A Fourth Church Sermon by John W. Vest

January 10, 2010 | 4:00 p.m.

The Scandal of Jesus’ Baptism

John W. Vest
Associate Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church

Isaiah 43:1–7
Matthew 3:13-17

Ours is a culture that has an unhealthy fascination with controversy and scandal. What is it about our culture that makes us so obsessed with the infidelity and public downfall of Tiger Woods? Why is it that we seem to find such sick pleasure from watching the life of a public figure fall apart before our eyes?

There must be something hardwired into our imperfect humanity, because I don’t think this is something new, nor is it limited to our particular culture. Even in biblical times, we find that there was an attraction to controversy and scandal. Even the life of Jesus was not beyond the prying eyes of cynical and incredulous detractors.

At both ends of Jesus’ life, we find controversies surrounding key moments in his story. From the very beginning of the church, there were those who claimed that the story of the virgin birth was nothing but a cover-up fabricated to hide the truth of Jesus’ illegitimacy. And at the other end, there were rumors that Jesus wasn’t really resurrected, that instead his body was simply stolen from the grave by his disciples, a conspiracy concocted to promote his legend and reputation.

And in the middle of Jesus’ story, we find yet another scandal, this one involving his baptism. That Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River is pretty much a historical certainty. It is explicitly mentioned in three of our four canonical Gospels, and it also appears in noncanonical sources from antiquity.

At the same time, this story and its widespread knowledge was, from early times, an embarrassment for the church, at least for those in the church that came to develop what we know as orthodox Christian theology. According to orthodox doctrine, Jesus was without sin, a perfect human being who restored the image of God corrupted in the first human being. At the same time that he was fully human, orthodox teaching also insists that Jesus was fully divine, God incarnate. And Jesus’ divinity was from all eternity, not something that was given to him at a particular time in human history.

So the question has always been this: why would a sinless God incarnate need to be baptized, when baptism was always explained as having a connection to repentance and the forgiveness of sin? Does God incarnate need repentance? Does God incarnate need the forgiveness of sins? Moreover, the story could be read as if the descent of the Spirit at Jesus’ baptism is the event that anoints Jesus as God’s messiah, as if he was simply a human being before but something different and God-infused after.

That these questions go back to the earliest church is evident from the text in today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew. While Mark and Luke also discuss Jesus’ baptism, their accounts are very brief. It is only Matthew that includes the protest from John. Here in this Gospel, John’s protest embodies the questions early disciples no doubt had about the baptism of Jesus. Shouldn’t it have been Jesus that baptized John? But no, it was this way. Jesus was baptized by John, and the church was forced to figure out what that means.

Jesus’ baptism thus became one of the church’s earliest scandals, and it is a scandal that persists to this day. This story brings to the forefront a question that the church has always wrestled with: how and in what way is Jesus both God and human? What does this theological paradox mean, and why is it important for us as followers of Christ? This theological question is at the heart of the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, which we just completed. And now, on this Sunday in which we commemorate the baptism of Jesus, we are confronted with it once again.

Now I am either being a good pastor or a bad pastor by not resolving this question for you this afternoon. I tend to think that I’m being a faithful pastor by not giving you a concrete answer that you can take home and file away in your collection of venerable church doctrines.

You see, I just don’t think it’s that easy. The New Testament itself is full of different viewpoints on this issue. We have four Gospels in our Bibles, not to mention the library of gospels that didn’t make it into the Bible, and each one of them presents a slightly different picture of Jesus and his relationship to God. Add to this the centuries of theological debate that followed, much of which was not resolved for hundreds of years and for many people may not be resolved today, and you quickly discover that this is one aspect of our theology that cannot be easily reduced to a digestible sound bite. It is the mystery of God. It is beyond words.

For some of us, that may be way too much wiggle room. For these Christians, faith is meaningless without clear and understandable and unchangeable doctrines.

But for some of us, ambiguity, uncertainty, and plurality are sources of life, not confusion. For me, the variety of ways that we can approach our faith in God is what makes it real. The plurality of perspectives in the Bible and in Christian tradition mirrors the plurality that we experience in real communities of faith. There are as many understandings of God and Jesus here in this sanctuary as there are people. To me, that is beautiful. To me, that is a reflection of God’s very nature. To me, that is the image of God in humanity.

So I won’t stand up here in my position of theological authority and tell you what to believe when it comes to Jesus’ baptism. In this case, we must let the story remain as it is to challenge us. We must be content to live with a little scandal. This is for you to work out, not for me to dictate.

But, as I said earlier, whatever each of us believes about this Jesus, it is a historical certainty that he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. And in that moment, whether he was God incarnate or a human being infused with the presence of God or a little bit of both, in that moment he did something remarkable. He identified himself with every one of his disciples who would follow. He demonstrated in that water that he is like us. He is here with us.

In submitting himself to baptism and in the practice of baptism that his followers would adopt after his death, we find a powerful statement of equality and solidarity. Jesus stands with us. And we are called to stand with others.

But so often, we fail to do that. We fail to live up to the promises we make at baptism. We fail to stand in solidarity with others. We fail to live our lives as if we are all children of God, sisters and brothers equal in God’s sight. We fail to promote justice and peace and equality. In the church and beyond, we fail to bear witness to the good news of grace and acceptance that is at the very heart of the waters of baptism.

And in this way, we become the scandal. It is scandalous that we claim the promises of baptism but fail to live them out.

And so, from time to time, we must remind ourselves of these promises. We must come to the font in humility and once again stand in solidarity with all of humanity. We must come and be reminded that God loves us unconditionally and calls us to love others. We must come to the font and be charged once again with our great commission.

I invite you to join me now in the Reaffirmation of the Baptismal Covenant . . .