Showing Forth: SALT's Commentary for Epiphany and Jesus' Baptism

Epiphany and Jesus’ Baptism (Year B): Matthew 2:1-12 and Mark 1:4-11

Check out SALT’s “Strange New World” podcast episodes that touch on these passages: for Matthew 2, this episode, and for Mark 1, this one.

Big Picture:

1) We’re including two readings this week, one from Mark and one from Matthew. The first one is technically the reading for this Sunday, picking up the narrative in Mark where we left off about a month ago, at Jesus’ baptism. The second is the reading for Epiphany (traditionally celebrated on January 6th), the visit of the Magi.

2) Epiphany means "showing forth." Historically, the day has included the celebration of three things, all of which are considered key moments — key “firsts,” we might say — in which Jesus’ true identity shows forth: the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism, and Jesus’ first canonical miracle of turning water into wine during the Wedding at Cana.

3) Jesus’ baptism is Mark’s Christmas story, so to speak, the moment when Jesus is reborn through the waters of baptism as God’s Child, God's Beloved. In that sense, Mark and his community likely thought of Jesus as miraculously adopted, as opposed to miraculously conceived (as in Matthew and Luke) or miraculously present as God’s only begotten since “the beginning” of creation (as in John). This diversity of perspective doesn’t detract from the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation; on the contrary, it underscores it. Like a diamond considered from different angles, or four different witnesses trying to describe an inexplicable marvel, the four Gospels — which our ancestors refused to collapse into one — lift up the mystery and keep it alive.

4) What is baptism anyway? Where did it come from? John the Baptizer appears in the wilderness preaching a gospel of repentance —and the Greek word for “repentance” here is metanoia (from meta, “change,” and noia, “mind”). Today we would say, “change of heart” or “change of life,” a thoroughgoing shift and reorientation. Accordingly, as a visible sign for this change, John uses baptism, an immersion-in-water rite in those days typically reserved for Gentile converts to Judaism, signifying the all-encompassing, fresh-start character of conversion. But John called on all the children of Abraham to undergo baptism. It’s as if he’s saying, It’s not just the Gentiles that require conversion — we all do, for a new day, a new era is at hand! Change your minds and hearts and lives! Come and be baptized for the sake of forgiveness of sins — for God is coming near!

5) One of the Gospel of Matthew’s major themes is that God’s salvation extends beyond Jesus’ immediate Jewish community to include the Gentiles as well (in other words, to include everyone!). The visit of the Magi (likely Zoroastrian astronomers from Persia, present-day Iran) foreshadows this broad message of inclusion, and together with the great commission at the end of the story (Matthew 28:16-20), frames the story of Jesus’ life. Within these two bookends, Matthew's message is clear: Not only supposed insiders, but also supposed outsiders are within the great circle of divine love.

Scripture:

1) In the story of Jesus’ baptism, it should never cease to surprise us that Jesus is baptized at all. Mark explicitly frames the rite as “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4) — and yet Jesus, the one whom God is about to call “Beloved,” gets in line with the rest of us. It’s an expression of the astonishing humility and solidarity of the Incarnation: in Jesus, God comes alongside us, even to the point of joining us in a rite of repentance and renewal. Following a teacher like this would mean setting out with him on a path of humility and solidarity, confession and grace, not looking down on others but rather “joining them in line” — a humble way of love with which God is “well pleased.”

2) Despite the well-known carol, in Matthew’s story of the Magi there are only two kings: King Herod and Jesus, the rumored “king of the Jews.” The Magi are not kings but rather “wise ones,” scholars who study the stars for signs and omens. So they aren’t “kings” — and they aren't necessarily “three” either. The story mentions three gifts (or rather, three types of gifts), but doesn’t specify the number of people who carry them. The gifts themselves are telling, however: gold for a monarch, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for one who will suffer and die (in Mark, for instance, Jesus is given wine mixed with myrrh at the crucifixion (Mark 15:23); and in John, Nicodemus and Joseph wrap Jesus’ dead body in myrrh and aloes (John 19:39)).

3) Indeed, the cross is foreshadowed in this story in at least three ways: in the myrrh; in the fact that not only King Herod but “all Jerusalem” are frightened at the Magi’s news of the child’s birth; and in Herod’s murderous plot, masked as adoration.

4) Many Christmas cards feature a bright star hovering over the holy family, but Matthew’s story suggests otherwise. Only the Magi notice the star among the thousands of others visible on a clear night, and King Herod’s dependence on the visitors to lead him to the child indicates that neither he nor his assassins could follow the star without help.

5) Matthew’s theme here is the hiddenness of Christ, the small and often unnoticed ways God enters our lives in epiphanies large and small. This hiddenness is a kind of divine signature: instead of "showing forth" conspicuously at, say, the Jerusalem Temple or a Roman palace, God slips into the world by way of a poor family, under the heavy thumb of Roman occupation (see Luke's Christmas story) in a backwater town. And instead of "showing forth" to a crowd of supposed insiders, God will be noticed first by strangers from another culture, another religion, “wise ones from the East.” God does indeed show forth — but in a hidden way.

Takeaways:

1) Whether the focus is on Mark or Matthew or both, this may be the perfect week to reflect on “epiphanies,” the ways (great and small) God shows forth in our lives, and the ways (great and small) we notice or overlook these showings.

2) What are the marks, the signatures of divine presence? Humility and solidarity, wonders sometimes subtle, sometimes hidden, often unnoticed. And what are the modes attention that may help our eyes to see? First, careful, patient study and contemplation of small wonders, like the Magi studying their star charts. And second, openness to following Jesus on his pathway of humility and solidarity, walking with supposed outsiders and questionable characters (like us!).

3) This might also be a great week for reflecting on how Christians should conceive and relate to people from other religious traditions, or from no religion at all. Here at the very heart of the Christmas narrative, and at the outset of a new year, are stories that emphasize how God’s love and “showing forth” extend beyond conventionally understood religious boundaries. God walks — and washes — with sinners!  And God is sometimes recognized by wise ones from afar, alleged outsiders from another culture and religion entirely, who can and do help show us the way!

Check out SALT’s “Strange New World” podcast episodes that touch on these passages: for Matthew 2, this episode, and for Mark 1, this one.