Baptism: Jesus' Coming Out Party

Have you ever thought about why Jesus was baptized?  I mean, if baptism is about forgiving sin then Jesus didn't need to be baptized since he never sinned.  If baptism is about joining the church, Jesus didn't need to be baptized since there was no church to join at that point, at least not an organized one.  So why was Jesus baptized?

Part of the answer has to do with the scene at his baptism.  Mark records in the fifth verse of the first chapter, "And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him (John), and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins."  Imagine hundreds and hundreds of people all gathered along the river bank, some in the water, some lined up to be next, some just observing as spectators.  Then comes Jesus.  Jesus wasn't baptized because he needed to be.  He was baptized because WE needed him to be.

Baptism was Jesus' coming out party.  He came out to humanity as God's Son, publicly announced by God's own voice and the descending of the Holy Spirit.  After living 30 years on this earth, it was time for multitudes of people to know who he really was.  It was time for humanity, then and now, to experience Jesus, not just as a good guy or even a good prophet, but as the Son of the Living God. 

Jesus plunged into the same muddy river Jordan as hundreds of others that John baptized, uniting in solidarity with them and with us.  Identifying himself with humanity, broken and struggling, Jesus joined the masses in order to reveal who he was.  Now they knew.  Now they could follow.  Now they caught a glimpse, not of Jesus of Nazareth, but of Jesus the Christ.

May we too catch a glimpse of Jesus the Christ as we remember his baptism this Sunday.  May we participate in his coming out party as we rejoice that he is Son of the Living God, Lord of all creation, and Savior of humanity.  At Christmas we believed, we hoped, we kept the faith that the Savior was born.  Now we know for sure, for we too are invited to be witnesses to Jesus at his coming out party.