{"id":124,"date":"2020-01-12T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/partridge.site\/rum\/?p=124"},"modified":"2025-08-18T21:52:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T20:52:55","slug":"beginnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/partridge.site\/rum\/index.php\/2020\/01\/12\/beginnings\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginnings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Baptism of the Lord. Year A.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readings: Acts 10:34-43<\/em> & Matthew 3:13-17<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of our readings this morning are stories of beginnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew describes Jesus\u2019 baptism by John.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the previous chapter he was describing Jesus\u2019 childhood sojourn in Egypt, hiding from Herod.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a couple of years in this case, rather than the centuries that Israel spent in Egypt between Joseph and Moses, but highly symbolic none the less.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, immediately afterwards in the gospel, we have him coming down to the Jordan to be immersed in its waters by John the Baptist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the early church onwards, theologians have puzzled over this, as their understanding of Jesus\u2019 nature developed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the doctrine had been established of Jesus\u2019 simultaneously divine and human nature, and more importantly of the sinlessness of this combination, _and_ once baptism has been established as being for the forgiveness of sins,  why did Jesus need to be baptised?  Obviously it can\u2019t have been to forgive the sins of one who was sinless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And John is quick to point out that the whole ceremony is the wrong way round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is Jesus who should be baptising John, not John baptising Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But again, this is a symbolic action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By being baptised, Jesus is affirming John\u2019s message of the coming of the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the place is also symbolic – this is where the Israelites entered the old promised land, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and here is where John is helping them enter the new promised land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often focus on Jesus\u2019 words when thinking about his teaching in the Gospel, but it is often just as important to look at his actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like prophets throughout Jewish history, he often uses symbolic actions as much as <\/p>\n\n\n\n

or even more than words in order to deliver a message to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Jesus and John are notable in how they use actions and place symbolically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So having returned from Egypt to Nazareth, Jesus now comes south to Judea<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To enter the waters of the Jordan, the boundary of the promised land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while Matthew has jumped straight from one to the other, for Jesus, 30 or more years may have passed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only in Luke do we hear anything of Jesus between his miraculous birth and this moment of revelation; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

this Epiphany, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

where the Holy Spirit descends again, and God acknowledges him as his Son.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not actually told whether everyone hears the voice of God, or just Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this a public declaration of God\u2019s purpose and blessing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or a private affirmation for Jesus that he is ready for the task he is to undertake?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what has brought Jesus to this place and this time?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place is symbolic, but why has he waited until now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surely with a message like the coming of the kingdom, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must have been incredibly tempting to proclaim it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Jesus, who is presented to us as an adult fully formed,so to say, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

for Peter, we get to see his complete journey from first calling to venerated apostle, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

in every painful and tortuous step and mis-step.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the Gospels we see his enthusiasm, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

but also his ability to misunderstand almost everything that Jesus is showing and telling his disciples.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet in our first reading, we now see Peter full of the confidence of the spirit.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put this reading into its context, this is at Caesarea, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just after the vision of the sheet on the rooftop in Joppa <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and just prior to the conversion of Cornelius and his household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornelius has sent messengers to summon Peter, in response to an angelic vision of his own, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now asks Peter what God has commanded him to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Peter responds with this speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a wonderful passage.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you re-read it, it is in many ways the first creed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look at it as we say the Nicene creed later in the service, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

you can see how much of our basic statement of belief it already covers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event is probably within a year of the crucifiction, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and yet already there had been a transformative shift in how Peter sees Jesus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No longer the traditional messiah that Peter thought he was following throughout the Gospels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death on the cross would have been failure for that Messiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that was not the kingdom he was proclaiming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already Peter can understand that \u2018everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name\u2019.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the important word is \u2018everyone\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of this creed, we see that Peter has already absorbed the vision at Joppa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not just a faith for the lost sheep of Israel.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Peter speaks earlier, at Pentecost,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a speech that is full of scriptural quotations,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here, in front of Gentiles, he doesn\u2019t rely on showing how Jesus fulfills the scriptural prophecies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornelius is referred to as God-fearing, but he is presumably no expert in the Jewish scriptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Peter, in the Holy Spirit, has to explain Jesus in language that everyone can understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pentecost is often referred to as the birth of the church, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and it is certainly the event that makes the church holy, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

but this declaration by Peter, following his vision, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the Holy Spirit descending on those gentiles who hear it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

leading to their baptism by Peter,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

marks the beginning of a church which is truly both holy and catholic, a universal church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, it is always Paul who is thought of as the apostle to the Gentiles, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this promising start by Peter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, Peter finds it hard to stick to his convictions, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially when opposed by James.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, if we are to trust Luke and Paul\u2019s accounts, it gets pretty fractious, and Peter engages in some serious wavering and fence sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s a bit like a modern Archbishop, trying to keep all parts of the church happy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how difficult or impossible that may seem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter and Jesus have very different beginnings, and follow very different paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is the thing with vocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are always different, and unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we have to wait until the right time in our life, or in other people\u2019s lives,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Jesus, who waits until he is in middle age to start his ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his vocation being his entire purpose and nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe he was waiting for other people to be in the right place for his message?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, it can take a long time to discern a vocation, no matter how obvious it might seem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Peter\u2019s, we can be slow and hesitant, taking wrong turns, or even sliding backwards at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full of good intentions, but sometimes poor decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But coming, like Peter, to amazing revelations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All our journeys with God have a beginning somewhere, and they are all steps into the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we start, we never know where we will end up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But God is always here to guide us, especially when we listen to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Baptism of the Lord. Year A. Readings: Acts 10:34-43 & Matthew 3:13-17. Both of our readings this morning are stories of beginnings. Matthew describes Jesus\u2019 baptism by John.   In the previous chapter he was describing Jesus\u2019 childhood sojourn in Egypt, hiding from Herod.   Only a couple of years in this case, rather than the … <\/p>\n

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