Sermon Title: “With you, I am well pleased”
UCCP Maasin City, Southern Leyte
10 January 2021
Texts: Isaiah 55: 1-13; Mark 1: 4-11
Isaiah 55:1-13
55Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no
money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price. 2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and
eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.3Incline your ear, and
come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting
covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4See, I made him a witness to
the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5See, you shall call
nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to
you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has
glorified you.
6Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;7let
the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them
return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon. 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are
your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts. 10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do
not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and
sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11so shall my word
be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall
accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent
it. 12For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and
the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands. 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of
the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a
memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Mark 1:4-11
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were
baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.6Now John was
clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate
locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than
I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of
his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit.”
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by
John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw
the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.11And a
voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well
pleased.”
-------------000 ---------------
I N T R O D U C T I ON
Good morning. Happy New Year everyone! I’m sure that all of us have
welcome the new year 2021 with thanksgiving in our hearts that even
we traversed the threats and consequences brought about by the
Covid-19 Pandemic, we slowly overcome our fears and strengthen our
faith that God will graciously save us from the perils that lurk within
and outside of our communities.
Once again, I would like to thank all the leaders and members of this
church, the UCCP Maasin City for the gracious opportunity to preach
God’s Word on several services during the Advent and Christmas
Season. I have come to the end of my 28-day holiday break tomorrow,
and on Tuesday, I will be travelling back to Quezon City to resume my
work at the national office. The Office of General Secretary prays for
you to preserve the dynamic unity of the local church, and everyone
will contribute towards the making of a church that is vibrant,
exuberant, and bearing witness to Jesus Christ as Lord of life and
creation. /
Ang Office of General Secretary padayon nga nag-ampo alang kaninyo
aron magpadayon ang aktibo nga panaghiusa niiining simbahan, ug ang
matag usa mag-amot sa ilang mga gasa ug bahandi alang sa paghimo sa
iglesia nga buhi, malipayon, ug nagasaksi sa kamatuoran ni Jesu-Krsto.
O N E
Today, we commemorate the baptism of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. This is an integral part of the God’s Epiphany in the person of
Jesus Christ, one of the persons in God’s trinitarian revelation or
pagpadayag sa Dios sa iyang kaugalingon ngadto sa katawhan, sa mga
Judio ug mga Gentil or dili-Judio. Together with the lectionary texts of
the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ is the reading from the book of
prophet Isaiah, chapter 55: 1-13.
The prophet envisioned something new for God’s people, a kind of life
that many of the returning Israelites to Jerusalem after their
disheartening experiences of discrimination in Babylon, however, there
were extraordinary individuals and families who improved their
economic life while working there and waiting for the dawning of God’s
time when they can be liberated and start their lives all over again.
The first few verses of chapter 55 are an open invitation to anyone who
is hungry or thirsty. This reminds us of the market place call to buy.
However, this call is a total contradiction because you can buy without
paying. What is offered is free. The Old Testament contains some of the
most amazing offers of God's love which are parallel to that in the New
Testament.
This vision of God’s offer of food, water, things that constitute the basic
necessities in order to live a decent life in the community may sound
utopian, but this is quite real in the experiences of many poor families
and communities during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ),
when the only way to get food for oneself and for one’s family is wait
for ayuda or food packs and a little cash.
I think this ethical reversal, that is, what is the right thing to do is to
give out food, water and basic necessities in life was based on the
actual experiences of Israelites in Babylon who have been economically
marginalized and those who have achieved economic stability and
sustainability. This means that, returning home to Jerusalem should
proceed with a new way of relating with disadvantaged families and
neighbors.
Overseas migrant workers, either sea or land based, have developed an
interpersonal and inter-family solidarity as a means of overcoming
difficulties in the workplace and become extraordinarily generous as
they contribute substantial amount of donations to their organization,
to the religious group to which they belong and extend soft loans to
their fellows who have been in financial woes. This is beyond usual
solidarity and concern for kapwa manggagawa.
But what about the behavior of migrant workers when they return
home? Traditionally, those who have worked overseas would bring
home expensive liquor, chocolates for the kids, and other kinds of gifts
as peace offering to family and friends. I guess this has changed in the
last decades when precious savings are not wasted on expensive gifts,
but offer a thanksgiving service perhaps and donate to charities and
alumni organizations and others, that would somehow express their
membership in organizations or religious group.
