Homily

January 12 & 13, 2008

“First Words”

Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord, an event which perplexed the early church
and probably several of us here today. Why would Jesus, who was without sin, submit to a
baptism of repentance and why does Matthew’s gospel record his words on this occasion as "Let
it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” The rather odd
combination of these words piqued my curiosity and I wondered: what are the first words
recorded by the other evangelists and their context? As we investigate these first words, perhaps
they will help us answer the perplexing question of why did Jesus do it?
Mark, never one to mince words, records the following as Jesus first speech: "The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." Jesus
makes this speech in his home district of Galilee immediately following his 40 day fast in the
wilderness and his temptation by Satan. The image I get of Jesus when I read or hear Mark’s
words is a strong-willed man who has a message to communicate and does not want anyone to
miss the point. Mark uses these first words to immediately establish Jesus as a prophet, a
messenger sent by God to his people, a man who has something very important to communicate
to them.
Luke, on the other hand, records the words of Jesus as a 12 year-old boy who did not tell
his parents he was staying in Jerusalem after the Passover. Joseph and Mary suddenly discover
they are traveling without Jesus when they cannot find him in the group of family traveling home
to Galilee and they rush back to Jerusalem. Luke tells us the following: After three days they
found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents
saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like
this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them,
"Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" For
me, Luke’s words paint a very different image than Mark’s. In my mind’s eye, I see a
precocious young boy enjoying himself immensely in the company of the learned men of his
time in the most holy of places. I see an inquisitive and meditative boy who is absorbing all
manner of information and who is challenging his elders with questions that are not straight
forward to answer. I also see a self-confident person who has no idea why his mother and father
are distraught over him remaining behind in Jerusalem.
In the fourth gospel, John records yet a very different set of words as Jesus’ first speech.
In this gospel, Jesus has been baptized by John and John has proclaimed him “the Son of God”
and “the Lamb of God.” Two of John’s disciples hear John’s proclamations and decide to seek
out Jesus. When Jesus sees them he says the following: "What are you looking for?" John’s
gospel is a wisdom book and his choice for Jesus’ first words is in keeping with that tradition …
what are you looking for? To me these words convey an image of a scholarly teacher, a sage, a
Rabbi. I see a learned person who wants to teach others about God and God’s love. Three
different evangelists, three different choices for Jesus’ first words and three very different mental
images of Jesus.
Now Matthew’s words taken from today’s gospel, the only words in the Bible that
explain why Jesus submitted to baptism. Jesus used these words in response to John when John
attempted to withdraw from baptizing Jesus, saying "I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?" Jesus responds: "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all
righteousness.” How do these words strike you? … To me, Jesus’ words seem somewhat
stilted, flat and frankly I have a hard time getting any mental image of the speaker, he seems to
be ethereal and surreal.
After looking at the other gospel accounts, I felt I must have overlooked something, so I
read the same lesson in another version of the bible, The Message, by Eugene Peterson.
Peterson translates the passage as follows:
Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John
to baptize him. John objected, "I'm the one who needs to be baptized, not you!"
But Jesus insisted. "Do it. God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is
coming together right now in this baptism." So John did it. The moment Jesus
came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit
- it looked like a dove - descending and landing on him. And along with the
Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my
life." …
In this translation Jesus’ words seem more alive: "Do it. God's work, putting things right all
these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism." Now I get a mental image of
Jesus as a strong prophet and a man of power. What changed?
The New Revised Standard Version from which our lectionary is drawn, and most of the
approved translations of the bible, uses the word “righteousness” in this verse. But Peterson in
his translation or paraphrase uses the phrase “putting things right,” which implies bringing
justice. These seem to be two very different concepts. The word righteousness is derived from
the word righteous which was invented by William Tyndale, the first person to translate the bible
into English. a feat for which he was burned at the stake in 1536 by the church. Hmmm
…perhaps we all need to be careful about inventing words!
Tyndale wanted a word that would translate the Hebrew word sedeq (tzedek) that is used
over 500 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek word diakaios (dee-ak-ios) that appears
more than 200 times in the New Testament, neither of which translate directly into English1. In
fact, both the Hebrew and Greek words describe an abstract idea of justice or virtue, whereas our
word righteous describes right standing or right behavior within a community.
Today’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah also contains the word righteousness:
I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Listen to how Peterson translates this passage in The Message:
"I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open,
into light: opening blind eyes,

2
 releasing prisoners from dungeons,
emptying the dark prisons.
Rather than “I have called you in righteousness” Peterson translates the words as “I have called
you to live right and well.” Interesting choice of words, do you hear the difference?
I have listened to these lessons for many years and let the words righteous and
righteousness waft over me like I understood them but clearly I did not. In the zero sum game of
our culture and society, righteous implies that one is in the right, which also implies that
someone or somebody is in the wrong. But that is not the case for God’s justice. God’s justice is
a sense of all of his creatures being in harmony and sharing his love with each other. It is the
greater sum game of one plus one equals five. It is interesting that Jesus words as translated by
Peterson reflect this: “God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together
right now in this baptism.” This concept of “putting things right” explains for me, and I hope for
you, why Jesus submitted himself for baptism by John … and perhaps why Matthew chose to
record this strange combination of words.
God’s work, putting things right, remains our task today just as it was on the day Jesus was
baptized. In our Baptismal Covenant we are asked the following three questions:
1. Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in
Christ?
2. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as
yourself?
3. Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the
dignity of every human being?2
The Good News of God is his steadfast love that became incarnate in Jesus Christ and is
present in all of us, albeit sometimes a bit difficult to discern. All of humanity is our neighbor,
especially those we disagree with, and we need to treat all persons justly and with love. This
does not mean that we won’t have disagreements with each other or have differing points of view
but it does mean that we can truly love each other and establish the reign of God’s justice on
earth without resorting to violence if we are willing to put things right. Putting things right
means we provide decent housing for those who have none, it means we feed those who are
hungry, it means we clothe those who are naked and tend to the sick and dying both here at home
and in distant lands.
The following poem3 about an eighth century Sufi Saint that I learned as a child speaks to
righteousness as I believe our Lord meant at his baptism:
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,

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 Write me as one who loves his fellow men."
The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

I leave you with these thoughts:

Think about the fact that Matthew is the only evangelist to give us a reason for why
Jesus, the man who was without sin, was willing to submit to baptism by John using the words,
"Do it. God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this
baptism."

When next you read or hear the words righteous or righteousness, and you will
frequently as we go through Matthew’s gospel during this lectionary year, substitute the words
“putting things right” and see if those words help open up the meaning of the passage for you

And finally think about Jesus commission to all of us as recorded in John’s gospel: “This
is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put
your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I ask of you.
I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is
thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've
heard from the Father. You didn't choose me, … I chose you, and put you in the world to bear
fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask from the Father in relation to me,
he gives you. But always remember …: Love one another. 4
Go and spread God’s love and justice in the world, fulfill your baptismal vows, and be then listen
for the Spirit’s voice within you saying “this is my child, chosen and marked by my love”.

Amen
1
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righteousness
2
BCP pg 305
3
Abou ben Adam by James Henry Leigh Hunt
4
John 15:12-17 my paraphrase based on The Message