John the Baptist - the First Example of our Christian Calling

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


”After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”


Whew!!! What a mouthful.


John the Baptist tells us that he is not the Messiah. He is not Elijah. He is not the prophet (or Moses).

So who is he?

John the Baptist also tells us that he is the one who has come to prepare the way.


“After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”

I think this confusing sentence is the key to what John means.


“After me comes a man.” Jesus was born about one month after John. Jesus is also the “Son of Man” which in Hebrew is Adam or in capital letters MAN.

“Who ranks ahead of me.” John is telling us that Jesus will be a much more important spiritual leader than John, himself, is.

“Because he was before me.” Jesus is the Word made flesh. The first words in the Gospel of John, the Gospel from which this story comes, are “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Jesus, although he was born after John the Baptist, existed long before John was born.


That’s a lot to pack into one sentence. That’s what it meant to John the Baptist … but what does it mean for us?


There is a central part of our Christian faith which we call our statement of faith. In its shortest form it is three very short sentences. You are welcome to join me in saying it.

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.


Our statement of faith says tells us that we are just like John the Baptist.

Christ has died. … “He was before me.”
Christ is risen. … “He ranks ahead of me.”
Christ will come again. … “After me comes a man.”


So if we are the same as John the Baptist in this way, maybe we are like him in other ways.


John was called to prepare the way of the Lord.

So are we. We are called to make the world a better place. We are called to work towards the Kingdom of God. When the time is right for the Kingdom of God, Jesus will come again.

John was called to witness to the Truth.

This is exactly what we do when we proclaim the Gospel. Whether we do this by our words or by our actions, we are being witnesses to the Truth of Jesus Christ our Lord.


John was called to give up his life for his beliefs. He was a martyr.

We are also called to be martyrs for our faith. Most of us will not be called to die for our faith, but there are other kinds of martyrdom. We will all be called to make hard choices. We will all be asked to make sacrifices, to forgo luxuries, to serve when it would be easier not to, all in the name of God. This is martyrdom.


This is a large order. God is asking a lot of us and none of it is easy.

So how do we do it?

We have one clue in the last verse of our Gospel today.

“He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).”

Simon is the brother of our very own St. Andrew the Apostle. Simon’s example can help us to follow Christ. Cephas in Hebrew or Petros in Greek translate a rock in English. “You are to be called Simon the Rock.”

Simon was called the Rock because he had an unshakable faith, not only in God and Jesus, but in his friends and in himself. Simon never tried to do it alone. He worked with his fellow disciples. He encouraged them and built them up. He led them by his example of faith and devotion. If we follow that example, we will fulfil every part of our calling to prepare the world for the Kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God.

Jesus Baptized? -- Why?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


Why did Jesus need to be baptized?


John the Baptist said “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” Then Jesus answered “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”


Well, that clears everything up. Jesus’ answer makes perfect sense.

--- Not ---

Now we just have something else to figure out. What does Jesus mean by that?

First we need to know what baptism meant to Jesus.

Before this time, baptism was a Jewish ritual of cleansing. You would be baptized every time you became “unclean” by doing something like touching a dead body so that you could enter the temple and worship.

Second, we need to know what righteousness is. Being righteous means to be in right relationship with God.

So by being baptized, someone would become ritually clean, or, in other words, righteous.

But Jesus says that he is being baptized to fulfill ALL righteousness. Ordinarily someone would be baptized to fulfill their own righteousness only. I believe that Jesus is telling us that his baptism was to make EVERYONE right with God. This is one of the great moments of salvation which we can find in the life of Jesus.


This is a “Thanks be to God” moment.

But it is only the first part of what the Baptism of our Lord is about. Our Gospel doesn’t end there.


And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”


And in that moment, Christian baptism was born.


Was Jesus changed?

Sort of. Jesus did not become something different from what or who he was before being baptized. What changed was that he was revealed to be the Christ. It was a moment of transfiguration. In that moment, God showed John his divine grace.


So what does that mean for us today?

What happens when we are baptized?

Are we made righteous? No, Jesus already did that for us in his own baptism. Jesus was baptized to fulfill ALL righteousness.

Are we changed in some other way?

Sort of. We do not become different people. We don’t suddenly become God’s beloved. We are already that.


What does happen is a moment of transfiguration.

That means that what was hidden become clear to us.

Just as with Jesus, the spirit of God descends upon us, not to change us, but to wake us up.


God marks us as his own; as his sons and daughters.


God shows us that we are beloved.


God tells us that with us, he is well pleased.



Nothing has changed, but at the same time, everything is different.


Thanks be to God.