The overseas migrant workers have significantly contributed to the
economic development of their families, communities and the nation as
a whole. But overseas employment remained precarious, and the State
should reverse the policies on migration and development, and that is
not just giving the OFWs ayuda, but make a reversal of economic
policies that are inspired by the biblical and ethical principles that
would eradicate the gap in the economic life across socio-economic
classes in society.
T W O
Moreover, following the invitation to come to eat and drink without
payment, is the renewal of the covenant promise which had been made
with David. This renewal of promise or comprehensive agreement looks
as though a certain historical juncture of the Davidic line has ended in
exile. It is in fact being examined in the light of the new historical
circumstances and has been expanded beyond the elite Davidic line to
include the whole of Israel. The everlasting covenant is with the whole
people of God.
I am amazed at how the prophet provided the configuration of the new
covenant with God’s people and not just with the elite leaders or
monarchy of Israel and Judah. There were required actions and attitude
that God’s people are expected to exhibit as they start building the new
socio-economic systems. The guideposts for this is to ensure the
egalitarian social life for the many, justice is institutionalized and peace
is the result of the forsaking of the evil thoughts of the leaders and the
members of the community, e.g. their arrogance and greed that led to
their downfall as a nation.
Isn’t that we always underestimate the power of God to change the
course of history? We used to think that our thoughts are higher that
God’s thoughts. We thought God will always bless us and take side
with our interests, resulting in taking advantage of our fellow members,
or demeaning the church workers for flimsy reasons like their English
language ability is imperfect, or their sermons are below our
expectations, or their assertiveness to correct matters in the church
seem confrontational. Aren’t these thoughts unbecoming? We would
like to let them pack their things and go, for we say, “anyway, pastors
come and go”, instead of listening to each other, threshing out
differences in opinion and levelling-off perceptions. God’s thoughts are
higher than ours.
When we are prejudiced with our church workers or even with our
poor and struggling church members, we violate God’s command to
love God with all our heart, mind and soul and our neighbor as
ourselves. We cannot discern the frustration the church workers who
have to endure the anguish they experienced because they were not
respected. Worse, is to put the blame on the church workers for
frustrating the vested political and economic interest of the “powerful”
in the church.
God has God’s own way of making sure that God’s will for a just and
peaceful nation will not return to God like vanishing thin air. God will
make sure that those who usurp God’s power will not see the dawning
of a new dispensation. Our church from the local, conference and
general assembly levels need new ways of relating and our personal
vested interests must be subsumed to the holy will of God in Jesus
Christ.
The Covid-19 Pandemic with its cost to the lives of ordinary people and
the consequences in the life of our Christian communities, has
somehow level-off everyone—all persons can be infected by the virus
and can get seriously ill and pass on to the great beyond. Tanan nga tao
nahadlok matakdan sa virus, ug tanan nga paagi sa pag-amping sa
atong ikaayong panglawas atong ginahimo.
The prophet keeps reminding us that the Hebrew word nephesh or
'soul' refers to the whole being and not some separate part within the
human being. Through moral and ethical relationship with God, one
finds the fullness of life. In the reversal of the socio-economic systems
that God intended for God’s people, there is a need for a re-
understanding of historical experiences and how the quality of life that
God has given to human beings had been violated due to negligence of
taking care the vulnerable people in our society and those in the
nations around the world.
T H R E E
Finally, we touch down into Jesus Christ’s baptism at the Jordan River
by John the Baptist. In the Hollywood movies that we have seen, such
as “The Last Temptation of Jesus,” and few others, Jesus went to the
Jordan River, where his cousin John baptized women and men with the
repentant baptism. In the Gospel narratives we hear that John the
Baptist introduced Jesus to the crowd who were gathered at Jordan to
listen to his preaching about the imminent coming of the kingdom of
God. People came from the surrounding rural villages of Judea and
even from Jerusalem were subsistence farmers and marginalized
shepherds were baptized.
