THE GIVER OF FORGIVENESS
SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON JANUARY 9, 2011
Matthew
3:17 "Lo, a voice from heaven,
saying:
“This is my beloved Son with whom I am well
pleased".
The Baptism of Christ
is traditionally observed on the Sunday after Epiphany. It takes us straight
from the Christ-child in the manger to Jesus as an adult. This involves a bit
of mental adjustment on our part: only seven days ago we were singing “We Three
Kings”, and today we see Jesus as a man, age thirty.
This Baptism in the
Jesus is the sinless
son of God - so he certainly doesn’t need baptism for repentance of sins. He,
in fact, is the giver of forgiveness. And he certainly doesn’t need to be
incorporated into the church, His body, like we did when we were baptized.
The Baptism of Jesus,
rather than being necessary, is deeply symbolic. Symbolic, firstly, of who
Jesus is - the Son of God. Yes, and also our brother. By being baptized, Jesus
identifies with us and the whole of humanity
+ in our need to be
forgiven of our sins
+ in our travails and
troubles of life
+ in all that is part
of being human.
So, he who is divine,
identifies with us through this symbolic act. Thus Jesus fulfills righteousness
- and at the same time shows us the way to righteousness.
It’s an interesting
word, “righteousness”. It’s related to the word ‘right’ - but it’s not the same
as doing the right thing. Many people think they are okay and their lives are
alright - but are they righteous?
The other thing
significant is sin - not a popular word these days. We don’t like to think of
ourselves as sinners. We mainly want to celebrate our love and our relationship
with our loving Father. We don’t actually think that we sin - it’s just a
mistake, or it’s someone else’s fault: our parents, our partner, our
upbringing. It’s been that way since the Fall. “The serpent made me do it”,
said Eve, passing the blame onto that creature!
But if there is no
such thing as sin, was Jesus wasting his time that day in the River Jordan? Of
course not! Jesus never did anything that was insignificant or unimportant.
This is underlined in
Act 10. St Peter said to Cornelius and his household, "God shows no
partiality, but in every nation any one who fears Him and does what is right,
is acceptable to Him". There’s that word ‘right’ again!
In Jesus' baptism we
are given a symbol of God’s all embracing love and acceptance to everyone, in
every nation. What St. Peter declares in Act 10 is given to us symbolically in
the River of Jordan by Jesus himself. By being baptized and identifying with
the human race, Jesus is proclaiming how much God loves the whole world, despite
its sin. Indeed God loves the whole world because of its sin.
In doing so, Jesus is
establishing Baptism as a sacrament not just of repentance, but of new life, of
being reborn. Jesus is sanctifying the baptism of John so that that rite of
repentance becomes the Christian sacrament, by which we are reborn of water and
of the spirit.
There is one aspect
of Jesus’ baptism today that we cannot put to one side or ignore. It is the
voice from Heaven. This is my beloved son, said the Father.
Here, for the very
first time, the great creator - known since the beginning - reveals himself as
a loving Father. And not only that.......so that their can be no confusion
about the nature of God, Matthew records that the Holy Spirit descended upon
Jesus like a dove - that symbol of peace. Genesis says that the Holy Spirit
brooded over the waters at creation like a dove; and a dove was sent by Noah
after the flood to find out if everything was okay. Now a dove broods over the
waters of baptism for Jesus.
Here, God is revealed
as three persons. The blessed and holy Trinity are here at the Jordan. And not
just present, but recognizable and experienced.
Here at the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry the Trinity is revealed not as some aloof creed or doctrine,
but in a personal way - and witnessed and testified to. And in this context we
see our humanity being taken up through Jesus into the life of the Trinity, and
into his very divinity. It doesn’t end at the baptism, of course. The Trinity
becomes part of our life, and certainly part of our liturgy.
When the Priest
prepares the chalice at the offertory, he adds a little water into the wine.
Traditionally the mixing of the water and the wine is symbolic, like the
Baptism of Jesus. The water represents Christs’ humanity, and the wine
represents His divinity.
So in the mixing of
the chalice at the offertory, we see the two natures of Jesus taken up
symbolically in the chalice. This mixing of water and wine recalls the Wedding
at Cana. Jesus’ first miracle, when he turned ordinary water into wonderful
wine. That also became symbolic of his two natures - and established the
sacramental principal that God does change things on this earth for his divine
purpose.
When the priest mixes
the water and wine at the offertory, he says this prayer:
“By the mystery of
this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who
humbled Himself to share in our humanity”.
That is the meaning
not only of the water and the wine, but of the whole of the Eucharist. That we
may come to share through Holy Communion in the Divinity of Christ, who humbled
Himself to share in our humanity. Thus the chalice of salvation becomes both a
symbol and a means whereby we are able to share in the Divinity of Christ.
At the Jordan, Jesus
not only establishes the sacrament of Baptism, He sanctifies the water of
baptism - so that forever through the waters of baptism, we will be sanctified.
In fact, Jesus is establishing that all the sacraments are vehicles of his
Divine presence and grace.
In baptism, we are
freed from the dominion of sin and death, and so move into the realm of the
Holy Spirit, that brooding dove. Since Jesus has already gone before us, by his
baptism He becomes the trailblazer and example for us. The Father’s voice tells
us that Jesus is the model of a life whose every moment was lived in listening
to the Father’s voice, and accepting his will.
Today, Jesus invites
us to take the plunge with Him, and immerse ourselves in his life. He invites
us, as he immerses Himself in the waters of Jordan:
+ to immerse
ourselves in the ocean of His love
+ to share in His
victory
+ to rejoice in His
forgiveness
+ and to walk with
the strength and dignity of the adopted children of God, born of water and the
Spirit.