Description
When we hear the story of the Baptism of Jesus in January in Australia, we are in the midst of summer. Some parts of the country are usually in the middle of drought, praying desperately for rain. Other parts of the country can be experiencing flooding rains washing away homes and livestock in a sudden torrent.
Water – rain – is so important – we need it for crops to grow, to sustain our very existence – and yet too much, or too little of it can reap destruction. It’s hard to imagine anything else – with perhaps the exception of air and fire, which is so vitally important to our lives – especially here in Australia.
Water is of particular importance to the Jews too, but for different reasons. For Jews at the time of Christ, washing was an important element of their religious life: Jews had to wash themselves to make themselves ritually clean before they entered the temple. There was a special pool near the sheep gate for the purpose. This kind of ritual cleansing was a sign of repentance – turning away from what made one unclean and turning back to God. Our story today begins with John the Baptist calling the Jews to repentance and calling them to baptism, as a sign of their turning back to God.
When Jesus enters the water of the Jordan to be baptised by John, the sky is rent open and the spirit comes down in bodily form like a dove. And a voice is heard from heaven: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased.” In Matthew’s Gospel, unlike the others, God declares “This is my Son” publicly: it is not a private moment between God and Jesus as in other gospels, but a public declaration of Jesus’ identity as Son of God right at the outset of Jesus’ public ministry.
This resource includes two different activities that can be included in Intergenerational worship. Firstly a reflection based on the Orthodox Icon of the Baptism of Christ, and secondly a reaffirmation of Baptism, based on John Wesley’s prayer.
Psalm 29, full of watery imagery also reminds us of the power and the majesty that can be experienced in watery places. This week’s prayer activities provide opportunities to experience ‘hearing’ from God and opening up the idea of ‘hearing how we connect with God, sense God with us, hear God through the Bible, history, other people… could assist all people to more consistently know God with them.