John the Baptist’s declaration that he will baptize them with water,
Jesus, on the other hand will baptize them with the Holy Spirit. I believe
this announcement was new, because predecessors of John did not
mention much about the Holy Spirit, aside from the strong wind that
animated the dry bones as prophet Ezekiel prophesied or in creation
story when God blew his breathe on the first woman and man.
Jesus’ ministry had been associated with the life of the those who were
called “sinners” such as the tax collectors, the poor peasants, and those
who came to for baptism at Jordan River were of their kind or social
background. Jesus asked John to baptize him, a sinner’s baptism,
although he did not sin. Jesus’ baptism revealed that indeed he is God’s
beloved child as the voice from heaven declares "You are my Son, the
Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
This Jesus from Galilee is the Son of God, the Messiah? Most of Jesus'
contemporaries rejected this claim. Certainly, the religious and political
establishment of the day ridiculed the claim and condemned Jesus to
death on a cross. A claimant to the throne of power should be
eliminated. Even his own disciples wondered what kind of messiah he
was turning out to be.
The disciples were in disbelief that the Messiah that God has sent to
the world will die a most horrid death. Peter's protest when Jesus
began telling him and the other disciples that suffering and death
awaited him (Mark 8). No one can accuse Jesus or God of acting in
conventional or expected ways! A messiah cannot die, was the long-
held perspective of the day.
We find here the mystery of God's ways in the world. At the same time,
we can discern that the conventional way of political and economic
control is to kill the challenger, more so make his claims unpopular and
make him a fool if not, a subversive or terrorist. Jesus’ and Mark's
Christian community believed a claim that nearly everyone else laughed
at. Paul said that the cross was foolishness and a stumbling block (1 Cor
1:23). It still is.
Yet, paradoxically, it is also the power of God for salvation. How can we
continue to live out our Christian faith today in a society that is
increasingly skeptical and apathetic toward the gospel? There is one
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 9
way: to depend on the power of the gospel offered to us through the
life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
When the circumstances of life all around us raise unsettling questions
about the validity of our faith claims, let Jesus be our paradigm of
perseverance in the face of doubts and questions. As John the Baptist
testified, it is this Jesus who is able to baptize with the Holy Spirit. To
submit to the baptism of the Holy Spirit administered by Jesus means
that we find in him the resources that enable us to remain faithful
when the odds are against us. 1
God declares in the voice from heaven that Jesus is the one in whom
God is well pleased. That points to Jesus as the suffering servant, and it
was the one thing that Jesus needed to keep him focused on his
mission in the midst of the ridicule and opposition that he would face.
I believe that as Christians, we believe in the saving grace of God
through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Most of us have been baptized as
infants or as adults. We were nurtured in the understanding that
baptism, or the use of water as the sacred symbol of cleansing from sin
enables us to restore our relationship with God.
In infant baptism, it is the faith of the parents that ensures that the
child baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is
nurtured and grasped by the child as he/she grows into maturity. It is
also an act of initiating the child into the community of faith, such as
inclusion into the communicant membership of the church through the
local church or parish. Baptism for adults is understood as a visible sign
of metanoia or repentance from sin to righteousness before God.
1 Dennis Bratcher. http://www.crivoice.org/lectionary/YearB/Bepiphany1nt.html
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 10
As members of the body of Jesus Christ, we have been baptized into his
life, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection. Our membership in the
church is not just a privilege, but entails responsibilities that enables
the entire constituency of the church to grow and mature in the
likeness of Jesus Christ. When we assume responsibilities and duties in
the church, we ought to be motivated by our faith in God and
empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that the unity of the church will
flourish and collective life of the church resembles the dawning of the
kingdom of God in our world.
P R A Y E R
Loving God, we thank God for reminding us of Jesus Christ’s baptism.
We learn that in his baptism, he was your beloved Son with whom you
are well pleased. We may not reach Jesus’ level of commitment and
dedication that his baptism commissioned him to live out, yet we ask
for discernment of how we can be compassionate in our relationships
in our families, our church and our communities. May we participate in
the reversal of values, in moral and ethical norms so that we may
enhance the growth of the kingdom of love, justice and peace that
Jesus Christ has inaugurated.
