Jesus’ baptism easter eggs
Readings: Matthew 3. 13-17, Isaiah 42. 1-9
I wonder if you’re familiar with the concept of Easter Eggs. Not the ones that are already in the shops ahead of Easter, but where those making a film of TV show hide references to either other parts of their own franchise or to other shows or films within their film or show.
I’m a big fan of Sci-Fi and Superhero films and shows, and those sorts of shows and films do this a lot. A few years ago I was watching the Star Wars show The Mandalorian. It follows a bounty hunter living and working in the time between the 6th and 7th films. And one of the great things the writers of that series have done is take advantage of the fact that it’s set in the Star Wars Universe to full effect. Some of that is obvious such as known characters appearing on screen. But there are also lots of Easter eggs: to subtler references to characters or events from other series or films in the franchise. There are even really subtle references that only those who know Star Wars really well will get. For those who don’t know anything about Star Wars the series is really enjoyable and you get a lot from it, but for those who know Star Wars well, there’s so much more depth and meaning going on.
The same is true of today’s Gospel reading. Matthew is relatively short in his description of Jesus’ baptism, but he does give us a part all the other Gospel writers miss out; John’s objection. John recognises that Jesus is the only one there who doesn’t need this baptism, he doesn’t have any sins to repent of, he has never said or done or thought anything wrong. Neither has he failed to do or say or think anything that he should have.
When you stop and think about it it’s remarkable isn’t it. We can easily think of Jesus as a good person, perhaps a very good person. But he’s more than that, he’s utterly perfect. Completely free from sin, there is not a moment in his life when he fails to do what is right.
And so John tries to say no. Well actually he goes further doesn’t, he says that this should be the other way around. If you look back just a few verses to verse 11 he points out what sort of baptism Jesus will bring ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’. And so as they’re stood together in the Jordan John is saying to Jesus, give me that baptism, you don’t need mine, but I need yours. But Jesus insists ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness’. It’s an odd thing to say isn’t it, but in it we get the message that something deeper is going on. Whenever Matthew uses the word fulfil, he is talking about Jesus fulfilling Old Testament Scripture.
And here layered up in this passage are plenty of Gospel Easter Eggs for us to spot. Like the Easter Eggs in the Mandalorian you don’t need to spot them to understand what’s going on, but they when you do they add depth and resonance to what is happening.
First of the New Creation
The first Old Testament passage referenced is the very beginning of the Bible itself, Genesis 1. The Spirit of God hovering over the waters. Just as the Holy Spirit broods over the waters of creation as God begins his work (and in some Jewish writings the Spirit here is seen as a dove) so too here at Jesus’ baptism the Spirit appears over the waters of Baptism like a dove. Jesus is the beginning of the New Creation. Here God is at work to bring about a new beginning, one which will be birthed out of the old.
And as JC Ryle points out; just as in the beginning, as the Spirit hovers over the waters, God the Holy Trinity says ‘come, let us make man’, so now, as the Spirit hovers over the waters of Jesus’ baptism, it is as though God is saying ‘come, let us save man’.
God among us
But just before we get to the Spirit descending, Matthew tells us that the heavens are opened. This is an act of God alone, the divine breaking into the mundane.
And in it we hear echoes of Isaiah who cries out in chapter 64 ‘O that you would tear open the heavens and come down’. And here stands Jesus, as the heavens are torn open, God is amongst us. The heavens aren’t torn open how we might expect, and yet nevertheless they have opened, and God is in our midst.
And as the heavens are opened, as the Spirit descends, God speaks, ‘You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased’. These are beautiful words aren’t they. God has called those closest to him all sorts of things, Abraham was a friend of God, Moses a servant of God, Aaron a chosen one of God, David a man after God’s own heart. But these words are even more special, they set Jesus apart. Besides the obvious reference to Jesus being God’s literal Son, who can act and speak as God because he is God, God in the flesh, there are other meanings layered up here, more easter eggs to discover. There are only a handful of places in Scripture where God calls others his Son.
King
Firstly in reference to the King at his coronation. In the coronation anthem, Psalm 2, God calls the King his Son. The intimacy and obedience seen imperfectly in the Kings of old, and particularly imperfectly in many of them, now comes into sharp focus in Jesus, the perfect King, the one destined to be seated on the throne of David, whose reign shall know no end.
Messiah
And that language of sonship is also used of Israel as a nation. The King is only called the Son because he stands for the nation. The nation as a whole was called to that intimacy with God, that obedience and loving relationship. They were to be a light for the whole world to see who God is. Yet where they have failed time and time again, Jesus will succeed. Where God’s wrath is so often directed against his people as they do terrible things, here is the one in whom God is well pleased. This is therefore also language of the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour.
Sacrifice
But finally, and perhaps the most striking, is what is depicted in the window behind me. In Genesis God speaks to Abraham and says ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’.
And if you know the passage you’ll know as we continue to read that at the last moment God intervenes, it had been a test of Abrahams loyalty and trust.
But as Isaac and Abraham are climbing the mountain, Isaac still unaware of what is about to happen, Abraham unaware that God will intervene, Isaac asks his father, ‘where is the sacrifice’ and Abraham replies, ‘God will provide the sacrifice’. And when God intervenes he provides a ram to sacrifice instead. But it’s an imperfect sacrifice, one that will need to be made again and again.
Until at last God does provide a sacrifice that is perfect, that atones for the sins of all forever, the man on the cross at Calvary: Jesus. And here right at the start of Jesus’ ministry God makes that intention clear echoing those words to Abraham ‘here is my son, whom I love’. Jesus is to be the sacrifice that God provides, not unwittingly and unwillingly but deliberately and faithfully.
The Baptism of Christ is filled with Easter eggs, there are more we could uncover. God has layered up meaning upon meaning for us to see. But in showing his hand, he’s not setting a puzzle for the clever or dedicated to solve. Nor is he just quoting the Old Testament in a ‘spot the reference’ sort of way. No, what God is doing is declaring in the richest possible way who Jesus is, His Son in whom he delights, and what we can expect from him. All those events in the Old Testament have been leading to this moment and what will follow. Even right at the start we have no excuse for not understanding the significance of Jesus’ ministry, even as those around him fumble around the truth.
But here’s the biggest reason of all that Jesus has come for baptism with John. Because yes he has no sin, nothing to repent of but Jesus will not save us at arms length. Here he chooses to identify fully with us. Not only does he surrender the glory of heaven to come down into the mess of our world, but he refuses to stand apart, he stands with us. He has no need to go down into the water, but he does so anyway.
The new creation comes amidst the old, God is with us, not in a superficial way, but goes down into the depths with us. Our King, our Messiah, doesn’t stand at a distance, issuing edicts and orders from afar, he is beside us in the battle. The Sacrifice for our sins doesn’t stand in condemnation over us, shaming us for our need of him, instead he is plunged beneath the waters, identifying himself with us.
The precise moment where God declares unequivocally just how special and unique Jesus is, is the exact same moment where Jesus looks and acts exactly like the rest of us. Stood with our sin and mess and darkness swirling around him. He goes down into our depths, that we can be lifted out into his life. Once more Jesus is revealed to the world for who he really is, not in power and glory, but in humility and obedience.
And so, as we enter this Year of Mission let us do the same. Let us not try to love or save people at a distance. Rather let us follow our Saviour in getting our hands dirty. Going out to love our community, to love the world and proclaim that love of God come to save and redeem. We cannot do it from afar, we cannot do it from here. If the perfect Son of God must come to us, how much more should we his servants do the same.
Amen.