Initial thought on the Baptism of Jesus

One could ask why Jesus would need to be baptised. Especially by John, whose baptism was one of repentance? What could Jesus possibly have done to need a baptism of repentance?

John’s baptism was also about identity. One way to understand John’s baptism was that those who were baptised repented of all that separated them from others, (all others) and were numbered now among those God cared for and worked on behalf of. And who does God care for and work on behalf of? Everyone! It involved letting go of a theology that their sense of belonging to particular people, confined God’s care to one group, and an acknowledgement that all were their brothers and sisters in God. Their identity (who they were) shifted from belonging to one group to belonging to God (whose they were) and this was to be lived out in their daily lives (what was theirs to do).

So why was Jesus baptised? Not to repent. But to embrace this identity, and to begin his ministry as the one declaring Gods care and love for all, including Gentiles, Samaritans, widows and the sick.

As we begin this new calendar year, the story of Jesus’ baptism invites us again to contemplate our identity. To ask, “Who are we; whose are we; and what is ours to do?”