Leaving Home

Leaving Home

Text:  Matthew 3:13-17

            A steady stream of people made their way to the Jordan.  They came from all walks of life:  city dwellers from Jerusalem, country folk from towns and villages throughout Judea and the area surrounding the Jordan River.  Even the Pharisees and Sadducees were making the trek.  What was going on here?  Why were they trudging into the wilderness? 

            All these people had one thing in common.  They wanted to see John the Baptist.  The religious rulers wanted to check to see that John was not posing a threat to their power and the political stability of the nation.  Most of the others were in search of God.  John’s message was calling them to turn away from sin and live according to God’s way.  Everyone wanted to see this wild man.  He had the look and message of a prophet.  Many of them were so moved by John’s call that they confessed their sins and went down into the waters to be baptised by him.  These were a people getting ready for the Lord’s coming.

            It was an ordinary day.  John was in the river bellowing out his message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (3:1).  As always people picked their way down the embankment and queued up to be baptised by John.  No one noticed.  No one recognised him.  He wasn’t anyone any different from the rest.  Yes, he was John’s cousin and the son of the carpenter.  But it is only as Jesus entered the water that recognition filled John’s being.  This was not only his cousin but the one he’d been waiting for. 

            Hang on a minute!  Where has the time gone?  In Matthew’s Gospel, the last time we saw Jesus he was a young boy with his mum and dad returning from exile.  The Lord plotted the way for Joseph through dreams leading this family in their return from Egypt to Bethlehem and then from Bethlehem to Nazareth.  And now we’re at his baptism?!  Luke’s Gospel fills out the picture of Jesus the child.  But even at that a lot is left to the imagination.  So, with what we are told and with the freedom of Spirit-led imaginings we ask...

Where has the time gone?  That’s the question Mary and Joseph were asking themselves as they watched Jesus pack his things and get ready to set off.  Of course they had always known that he would grow up.  They had always known that he would have to leave one day.  They’d never forgotten what the angel voices had told them about their son.  Yet like most parents they had fooled themselves into thinking that they had all the time in the world.  Sure, Jesus would leave home…  Someday…  A long way off in the distant future.

            During those sleepless nights when Jesus was colicky, they couldn’t imagine it would ever come to an end.  When Jesus was screaming the house down the words of Simeon were muffled in their minds.  Desperate for peace and quiet…desperate for a good night’s sleep they might be forgiven for barely remembering Simeon rambling on about Jesus being the salvation of the Lord.  Desperate to settle Jesus we might forgive Mary if she didn’t have the energy to ponder Simeon telling her that a sword would pierce her soul. 

            Back in Nazareth they settled down to a ‘normal’ life.  It was easy to push the mysterious events of Jesus’ birth to the back of their minds.  After all, they were more worried about Jesus being so accident prone.  He was forever getting scrapes and bumps.  Mary and Joseph didn’t know if he’d survive to the age of twelve, never mind grow up! 

            And then there was the time when they thought they’d lost Jesus for good.  Frantic with worry, they searched Jerusalem for three days.  Where was their boy?  Did they begin to wonder whether they would ever see him alive again?  Did they feel guilty that they hadn’t kept a closer eye on him?  How did they react when they discovered that their boy was in the temple courts having profound discussions with the learned?  How did they feel as they watched grown men marvel at their son?  Can you hear Mary giving Jesus’ a row for not staying with them?  Can you see relief and anger etched in her face?  Can you see her wagging her finger at him, her voice filled with exasperation, “Son, why have you treated us like this?”

            As Jesus grew up into a young man, Joseph enjoyed having his son working alongside him.  They weren’t just father and son:  they were pals.  Jesus was good with his hands, an excellent craftsman.  Joseph taught Jesus everything he knew. 

            Jesus wasn’t the only one either.  He had brothers too.  Life was busy for Joseph and Mary as they tried to raise a big family.  It was a busy life as they worked hard to keep the wolf away from the door.  Like every family they had to deal with tension.  Squabbles and rivalry would be no strangers to this household.  Joseph and Mary - like all parents - would have spread themselves thin to meet the needs of each child.  Like all parents, they would have walked the tight-rope of holding on and letting go; of providing boundaries whilst encouraging independence.  Like all parents, they loved their children but also made their mistakes along the way.        Then it happened.  The day arrived.  Jesus was going.  Where had the time gone?  All the years of loving…all the years of heartache and worry…all the years of doing the best…where had they gone?  It crept up so quietly and pounced with startling surprise.  It was time to leave home.

            What did Jesus feel as he set off down the dusty roads of Galilee?  Was his heart filled with a sense of purpose?  There is no doubt that he was clear in his mind that he had to go.  There is no doubt that he was clear in his mind about where he had to go.  He was off to join the multitudes at the Jordan.  He was joining in this great revival movement of John the Baptist.  In joining them he would lead the people of Israel out of their slavery to sin. 

            Yet even though Jesus knew what he was all about…even though his heart was filled with excitement at the journey that lay ahead…was there any part of him that wanted to stay put?  Did he feel a twinge of sadness…was there a lump in his throat as he hugged his mother goodbye?  Was he going to miss picking up tools every morning and the chats with his dad?  Was there a part of him that longed to be a child again…to be held in his mother’s arms and feel the safety and security of her presence? 

            Oh how time had flown by!  Everything thing in Jesus’ life was a movement towards the very moment of his baptism.  His family, work, and friendships were the human experiences making visible that reality that God is with us. 

            But why should Jesus be baptised?  John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance - of turning from sin to God - of turning from disobeying God to obeying him.  If Jesus never sinned, then why should he be baptised by John?  It just doesn’t seem to make any sense. 

            John the Baptist captures this concern when he says to Jesus, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”  John knows that Jesus is more powerful than he is.  John knows that Jesus is worthier than he is.  John knows that Jesus has no sin.  So John attempts to refuse Jesus’ request.

            Jesus won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.  He insists that in being baptised by John they will be doing what God wants them to do.  John is persuaded and baptises Jesus.  Immediately upon being baptised, the heavens open, the Spirit of God descends like a dove alighting upon him, and a voice proclaims approval:  “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  Do we hear echoes of the Spirit who hovered over the waters of chaos at the beginning of creation?   Do we hear echoes of the prophet Isaiah who proclaimed, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight” (42:1)?

            We’re still left wondering why Jesus was baptised.  If this was a baptism for people turning from sin to God, then what meaning does it have for Jesus who never sinned?  Is it possible that Jesus being baptised by John refutes any idea that Jesus is some kind of superman?  Is it a way of countering people who might say, “Sure, Jesus looks human but he really has ‘God’ superpowers at his disposal”?  Could it be that Jesus’ baptism by John shows us that God really did become like us?  Is Jesus’ baptism putting it beyond doubt that he was born as part of people who needed to be saved from their sins?  Does his baptism not demonstrate in a visible way that Jesus immersed himself in the sinful reality of the human race in order to set them free?  Does not his baptism point towards his death on the cross?  Does the voice of approval at Jesus baptism sustain him when cries out in dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  In his baptism he enters humanity abandoned and in the grip of evil.  Through his own abandonment he breaks the power of sin in order that we might be embraced by the love of God for all time and eternity.