Sunday 11 January 2009

Background

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus first comes into public view duringthe ministry of John the Baptist, as he receives John's baptism.There was a long tradition in Israel of using water to symbolisecleansing from impurity.

John was calling the people of Israel in difficult times (as theywere under Roman occupation) to participate in a ceremony ofcleansing with water (baptism) in order to:

• publicly declare a willingness to change their lifestyles(repentance)
• prepare for the coming of the messianic kingdom (the reign ofGod)
• avoid the judgment of the 'end times'.

For Jesus, the moment of baptism seems to have been anexperience of profound connection to God and an affirmation of hisidentity and vocation in bringing the kingdom of God tobirth.

At some point, Jesus' mission and message diverged from thatof John's. According to Jesus, God's judgement and kingdom werealready here (eg  Mark 1:15) inthe benign rule of God, and when the kingdom was present wrongswere made right. Healing made visible the presence of the kingdomand baptism symbolised the extinguishing of judgement fires. Jesus'ministry visibly demonstrated signs of healing, peace, release andtransformed lives. Healing, rather than punishment, was the sign ofthe reign of God.

Baptism became the mark of belonging to the Christiancommunity and not merely a cleansing from impurity. With theaccompanying gift of the Spirit it is a means of sharing in thelife, death and resurrection of Jesus - of sharing his sacredvocation to make the kingdom visible.

Like Jesus, it means a costly struggle with all that resiststhe kingdom, but in the resurrection there is a realisation thatits coming is ultimately irresistible.

In the early Church, preparation for baptism was typically athree-year process of initiation into the Christian community.First, an existing Christian sponsored you, then you were ledthrough various stages and rites, involving teaching, exorcisms(wrestling against addictions and dissipating habits) and carefulscrutiny of your lifestyle. The entire process culminated with yourbaptism at Easter.

To Ponder

To what extent have we lost something of thesignificance of baptism today?

Have we made it too easy to become a Christian?Why do you think this?

Have you ever had a (spiritual) experience whichdeeply clarified your sense of who you are? What was it? How didyou feel before and after?