For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and
the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands. 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to
the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
(Isa. 55: 12-13). Blessings of love, joy and peace to you all. Amen.
----------------- -----------
Reference: Anna Grant Henderson. http://otl.unitingchurch.org.au/index.php?page=saiah-55-1-
9
Context of Isaiah 55:1-9
So much of Isaiah 40-55 addresses Zion in personal terms and this is the case in
Isaiah 52 in which Jerusalem's freedom is announced and that as they were sold
for nothing so they will be redeemed for nothing. Pure grace. The response to this
action of God for Jerusalem is an outbreak of joy and the action of the exiles is to
leave Babylon and return to their homeland.
Following this is the last of the Servant Songs in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12. This so called
'song' gives the extraordinary picture of the suffering of a person who will be
vicarious on behalf of others. We are not told the identity of the servant and
because it has become so identified with Christ we may not even consider that it
referred to a person from olden times. One wonders why it comes after such a
positive picture of redemption in Isaiah 52.
Isaiah 54 continues the positive picture of redemption taking the negative aspects
and turning them into positive images, for example, their widowhood is now
marriage with God as husband (Isaiah 54:5). The Lord's speech in Isaiah 54:7-8 is
quite beautiful and the promise made to Noah after the flood is reconfirmed.
Our lectionary reading is in the last chapter of this block of Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55)
and ends with the strong statement that when God's word goes out it will achieve
its purpose. A statement of hope. As Isaiah 40 began with the call for the exiles to
return to Jerusalem so the book ends with the statement that it will happen.
Insights/Message of Isaiah 55:9-12
Literary Insights:
In looking at the structure of this chapter we find a pattern in which there is
invitation (Isaiah 55:1-3a), and promise (Isaiah 55:3b-5).This pattern with some
expansions is repeated in the second half of the chapter which suggests the
chapter needs to be read as a whole. Verses, 8,9 and 10 all begin with the word
'for' which connects us back to vv.6-7; the imperative to 'seek' and the jussive to
'return' are supported by vv.8-10 because the qualities of God which are listed
make it a must. Another promise encloses this invitation (v.11) and the
connecting 'for' gives the rational for them to leave Babylon and return to
Jerusalem.
The imperatives in vv1-7 give a sense of urgency and the unconditional promises
are all seeking a response which is spelled out in vv.12-13. They are to leave and
return to Jerusalem. As the focus in the prologue was a call to return so what may
be classified as the epilogue (Isaiah 55) ends with the same focus.
In v.4 and 5 the there is a twofold 'Behold' in which the first looks back to the old
covenant with David and 'Behold' in 5a looks forward to a new covenant. The
'you' who is addressed in v.5 is not named and various suggestions have been
made for the recipients of the message. The most likely people are those in exile
who were the original hearers of the message. The theology expressed in it is
similar to that in other places in Isaiah 40-55, that is, nations will come to
Israel/Jerusalem because of what God is doing through Israel.
Message / Theology
It is an open invitation to anyone who is hungry or thirsty. It brings reminders of
the invitation in Proverbs 9:5 or even of the market place call to buy. However,
the last line of v.1 is a total contradiction because you can buy without paying.
What is offered is free. The Old Testament contains some of the most amazing
offers of God's love which are parallel to that in the New Testament.
Following the invitation to come to eat and drink is the renewal of the covenant
promise which had been made with David. This promise which looks as though it
has finished with the end of the Davidic line in exile, is in fact being expanded
beyond the elite Davidic line to include the whole of Israel. The everlasting
covenant is with the whole people of God. It is worth reminding ourselves that
'soul' in the Hebrew world refers to the whole being and not some separate part
within the human being. Through relationship with God one finds the fullness of
life.
However, they have to seek the Lord: we have to turn to God to find the life that
is offered. A reminder follows that God is indeed larger than we can ever imagine
(vv.7-8). This is quite consistent with the writer of Isaiah 40-55 who uses the
theological point of God as creator to remind us that we are not God, but the
creation of God. Verses 10-11 use the imagery of creation to tell us how God is
consistent and faithful as is the rain and snow. Verse 11 again takes us back to
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 13
Isaiah 40:8 in which the word of God is powerful and will always accomplish its
purpose. It is this assurance that God will be with them and that God will
abundantly pardon, which is used as the basis for the message calling them to
return to Jerusalem. The whole of Isaiah 40-55 is a profound statement of the
power and majesty, compassion and forgiveness offered as a foundation for them
to trust in the call of the prophet.
