Acts 10: 34-43 (New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition)

Matthew 3: 13-17 (The Message)

Today is a festival within many churches, the day we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. After Jesus was baptized he began his public ministry.

But why was Jesus baptized? He had no sin. Jesus accepted baptism to redeem the sins of the world and to become ONE with humanity.

But Jesus was also baptized to show his disciples what baptism really is. But the downside was the specter of death. But with baptism there was a new vision of hope.

When Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending upon him, he realized this was the method he will be in continual contact with his followers. The Holy Spirit united both the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We as Christians are sometimes afraid we have disappointed God, and something God cannot forgive. When we feel that way we need only to remember our baptism. In our own baptism we have been united with Jesus and made a beloved child of God.

There is no greater comfort on earth than seeing a baptism. More important than watching the Super Bowl. A number of months ago Sharon and I witnessed the baptism of our granddaughter and daughter-in-law. Now, to be honest, I would’ve preferred they were baptized here, but they lived closer to Blue River Baptist Church which has a long history. And Sharon and I were married there. The problem our son might face was that he was baptized in the Episcopalian Church and the Baptist Church will not accept his baptism without being immersed under water.

As Presbyterians, we do not re-baptize people, even though people have requested that. We believe that rebaptizing would lead us to question whether we are really baptized or not. And this would take away the great comfort baptism gives to us. Instead, we affirm our baptism. An example would be marriage. We don’t remarry one who we are already married to. But we might affirm their marriage vows especially during important occasions.  

And another reason Jesus submitted to baptism, was he wanted to join John the Baptizer’s revolution. I mean, after all, Jesus was the cousin of John. Righteousness met everything to Jesus. One might translate the Greek word for righteousness for the Greek word used by the Greek Christians as “Dikaiosun” as “Justice.” The literal meaning is, “to set right, the things are wrong.”

Jesus’ choice to join John the Baptizer was no simple act of personal piety. It was the opposite Jesus witnessed. John with his fiery preaching with a revolutionary declaration about a New World Order, where God will set right and end what is wrong, that being the ending of the establishment in Jerusalem and the Roman Empire.  

Other clues indicate the religious and political activism of John and Jesus. Just think of the violent Jewish Zealots who would kill a Roman in a drop-of-a-dime. In social protest movements around Judea, Jewish activists led their followers to the wilderness to oppose Rome or the Sadducees who controlled the power in Israel. 

The means by which John and Jesus met their death would convince even the most hardened skeptic of the revolutionary nature causes New Testament Scholar, Bart Ehrman, to say, “If Jesus had simply been a great moral leader, or a nice rabbi who did nothing more than urge his devoted followers to love God. Now Rome was not interested in crucifying someone like that. Jesus under those conditions was no threat to Rome. Prof. Ehrman has written more than 20 books, but the one I would read first is, “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.”

In the reading from Acts Chapter 10, the Apostle Peter hears a voice from heaven, it says, “Get up Peter, kill and eat. Now Peter was kind of offended by this because the only food he dined on was kosher food. Peter replied, “I know the rules and I keep the rules. I would never eat what you have forbidden. So needless to say, shrimp, lobster and pork were not on his menu.

This vision or voice from heaven repeats itself three times. Peter then realizes what was profane to eat, God has now given him the green-light.

Even though Peter is confused about this, he is visited by a group of Gentiles who are told to visit a gentile and Roman centurion named Cornelius. Not the usual company a Jew would be associated with.

Cornelius told them his story. A visitation from God told him to send for a man named Peter. So, Cornelius concludes, “Therefore I’ve sent for you and you have been kind enough to come.” Well, their world has been shaken. Now Jews and Gentiles can be One in fellowship and all food is the same to eat. It also means that Christ didn’t come to earth to start a new religion, but rather that all humans should join together in the name of love, justice and peace.

Peter’s speech for the household of Cornelius is often called the 2nd Pentecost, which should remind all of us that it is the 1st Day of Pentecost on May 24th. That day Peter spoke boldly, quoting the Prophet Joel, saying,

“In the Last Days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will dream, dreams. Even on servants, both women and men will the Spirit touch, and they too will prophecy.”

Like the church at the time of the Apostle Peter, we are a people, a church, energized by the Holy Spirit. We are energized by the Warming Station which has been a blessing for this church and local community. We have been given dreams and visions also. What does it mean for us to say the Holy Spirit is on the move and the Holy Spirit can break the status-quo just like it did for Peter and the Roman Cornelius. AMEN