Signs of Life – Water
Mark 1: 1-11
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight” ’,
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
In the first story of creation in the book of Genesis, we read that the breath of God swept over the waters… water was seen as the “stuff” from which all things were created. Maybe that’s part of the reason that it became a symbol of the new life in baptism.
At Jesus’ baptism, God’s Spirit (or “breath” – it’s the same word in Hebrew) descended upon him, and he was publicly identified for the first time to be God’s son.
In the waters of our own baptism – that same ordinary water that all of creation relies on to live and grow – we too were adopted into God’s family, the worldwide Church. And yet, just as we continually replenish ourselves with water in order to live, so we can pray for God’s Spirit to fill us anew.
Lord God our Father,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
you have assured us of eternal life
and in baptism made us one with him.
Deliver us and raise us to new life in your love,
in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
by the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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