To Change our Minds

Scripture: Mark 1: 4-13 and Acts 19: 1-7

I enjoy Mark’s gospel. He gets right into things. In the opening three verses which we didn’t read this morning Mark introduces his gospel of Jesus. He does so by telling us that this is the good news of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, and then he quotes from Isaiah. No sooner has Mark done this and he introduces us to John the Baptist.

Of course, the passage from Isaiah was to “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” which is what John the Baptist came to do. Mark believes it’s important to understand John’s purpose to make sense of Jesus’ baptism and the ministry he will embark upon.

In Mark’s gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ starts with someone else.

Now, this is a familiar passage. It was a reading during Advent, but we have a few additional verses included this week and I’ve included two extra’s beyond the lectionary reading and we’ll talk about those verses in a moment.

We often think that the baptism of Jesus features only Jesus, that is one person of the Trinity. However, when we stop and consider the passage we realize the baptism of Jesus features all three persons of the Trinity. Jesus who is baptized, the dove descending as he came up from the water and the voice from the heavens declaring, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Often in science fiction and the fantasy genres we will find concepts of the world tearing apart. That is some force, usually malevolent, is trying to tear its way into our world. Think of the Marvel movies and the multiverse. The first Avengers movie had the bad guys swarming into our world through a tear in the sky above New York city. However, Chelsea Harmon notes that “…with Jesus’s baptism, we see the “tearing” of heaven as a positive for humanity, symbolized by the real experience of Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit and hearing the Father call him “beloved.” (Chelsea Harmon – https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2024-01-01/mark-14-11-4/)

The passage has four major areas of focus:

1. John the Baptist appears in the wilderness and baptizes people
2. John witnesses to Jesus
3. Finally, John baptizes Jesus
4. Jesus is sent into the wilderness to be tested

Note how Mark tells us that John appears in the wilderness, after his baptism Jesus is sent into the wilderness.

A number of questions arise from the passage:

• Does Jesus need a baptism?
• What sin is Jesus confessing?
• Is the baptism done in solidarity with humanity?

Jesus doesn’t need a baptism; however his baptism helps illustrate a few important points and these are also present in our reading from Acts. By being baptised by John, Jesus participates in the ministry that John is undertaking. Jesus stands in solidarity with John and with all of humanity. A recognition that we aren’t alone, we can build each other up and learn from one another. This is a lesson that the church in Ephesus learns from our reading from Acts. They’ve been taught one thing about baptism by Apollos and Paul provides further insight into what baptism means. Allowing that community to deepen their walk of faith.

The reading from Acts speaks to the passage in Mark’s gospel and provides a commentary to it. It also throws some shade on Apollos, who it seems Paul didn’t like very much. Apollos comes up again in 1 Corinthians. In the passage, Paul has arrived in Ephesus and is speaking to the early church community there. Paul builds on the knowledge of those early Christians. He informs them that John provided a baptism of repentance, but that in Christ we are baptized by the Holy Spirit.

When we read Mark’s gospel John is introduced to provide a witness to Jesus. John is needed to demonstrate why Jesus was also needed. There is language in this passage that doesn’t always sit well with us. We are told that the people came confessing their sins. We don’t talk about that much, it comes up in our prayers, but we don’t talk a whole lot about confessing sins or repentance. What is repentance, it is to change your mind.

What do we need to change our minds about so that we can stand in solidarity with Jesus?

Baptism represents new beginnings.

If you read fiction, watch television or movies and a character is immersed in water. Falls off a boat, submerges in a tank etc. watch for the change or transformation that will occur in that character. For us baptism is a sacrament, a welcome into the community of faith. In literature baptism is a tool used to signal the audience that a change is about to occur.

Baptism represents new beginnings.

But baptism can divide us. Clearly, the community in Ephesus from Acts was divided about baptism. The same is true today. I have often been asked if I will recognize someone else’s baptism. I’ve been asked by people who haven’t attended this church for a long time if I will provide confirmation for their baptism because they need it for a wedding or some other reason. Most Christian denominations will recognize other churches baptisms, so long as the baptism is done in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What baptism is meant to do is welcome us into community with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism also prepares us.

What does baptism prepare us for?

For Jesus it was a journey into the wilderness, where he would be tested. But we also know he wouldn’t be alone. Baptism reminds us that we are part of something larger than ourselves. We join into a community of faith.

What does baptism prepare us for? It helps prepare us to change our minds so that we can stand in solidarity with Jesus.

What we learn from both the reading from Mark and Acts is the emphasis that discipleship is an ongoing process. The process of changing our minds is continual. We don’t make an instant U-turn; it often comes in smaller degrees as our insight grows. Our journey of discipleship has not finished, it is not complete. It will, in fact, never finish, never be complete. Amen.