----------------- ------------
Reference: Dennis Bratcher. http://www.crivoice.org/lectionary/YearB/Bepiphany1nt.html
First Sunday after Epiphany
Baptism of the Lord
January 13, 2019
Readings for the Second Sunday of Christmas may be used as alternate readings
for this Sunday.
Psalm Reading OT Reading Epistle Reading Gospel Reading
Psalm 29 Genesis 1:1-5 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11
Epiphany is always observed on January 6, which usually falls on a weekday. Since
many church traditions that follow the lectionary do not have weekday services,
they observe Epiphany on either the Sunday before or following January 6. The
Readings for Epiphany can replace the regular lectionary readings on either
Sunday to observe Epiphany.
Commentary on the Texts
Genesis 1:1-5
There is no Lectionary Commentary for this reading, but there is available a
Voice Bible Study on Genesis 1:1-2:3
Mark 1:4-11
The lectionary reading from Mark for this Sunday includes a paragraph that was
also part of an earlier lectionary (for commentary on Mark 1:4-8a see Year B,
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 14
Advent 2). The focus of the comments given below is on verses 9-11, the story of
the baptism of Jesus.
The vague time reference, "in those days," or more literally, "it came to pass in
those days," is not common in Mark. Mark may have adopted this phrase from
the OT to introduce in a more dignified manner an auspicious event in history, the
story of Jesus.
That Jesus was baptized by John has a strong probability of historical authenticity-
-why would the early church want to invent such a story? When we compare
Mark's account with the the other gospels, we can see very quickly that the early
church attempted in various ways to deal with the theological dilemma posed by
the fact that Jesus, the sinless Son of God, comes to John for a baptism that
signified repentance. How is it that John, a mere human, baptizes the Son of God?
Matthew says, "John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by
you, and do you come to me?'" (3:14). In Luke John's imprisonment is recounted
before the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:19-21). In the Gospel of John the story of
Jesus' baptism is omitted altogether in spite of the fact that the narrative setting
of John the Baptist is prominently presented (1:19-34; 3:22-30). Mark, however,
exhibits no sense of theological embarrassment as in Matthew, Luke and John.
How then does Mark understand the baptism of Jesus? Since John was
"proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4), how
is it that the sinless Jesus submits to John's baptism? Did this paradox not occur to
Mark as it did to the other gospel writers? Or did Mark have something else in
mind?
These verses introduce the person of Jesus for the first time in Mark's narrative.
There is a language shift from the preceding story of John the Baptist. In the
earlier story (vv. 4-8) Mark presented John and his ministry in earthly, human
terms--•his clothing, his diet, and his use of water for baptism. The people who
came to be baptized confessed their sins.
Now the account of the baptism of Jesus takes on cosmic proportions: the
heavens are torn apart, the Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice comes from
heaven. But significantly, Jesus is not transported into a safe heavenly realm. In
the temptation account in the very next narrative section he begins his battle with
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 15
Satan, the personified head of the powers of evil. The eschatological age has
dawned. The final battle has begun. Mark implicitly tells his readers that the
baptism of Jesus is not the same as the baptism of all the other people.
Historically, the reason Jesus came to John for baptism was that he was attracted
to his message and ministry and may have even become his disciple. At least the
Gospel of John seems to imply that (3:26; 4:1). But Mark and the other evangelists
make it clear that the baptism of Jesus took on a significance that went far
beyond John's work. In the baptism of Jesus the final age of history was about to
dawn. The kingdom of God was being inaugurated.
Mark tells us that as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens
torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him (v. 10). When Mark says
that Jesus "saw," did he mean that this was a vision? Or, was it an objective
phenomenon observable by anyone? It is hard to say. There is no indication in
Mark that anyone else saw it. The question is raised perhaps because of the
modernist distinction between what is real and what is not. The philosophical
assumption of modernity tends to view a vision as a subjective experience with no
anchor in reality, whereas an objective phenomenon is real because it is verifiable
by others through the scientific method. That kind of distinction did not occur to
biblical authors.
