Jesus' Baptism - C4

Years C
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Paper covers rock. Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cuts paper.

Fire evaporates water. Turns it to spirit?

Fire clears the chaff. This includes everything not repented of. This includes a desire to repent more than has been repented so far - to keep peeling back the onion of repentance, layer by layer. Eventually getting to the question of what is left when there is no more repenting to do or what new clarity is released when we stop using repentance as a key model for life.

In some sense the baptism(s) of spirit and fire are part of a good-cop/bad-cop routine.

One way of trying to clear ourselves of mechanizing baptism and sub-dividing it into component parts is to look at our involvement in the process. It is recorded here that baptisms were completed and praying was still going on. It is this praying part that may move us from baptismal technique to its potential reorientation of life.

= = = = = = =

Let us pray.