One of the questions I'm most frequently asked about the Gospels is why Jesus was baptized. Among other purposes, Jesus' baptism is an initiation of new creation.
I was most recently reminded of this by Tim Keller in his new book King's Cross
:"There are three parties active in the creation of the world: God, God's Spirit, and God's Word, through which he creates. The same three parties are present at Jesus' baptism: the Father, who is the voice, the Son, who is the Word, and the Spirit fluttering like a dove. Mark is deliberately pointing us back to the creation, to the very beginning of history." (11)Henri Blocher's book In The Beginning
confirms Keller's analysis:"The text, then, speaks definitively of the Spirit of God, compared with a bird; when Jesus was baptized in Jordan, the descent of the Spirit like a dove, over the water, recalled Genesis and suggested the initiation of a new creation." (69)If I may dive deeper into the waters of academia (pun intended) Greg Beale notes in The Temple and the Church's Mission
that inter-testamental Judaism believed that the rock upon which the holy of holies was built was the first piece of land of the original creation (149).Although Beale's point is not derived directly from scripture, it brings about a particularly striking picture:
As Jesus emerges from the chaos of the waters, he is the first rock of new creation. He is the foundation of the holy of holies and the origin of true worship. Jesus was already the new creation, yet he died to bring the broken into it.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
3 comments:
David,
What of "fulfilling all righteousness"?
I suggest that in Mark, the baptism is a coronation, esp. considering the Ps. 2 quote.
But in Matthew, the point is that Jesus is identifying with Israel's sin. It is fundamentally an act of grace: "I am repenting, but since I don't need to repent, I'm actually repenting on your behalf." It's an alien repentance transferred to us that predicts and alien righteousness that will be transferred to us.
I bring it up because I bet this relates somehow to the new creation idea. Maybe you've thought about it and want to make the connection explicit?
Andrew
Someone Tell Me the Story
But also, the place where he was baptized speaks in two ways. #1: it was the place of the crossing over into the promise land for Joshua and the children. Thus Christ is the new 'gate' or the new Entrance point into a new promised land.
And, it is the lowest spot on earth. When he identifies with the sin of humanity he is going under water in what is essentially the drain and the dregs of the world.
Amazing stuff
Andrew-
As I wrote the post I thought of that phrase in Matthew 3:15. An earlier draft included some thoughts on how the biblical theology serves the exegesis of the passage.
The picture of new creation provides some texture to fulfilling all righteousness and the fact that GOD SPEAKS Psalm 2 (I mean, that should really get our attention!).
I think the picture of creation repeated shows just how full the restoration of Jesus is. I would like to flesh this out more, but have to get started on my work day.
Discuss!
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