Mark is describing something that cannot be easily classified as historical or
unhistorical, real or unreal, objective or subjective. Here is a theological
affirmation that God was inaugurating something new in history. This is not
merely a chronicling of historical facts. It is a faith affirmation that God was
beginning to act in the person of a historical person, Jesus of Nazareth, all of
which is described in pictorial, cosmic language involving the tearing apart of the
heavens, the descent of the Spirit as a dove, and a voice from heaven.
When biblical authors say that the heavens were torn apart, it is their way of
indicating that a theophany or a revelation of God was about to take place. In
Isaiah 64:1 the prophet expresses a prayer-wish to God and says, "O that you
would tear open the heavens and come down." Ezekiel describes his experience
of God in similar language when he says, "The heavens were opened, and I saw
visions of God" (1:1). When the Sanhedrin questioned Stephen just before his
martyrdom, he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God!" (Acts 7:56).
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 16
What is remarkable about Mark's wording of the heavens being opened is that
unlike the other Gospels, Mark uses the Greek verb schizō, which means "to tear
apart," instead of the normal verb that means to open. Something emphatic is
taking place here. What is even more remarkable is that the same verb is used
again in Mark 15:38, the only other occurrence of it in Mark, where at the death
of Jesus the veil of the temple is torn apart from top to bottom, indicating
another emphatic and even violent manifestation of God. Thus at the beginning
and at the end of the ministry of Jesus God acts in a decisive way in and through
Jesus.
" . . . and the Spirit descending like a dove on him" (v. 10c). The Greek preposition
literally means "into"--the Spirit came down into him. It was important for Mark
to point this out because later Jesus would be accused of being possessed by
Beelzebul, the prince of demons (3:22). The reader is thus prepared to see the
utter falsity of that accusation. Not only that, but Mark is also demonstrating the
validity of John's announcement that the one coming after him would baptize
with the Holy Spirit (v. 8b) because he himself is endowed with the Holy Spirit.
The voice from heaven says, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well
pleased." At least three Old Testament texts are echoed in this statement. "You
are my Son" clearly comes from Psalm 2, which is a royal psalm. The psalmist asks
a rhetorical question as to why the nations of the earth are conspiring against the
king of Israel, the Lord's anointed. Their plots are all in vain because the Lord
laughs and has them in derision. He will "terrify them in his fury, saying, 'I have
set my king on Zion, my holy hill.'" We hear next the words of Israel's king who
says, "I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are my son; today I
have begotten you.'"
In using this short statement from Psalm 2, the voice from heaven establishes
Jesus as the anointed of the Lord, the king of Israel. That too will be important in
the Markan narrative when Jesus is at trial and is asked by the high priest, "Are
you the Messiah (which means the Anointed One), the Son of the Blessed One?"
(Mark 14:61). When Jesus answers in the affirmative and adds, "You will see the
Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of
heaven," the high priest tears his clothes in a dramatic gesture of shock at what
appears to him to be a blasphemy. The reader knows that this is no blasphemy at
all, for at the beginning of his ministry Jesus had been affirmed as God's beloved
Son with a divine attestation from heaven.
It is not certain whether the next phrase in the heavenly voice, "the Beloved," has
a specific Old Testament reference. Some have suggested that there may be a
reference here to Genesis 22:2 where God tells Abraham to "take your son, your
only son Isaac, whom you love" and offer him as a sacrifice. If the Isaac reference
is in view, it would easily fit Mark's story of Jesus. Just as Abraham bound his
beloved son and prepared to offer him as a sacrifice, so also God declares Jesus to
be the beloved Son who would indeed offer himself as a ransom for many (Mark
10:45). Again, Mark wants his readers to know that Jesus is the beloved Son even
when the whole political and religious establishment of the day would reject him
and condemn him to death.
The adjective "beloved" occurs two more times in Mark. In the story of the
transfiguration the heavenly voice speaks a second time and announces, "This is
my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" (Mark 9:7). Exactly what it is that the
disciples must listen to is not spelled out by the voice, but what comes next
clarifies that ambiguity. Immediately after the transfiguration Jesus tells his
disciples about his impending suffering and death. Thus one more time the term
"beloved" is placed in the context of the death of Jesus.
