I love Isaiah, mainly because of all the prophecies that hint at the Messiah, but would not become clear until He appeared. The poetry in them gives me chills. It's not just what Isaiah says, it's how he says it. No wonder so much of it was included in Handel's Messiah. It is singable, almost danceable. Today's reading leads right into the baptism of Jesus.

The Gospel reading for today is about the beginning of Jesus' ministry, before He calls His apostles, and before the wedding at Cana. Chronologically, the last time we heard anything about Him he had frightened His poor parents by staying at the Temple when they left town and they thought Him lost. We really know very little about His life after that. We know His adoptive father, Joseph, was a carpenter--possibly a stone mason or construction worker, building houses for people--and that the people of Nazareth knew him pretty well from childhood.

Suddenly Jesus appears on the scene, a grown man, traveling from Galilee in the north clear to the Judean wilderness in the south of Israel, along the banks of the Jordan river, to be baptized by John. This is obviously not a chance event. This was something like an 80 mile journey, probably on foot, since it took a certain amount of money to even have a burro to ride. I've hiked, and my top distance was 20 miles per day. There are probably some who can go faster and farther, but in any case, that would mean that Judea, near Bethany, was at least three to four days away. It is unlikely that Jesus just wandered by on His way south for no reason.

There is something striking about this scene. Jesus could have walked up to John, declared himself the Messiah, and taken over by baptizing John, which is what John expected. In fact, He wouldn't need to say anything. John, prompted by the Holy Spirit, obviously recognized him as the Messiah as soon as he saw him. A miracle or two would have established His claim without a doubt. John even tried to talk Jesus out of being baptized. What does someone perfect need with repentance? For that matter, what is baptism?

Baptism in John's day seems to be something completely different from what we celebrate today. John's call was for repentance, literally a return from sin to a life that reflects the covenant with God. Today, at least according to the catechism in our Book of Common Prayer, it is "the sacrament in which God adopts us as children and members of Christ's body." According to the classical theology of early Christian writings, baptism washed away original sin, that tendency to sin which we inherited due to the sins of Adam and Eve. We are flawed in that we have a tendency to seek that which does not conform to God's will, thus sinning. While John the Baptist was calling people to repent from their sins, his baptism with water could not remove them. His followers would still participate in the temple sacrifice of his day, with sacrificial animals being offered up for their sins.

How changed that is once Jesus enters into the picture! Thanks to Him, we are children of God. We no longer need a temple sacrifice, since He offered himself as a perfect sacrifice once and for all.

As I said, John tries to talk Jesus out of being baptized, since He does not need it, being perfect. Jesus insists. This is surprising humility. In fact, if you read carefully, you will notice how often Jesus takes everyone's expectations of what the Messiah should be and turns them upside-down, thus frustrating everyone, including His own disciples.

I don't know how many of you saw it, but years ago there was a show called "The Real McCoys." There was an old man in it, played by Walter Brennan, who always used to claim to be the best shot in the west with a rifle, then would say, "No brag, just fact." This always irritated me a bit. Even if it was really a fact, it's still bragging, and secondly, the only way he could have established his claim would have been to have contests with every person in the whole western hemisphere who was old enough to handle a gun. It lacked humility.

Here Jesus has the opportunity to actually say, with perfect honesty, that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that He is here to save mankind from their sins. He doesn't do it. It would lack humility, and would actually defeat His purpose. Even at the wedding at Cana, later, he will protest to His mother, "My time is not yet come." The sooner He lets everyone know that He claims to be the Messiah, the shorter time He has to work in this world in drawing others to Him.

Again, Isaiah's prophecies give us a glimpse of His character. Jesus does not "lift up his voice or cry out in the street." He is quiet, humble, unassuming. He is obedient to the Father's will, even unto death. He tells John that being baptized will be the right thing to do, "to fulfill all righteousness." He sets an example to everyone else by humbling Himself before all. The result? The Father's voice proclaims, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

How we all ache to have approval from God! Because of Jesus, though we may not have a voice from heaven proclaim it, we have the Father's approval if we follow Christ, by loving one another, by ministering to those around who need it, and by loving God. In humbling ourselves before God and each other, and by caring for God's creation, we show the outward signs of our love for God. As Peter proclaims in his message, God is no respecter of persons, loving us all, and welcoming us into His kingdom. Thanks to Christ Jesus, we have been baptized, not simply with water, but with spirit and in truth. We have become children of God, not merely His servants, and stand to inherit, with Jesus, the Kingdom of God. We are, indeed, loved.

Amen