Water marks the key image in today’s scriptures. Water refreshes and renews. Yet, Genesis 1, one of our birth stories, tells of God bringing forth creation from a dark, watery chaos. Do we imagine Jesus’ baptism in the serene and warm manner that we think of infant baptism in church today? The heavens are torn open at Jesus’ baptism. It’s like God troubles the water, to quote a spiritual. Baptism is much more than a nice ceremony we perform; first and foremost, it is an act of God’s audacious and triumphant love.
image: Baptism of Christ icon. Copyright © Philippe Lissac/GODONG/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images. Used by permission.