The final occurrence of "beloved" in Mark is at 12:6 in the parable of the Wicked
Tenants. The vineyard owner had been sending servant after servant to collect his
share of the produce, but the tenants had mistreated them and even killed some
of them. Mark's wording of the next part of the parable is noteworthy (Mark 12:6-
9):
He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They
will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir;
come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him, killed
him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
The term "beloved" is once more used in the context of rejection, humiliation and
death.
The final clause in the heavenly voice, "with you I am well pleased," clearly comes
from one of the servant songs of Isaiah where God says that his soul delights in
his servant Israel (Isa 42:1). Mark's story of Jesus seems to hark back to the
suffering servant of Isaiah 53 at several points, such as the ransom statement of
Jesus in Mark 10:45 and the words of Jesus at the Last Supper (Mark 14:24). The
heavenly voice at the baptism of Jesus clearly affirms Jesus as the beloved Son of
God and a suffering servant who would give his life for others.
It appears that Mark sees in the heavenly voice a merging of two declarations:
Jesus is declared to be the anointed messiah, the Son of God, and at the same
time he is the suffering servant in whom God has delighted. The rest of Mark's
gospel will largely play on these two themes. Jesus is the powerful Son of God
who has come to proclaim the kingdom of God, perform mighty miracles, heal the
sick and cast out evil spirits. Yet he will die in utter weakness, humiliation and
suffering. Mark prepares his Christian readers for such a scandalous outcome by
reminding them at the very beginning and throughout the gospel that the One
who would be so shamefully treated and executed has already been confirmed by
God as the beloved Son who brings delight to God.
Preaching Paths
This brief account of the baptism of Jesus may be developed in several ways for
preaching purposes. One possibility would be to accent Mark's perspective of the
event, namely that Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the One without sin, comes
to John to receive a baptism that signifies repentance from sin. Even though he
had no sin to confess and of which to repent, he nevertheless seeks John out and
is baptized by him. Jesus does this partly because he wants to affirm and identify
with the ministry of John. In that sense Jesus identifies not only with John and his
ministry but also with all of humanity. The words of Isaiah 53:12 come to mind:
"[He] was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many."
Throughout his ministry Jesus sought out and associated with people whom the
religious elite considered undesirable outcasts and was criticized for such
conduct. Sometimes one must choose a course of action whose outward
appearance may be entirely different from the inner reality. Yet to be in accord
with the purposes of God one must risk the possibility of being misunderstood or
even maligned. Jesus embraced the ministry of John even though his own self-
understanding and the direction of his ministry would be different from that of
John. In Matthew's narrative, Jesus puts it this way in response to John's
objections: "It is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness" (3:15).
Situations and institutions in which Christians may be involved do not always
represent what is ideal. Idealists sometimes have difficulty to deal with the
realities of the social world in which we live. Involvement in anything less than an
ideal institution seems to them to be a compromise. Unfortunately we do not live
in an ideal network of relationships, social settings and institutions. The reason
Jesus associated with "sinners and tax collectors" was not that he approved their
conduct but because, as he put it, "Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but
sinners" (Mark 2:17).
The call to righteousness and holy living may very well involve us in situations and
associations that seem less than holy or righteous. A Christian may work for a
corporation that on the whole is decent and proper. Yet some of the practices,
policies or persons of the company may not be one hundred percent consonant
with Christian ideals. What is one to do? Jesus accepts John's baptism even
though the ministry of Jesus himself will go in a different direction than John's. In
fact, it was this very thing that caused even John himself, when in prison, to have
some doubts about Jesus. He sent messengers to Jesus to ask, "Are you the one
who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" (Matt 11:3).
There is a message here not only for individuals living out the Christian life in the
world, but also for the church as the body of Christ being present in the world.
Should the church debunk everything in the world that is not part of the social
fabric of the church? Or should it accommodate itself to the values and priorities
of the secular world? The struggle is how to be in the world and yet not of the
world (John 17:14-15).
