Saturday, January 3, 2009

Baptism of the Lord

The day in the liturgical year is coming up when we celebrate and remember Jesus' baptism. I've never quite understood why Jesus was baptized--in this I feel an affinity with John:

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’"

More than that, I know why I was baptized: to unite me with Christ in his death, to cleanse me from sin, to tie me forever to the community of faith. None of these seem to apply to the one in whose name I am baptized. It doesn't really matter if I understand, though.

The photo below is today's photo of the day from National Geographic. It's called "Christ of the Abyss." Maybe this helps me understand: Christ was baptized to meet me when I am under the baptismal waves.


6 comments:

PEM Cell Hydrogen said...

Great post Brett. Love to hear your thoughts on things.

Liz said...

This brought tears to my eyes.

Tinman said...

I'd like to share this with my classmates. Would you consider posting this on Facebook?

Brett Hendrickson said...

I'm glad you all enjoyed the post. This photo is so stunning, it really speaks.

Tinman, I will post the link to the photo to Facebook, and you are also welcome to direct anyone to the blog itself.

David Gambrell said...

Great photo, great post. Thanks.

Alex said...

I should thank you, too, as this gave me the seed for my sermon this past Sunday.