Clean Water for All God’s Children
Context:
Jesus was without sin, yet he asked to be baptized by John. Was it in order to ‘fulfill all
righteousness’ – a kind of social justice act, identifying himself with sinners? Was it a symbolic
act, a way to dramatize the ‘taking on the sins of the world’? Whatever we believe about the
baptism of Jesus (which, being a sacrament, is largely mystery!) we know that God used the
occasion to express God’s great pleasure with Jesus. How wonderful that we, too, can participate
in the same baptism, uniting ourselves with Jesus and receiving the blessing of our gracious God!
Note that Jesus receives the blessing
before
he has even begun his ministry, implying that God’s
pleasure is purely in our
being
, rather than our
doing
. This is consistent with our Reformed
understanding of the prevenience of grace.
This story is told in first person. It might be especially effective if told by a male storyteller, but
some costuming can transform anyone into a wild, desert figure!
The desert/water backdrop is good for this story (same backdrop as Day 3 Naaman).
Story:
Good morning. My name is John. People called me the Baptizer because I preached and
baptized people in the Jordan River. From as early as I can remember, my mother and
father told me that I was special and would be used by God in a special way. I felt I was
different from everyone else. When I got older, I spent a lot of time out in the barren
hills of Judea. I dressed in animal skins and lived off the land. I ate things that you
would never touch, like locusts. I found bee hives and ate the wild honey. It was a
lonely life, but I was not really alone. God was always with me.
Then one day I felt God calling me to preach. There were lots of bad things happening in
the world, and I know God was not pleased. I told people that they should be sorry for
some of the things they had done, and ask God for forgiveness. When they did, I
baptized them as a sign that they were forgiven. People came from all around to hear me,
because God had made their hearts ready to hear my message, which was really God’s
message.
There was one thing I always wondered about. My mother’s cousin – her name was
Mary – had a son named Jesus. I heard stories about Jesus, and about who he would be
when he grew up, but he never did anything different that I could see. He was a carpenter.
But I knew that I was supposed to prepare the world for him. I was supposed to change
people’s hearts so they would be ready to know who Jesus is.
Then one day I saw him, by the Jordan River. I was talking to some of my disciples
when I saw Jesus coming toward me. I told my disciples, “There goes the Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world.” I knew the time had come for Jesus to begin his
ministry.
Day 4: Bible Story
The Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3)