12 th January: Baptism of the Lord

Today is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ and, as we’re in Lectionary Year A at the moment, we’ve heard Matthew’s account of what happened when Jesus, before his temptation and the beginning of his ministry, went to John at the Jordan and was baptized by him.

Our other readings today are intended to complement the account of Jesus’ baptism, but actually neither of them refers to immersion in or sprinkling with water. Instead, both refer to the coming of the [Holy] S/spirit on Jesus, which indeed happened ‘when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water.’ ¹

So, in the Acts passage, Peter’s address to Cornelius the Gentile centurion and his companions in the house at Caesarea, we hear about ‘how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power’ before he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.’ ²

Our OT passage is one of the justly famous ‘Servant Songs’ that punctuate chapters 40–55 of Isaiah. In its original context, it is far from clear who the servant is who is being spoken about and then addressed directly by ‘God, the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it’. ³ The servant is described as ‘he’ and is addressed as ‘you’ in the singular, but often enough in the OT the nation is addressed in this way. Indeed, the pre-Christian Greek Jewish translation ⁴ names the servant as ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’, i.e., the whole people.

However, for us, following Matthew’s own use of these verses to describe Jesus and his ministry a few chapters later in his Gospel, ⁵ we can legitimately see in ‘the servant’ a way of understanding Jesus.

And, again, here in Isaiah it is said, by God, ‘I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations … a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.’ ⁶

All three of our passages can thus be seen to speak of the Father putting the Spirit upon the Son at his baptism. The Isaiah and Acts passages make clear what is only implied in the Matthew one, that the outpouring of the Spirit upon Jesus at his baptism was to empower him for his ministry of glorifying God, furthering the reign, the rule, the kingship of God and doing God’s will on earth. Acts describes this ministry in quite specific terms, while Isaiah is more poetic and allusive, but the message is the same.

Jesus was only able to exercise his ministry—his preaching, his teaching, his healing, his exorcising, his power over nature, his obedience to the death of the Cross, all of which was what furthered God’s kingdom—because God put his Spirit upon him, because God anointed him with the Spirit, because the Spirit came down upon him from heaven in bodily form as a dove, when he was baptized.

Of course, we believe that Jesus had been Spirit-filled throughout his life, right from his conception. But, nevertheless, a fresh outpouring, a fresh anointing of the Spirit was needed for Jesus to be empowered to fulfil his mission on earth, a mission that was for all people, a mission that took him to the Cross, the grave, and then to Easter.

And it seems to me that what was true for Jesus is no less true for us. In order for us, as individuals and as a Church, to fulfil our mission on earth, which too is to seek to glorify God, further his reign and do his will, ⁷ we too need to have God’s Spirit put upon us, we too need to be anointed with the Holy Spirit—either afresh or for the first time—in order that we can be empowered, enabled, equipped and emboldened for that task. It’s not God’s work. It’s not our work. It’s God’s work in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit, in what has been called ‘the Divine-Human dance of cooperation’. ⁸ We can’t do it without the Spirit’s empowerment. God doesn’t do it except by empowering us by the Spirit.

We need to understand that our job here, as Christians and as a Church, is the furthering of the loving rule of God in the world and in human hearts everywhere. We need to understand that we can’t do that on our own or in our own strength, but that we need God’s Spirit to empower us so that we can do it. We need to earnestly yearn for and earnestly pray for that (renewed) outpouring of the Spirit upon each of us and upon the whole Church of God.

And while we can’t force the Spirit to come upon us and empower us—for he is as ‘free as a bird’—there are things that we can do that can make us more receptive to his coming, his anointing, when it does happen. We can

Develop a real thirst or yearning ‘for more’—more of God himself, more of the love and the power of Jesus.

Expect God to give. I think that often we don’t expect enough of our great big God. It was I think the famous missionary William Carey who said, ‘Expect great things of God; attempt great things for God.’ We need to do the first before we try the second.

Repent of sin. Not that we can be perfect, but persistent disobedience to God will block the Spirit from coming upon us. ‘Repent’ means both be sorry for and turn away from our sins.

Ask the Father. We are promised that he longs to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, ⁹ so we can—and should—do so, persistently and boldly.

Receive in faith. By this I mean in trust that God has answered our prayer, even if we don’t feel any different. Sometimes we will see and experience great things, but sometimes we just have to trust that God has heard and has answered our prayer

Obey the Holy Spirit. As we feel led by God, act! Obedience is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. ¹⁰

I am now starting to earnestly yearn for and to earnestly pray for God’s Holy Spirit to come upon me afresh, anoint me afresh, come upon you afresh, anoint you afresh, come upon us afresh, anoint us afresh, just as he did on Jesus at his baptism, not just to make me, you, us more holy, more like Jesus in our characters, though that too of course is part of the work of the Holy Spirit, but to empower us, equip us, enable us, embolden us to proclaim the Good News of God in Jesus, and to further the reign and the rule of our loving Father in our community and across the whole world, just as Jesus did. That’s my yearning. That’s my prayer. Will you join me?