One may even take this a step further and speak of the differences that exist
among denominations. To be committed to the distinctive tenets of our own
tradition does not mean alienating ourselves from the larger body of Christians,
even if we might have disagreements with some theological traditions. While we
must be committed to our own identity and mission as a denomination, we are
also privileged to celebrate our oneness with the whole body of Christ, the church
catholic. This would be in keeping with the spirit of Jesus who accepted the
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 20
baptism of John and yet his own mission and ministry went in a different direction
than John's.
Another path for preaching may be present in the account of the cosmic
phenomena occurring during the baptism of Jesus. Mark describes a divine
theophany at the level of human history. That is, God enters the stream of human
history. Even though it is only Jesus who "saw" these phenomena, Mark in effect
is affirming them as a faith declaration. The eyes of faith see God at work when
natural eyes see nothing. God is acting in this world even when it does not appear
to "objective" observers that anything is happening.
Dare we believe it? What if we are misguided? What if it is merely our own
wishful thinking, hallucination or delusion? That of course is the risk of faith, the
leap of faith. Jesus enters into his life of service with the firm conviction that he
has been set apart by God for such a vocation. Mark writes his gospel with the
conviction that in Jesus Christ God has begun his final act in history. Some may
scoff and say that they are misguided fools swept away with their own delusions.
A faith perspective dares to believe that the world is the arena where God works
even if no outside observer can verify such a thing by the scientific method.
Science has brought us many beneficial discoveries. This must not be an
opportunity to debunk science. At the same time, we must recognize that science
has its limits, as many scientists themselves acknowledge this. The life of faith
cannot be entirely brought under the scope of the scientific method, as post-
modernism points out. God the creator is greater than human attempts to
understand the workings of creation, as legitimate as such attempts may be.
A third possibility for preaching, and perhaps the one most central to the text, is
the voice from heaven that declares, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am
well pleased." Here we have two, possibly three, OT texts being applied to Jesus
and thus opening up a path for preaching. Using the words of Psalm 2, a royal
psalm, the voice declares that this Jesus is the Son of God, the expected royal
Messiah coming from the house of David. What a daring claim! This Jesus from
Galilee is the Son of God, the Messiah? Most of Jesus' contemporaries rejected
this claim. Certainly the religious and political establishment of the day ridiculed
the claim and condemned Jesus to death on a cross. Even his own disciples
wondered what kind of messiah he was turning out to be. Note Peter's protest
when Jesus began telling him and the other disciples that suffering and death
10 JANUARY 2021—SERMON--HERNANDO FRANK 21
awaited him (Mark 8). No one can accuse Jesus or God of acting in conventional
or expected ways! A messiah cannot die, was the long-held perspective of the
day. Yet this Messiah died a most horrid death.
We find here the mystery of God's ways in the world. Jesus and Mark's Christian
community believed a claim that nearly everyone else laughed at. Paul said that
the cross was foolishness and a stumbling block (1 Cor 1:23). It still is. Yet,
paradoxically, it is also the power of God for salvation. How can we continue to
live out our Christian faith today in a society that is increasingly skeptical and
apathetic toward the gospel? There is one way: to depend on the power of the
gospel offered to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. When the
circumstances of life all around us raise unsettling questions about the validity of
our faith claims, let Jesus be our paradigm of perseverance in the face of doubts
and questions. As John the Baptist testified, it is this Jesus who is able to baptize
with the Holy Spirit. To submit to the baptism of the Holy Spirit administered by
Jesus means that we find in him the resources that enable us to remain faithful
when the odds are against us.
God declares in the voice from heaven that Jesus is the one in whom God is well
pleased. That affirmation, coming from Isaiah, points to Jesus as the suffering
servant, and it was the one thing that Jesus needed to keep him focused on his
mission in the midst of the ridicule and opposition that he would face. Mark may
be offering his Christian readers who are also going through persecution a model
in Jesus for them to follow. If Jesus, the anointed Son of God, faced the cross, can
we who are his followers expect anything less? That may well be the message that
Mark wants to communicate to his readers then and now. That also means that
not only Jesus but all those who follow in his footsteps are called to be a suffering
servant.
-Dennis Bratcher, Copyright © 2018, Dennis Bratcher, All Rights Reserved
See Copyright and User Information Notice
------------------------ --------------------------------
