that “I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'” (John1:33) According to this text, John the Baptist didn’t baptize Jesus nor did he know Jesus. John simply saw the Spirit come down upon Jesus without any incident of baptism.
These differences in the four Gospels show us that there had been a huge debate on why Jesus was baptized by John. Was Jesus inferior to John or what? The four writers of the Gospels were trying their best to stay firm on their belief according to their own unique interpretation and perspective on this event
Now, let’s look closer into today’s Gospel text in Mark. In this text, we see humbleness of Jesus. Mark 1:7-8 says that “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John clearly declares that Jesus is more powerful and superior to him. But Jesus came to John and was baptized by him. Son of God was baptized by human. Son of God never boasts himself but is humble like a servant. Then, why was Jesus being humble? Hold that thought here!
Today’s Old Testament reading is Noah’s story. God punished the entire living creature including human being with water except Noah’s family. Here, water symbolizes death and the tool for God’s judgment. Noah was righteous, and his family was saved by their thorough obedience toward God. After the judgment of flood, God makes an eternal promise with Noah that the human beings and all living things will never be perished by water. 1 Peter connects and interprets the incident of Noah’s ark with baptism. If water meant death before, now it is a sign for salvation.
Indeed, for me, water means death as well. When I was very young, my family traveled a lot and one day we went to East sea of Korea. As usual, we were playing in the sea with floating tube and my father was taking a picture of us by the shore. But suddenly, there came a strong wave and hit my tube so that my tube flipped upside down. And I was stuck there in the tube. By this sudden incident, the whole world was gone but water, sand, and the sound of water. I shouted in the water but only sand and the salty water came into my mouth. I was afraid that no one is going to hear me and that I will die soon. Finally, my father came and saved me from the water but it felt like such a long, long time. After this experience, I am afraid of water and I am afraid of death.
Now, imagine when Jesus came to John to be baptized. How did he feel? What was he thinking? The baptism of Jesus signifies the coming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a very near future. When he sinks down the water, he might have thought of his death on the cross for our salvation. Why did Jesus come to this world? Why did the Son of God try to die? Why did he confront death? Why??? It is because of his overwhelming love toward us. He wanted to taste our distress, sickness, anguish and even death just as we experience in our lives. Furthermore, it is because he is the only path of our salvation… only through his death and resurrection. Jesus couldn’t just remain as a spectator when our destiny was set only toward death and judgment of God.
Our baptism ties together with Jesus’ baptism since it is a promise for us who follow him to give the hope of Christ’s resurrection. So many people were being baptized by John the Baptist at that time but the heaven never opened and there was no Holy Spirit coming down upon anybody but Jesus. This is a promise. Remember your baptism. You might have been baptized when you were baby and don’t remember anything about it like me. And you might not have been baptized yet. But the baptism is very significant. When you have baptism with Jesus, he will say to you that “You are my beloved child and I am well pleased with you” just as there was a voice to Jesus when he came out of water. And the Holy Spirit will be upon you and with you. Also, this is a promise that Jesus will be our companion when we get through all the hardships and sufferings and difficulties. He will take your hands and walk with you. He will be your strength and wisdom in every moment.
The Bible says that after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led him to wilderness and he was tempted by Satan. Just as Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan after his baptism, our life will follow temptations and hardships. At that point, we should follow the model of Christ as he overcame all temptations through the Word of God, trusting firmly on the promise of salvation and resurrection through baptism. Because he loves us so much, he has walked the walk that we had to walk, and now he left us all these promises and signs of his love so that we are not dismayed nor remain in despair as we walk after him until we finally run into his open arms and dwell in his Kingdom.
Baptism does not put a period in our faith but is God putting God’s seal as an inscription that we are God’s children and is an invitation to the salvation that will happen at the end of our life.
In this Lenten period, what should we do as a child of God? Firstly, God is asking us to come closer to God. Then, how? God asks us to surrender ourselves to prayer and to the reading of Scripture. In prayer and Scripture reading, we should reflect and contemplate God’s love in each of us individually as we repent our sins. What is sin? It is everything that hinders us from coming to Jesus Christ.
Secondly, God also asks us to give ourselves to others – not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents with others. Share your love with others. Serve others just as Jesus served his disciples and washed their feet like a servant. Show your kindness and generosity to all the people whom you meet in your daily life.
This is the way of renewing your baptismal commitment and the way of following Jesus. God will be pleased greatly when you observe these things diligently. And there will be a great reward from God and you will know it.