Abstract
Baptism–Epiphany
We used to live in an old urban part of Sheffield where you could walk down the hill and along the Rivelin Valley to the edge of Derbyshire. This lovely walk following the river was a training ground for a young Seb Coe on his way to becoming a great Olympian runner. We’d walk to Rivelin Post Office and then return by public transport if the ‘rare’ bus was available, otherwise, we’d walk back. On the return journey I’d often wonder if we were on the same path, so different did it look going the other way. The change of perspective altered how you saw things.
I remember the first time I saw Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, arguably, the greatest film of all time. There were camera shots from on high, from the floor, from all sorts of angles. I’m not sure I’ve seen a film since that provides so many different perspectives for the viewer.
Perspective makes a difference to what we see; and this is as true for biblical stories—such as the baptism of Christ, traditionally celebrated in the Epiphany season—as it is for rural walks or great drama. Jesus’ baptism looks different depending on whether you are viewing it from above, or from the side, or from below. So, what do these different points of view of this prominent gospel scene, when John the Baptist baptizes Jesus, tell us?
From Above
A classic way to read a biblical text is to see what God is doing or saying in or through the text. It is reading the story ‘from above’. When we view the Baptism of Christ this way we notice that “the heavens” are “opened” and the Spirit or God descends “like a dove” upon him and “a Voice from Heaven” announces Jesus as the Beloved Son, as he comes up from the water. No wonder that from the earliest times this text has been used at Epiphany to indicate the manifestation of Christ to the world. The heavens open as at his Ascension; the Spirit comes down as it does at Pentecost; the Divine Voice speaks as it does at his Transfiguration. Here is a story of revelation: the human world punctuated by the heavenly world. It is indeed a rare moment in the gospel record that we are given such insight into the heavenly or divine perspective on Jesus. No wonder that this is the first and primary way of reading the text; because this is what the passage itself encourages us to do. The message from this point of view, what is revealed or manifested, is that Jesus Christ is God’s Beloved Son.
But this is not the only point of view, however much the passage lures us in to reading it from above. What happens when we view the Baptism of Christ from the side or from below? What is the message to us when we look it at it from these different points of view?
From the Side
For the last two centuries we have learnt to look at biblical texts from the side, so to speak, considering the historical context and nature of the passage. And when we think of Jesus’ baptism on the historical plane, we note that Jesus makes the journey south from Galilee to where John the Baptizer is baptizing in the river Jordan. Jesus comes to his own cousin, John, for baptism, to align himself with the Baptist’s message and movement. John and Jesus are in league. This is made clear later when John is arrested (Mt 4:12), for Jesus then adopts and proclaims the Baptist’s message in the exact same words: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near” (Mt 3:2 cf. Mt 4:17). In this way, the ministry of Jesus is linked to that of the Baptist, perhaps in a deeper way than is often thought (cf. Mt 3:11, 14). They both proclaimed God’s Kingdom and its proximity: it is at hand.
The message from this point of view, what is revealed or manifested, is that God’s Kingdom is very close, even in the midst of history. And the response to that closeness is through being baptized and engaging in ministry. How we view historical life is changed if we believe that God’s Kingdom is close.
From Below
Since the mid-1960s liberation theologians have taught us to look at scripture from below, from the underside, from the perspective of those at the bottom. What happens when we take this point of view and apply it to the Baptism of Christ? Viewed from the underside, we see Jesus being baptized along with all those who flocked to the Jordan from Jerusalem and the whole of Judaea (Mt 3:5–6). Jesus is a pilgrim, too. Jesus is baptized, just like them. Jesus is in solidarity with the people, he is at one with them.
Christians that emphasize the Incarnation, that Christ took flesh and lived a real human life amongst us, discern that part of the significance of the Baptism of the Lord was that he shared the place of sinners. God’s Son “does not allow himself to be distinguished from sinners” that is why he cannot let the Baptist refuse to baptize him; he is God’s Son as in lowliness he has this commonality and comradeship with sinners: “he stands on the side of sinners” at the Jordan just as he does on the Cross at Calvary. 1
The message from this point of view, what is revealed or manifested, is that Jesus Christ is in solidarity with the people, in solidarity with sinners, in solidarity with those who need God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven (Mt 6:10).
Christ’s Baptism as Epiphany
As we look at the Baptism of Christ from these different perspectives, we can appreciate why it is selected for the Epiphany season, for the word ‘epiphany’ means manifestation or revelation.
Jesus Christ is revealed at his baptism by John the Baptist to be God’s Beloved Son, who proclaimed, with John, the closeness of God’s Kingdom to those with eyes to see and who, in lowliness, in equality with sinners, manifested the human face of God standing with weak, poor, suffering, sinful human beings. And that is exactly where Christ stands today. For us, Christ’s presence in our midst, standing with sinners, can only be seen by faith. Most of us are not normally granted the view from above, the divine perspective, whereby we see the descent of the Spirit or hear the Voice of Heaven. Although we are granted an indirect glimpse of this point of view in the story of Jesus’ baptism in the gospels, our ordinary point of view tends to be from the side or from below. But these perspectives are enough for the eyes of faith to discern the closeness of God’s Kingdom and Christ standing with us.
Footnotes
1
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, True Patriotism (London: Collins, 1973), 35f.