Fulfillment

Read John 1:29-34.

Area near where John was baptizing - 2012 - Photo Credit: Kathy Craig

Have you ever waited for something, maybe for a long time, only to experience disappointment when the thing, day or event finally arrived? Or have your "waits" been met with a reaction of, "It's even better than I dreamed!"? I clearly remember the first time I traveled to Austria and Germany. We flew all night (and I was sick most of that flight, so I was out of it most of the time), arrived in Switzerland where, after claiming our luggage, we drove another four hours or so on a bus to a tiny village near Innsbruck. "They" (the travel experts) say not to take a nap because you need to shift to the new time zone, so after we checked into our hotel, we got out and walked the main street of this small town. I remember looking at everything, drinking in all the scenery, and saying, "It's just like the pictures!"

Now, that was sort of a weariness-induced response. In reality, it was better than the pictures. Here I was, walking through a scene I had only thought about or dreamed about before. It was breath-taking, beautiful, and exciting. The days ahead, as we explored much of the area around Innsbruck and into Bavaria, produced much the same response. It was even better than I had anticipated.

I don't know for sure, but I wonder if there might have been some who had that same reaction when they encountered Jesus along the Jordan River. Today's passage is John's reflection on the baptism of Jesus, though he doesn't actually tell us about the event. Rather, he tells us the way John the Baptist reacted to it, the way the Baptist experienced it.

JTB (as we'll call him) has, apparently, already baptized Jesus, and he knows clearly at this point who Jesus is. He knows he was sent to prepare the way for this one, and that Jesus' arrival is not only the fulfillment of all he has been doing, it's the fulfillment of all of the hopes and dreams of the Old Testament people of God. Jesus is the fulfillment. Jesus is the living, breathing landscape that all the prophetic pictures pointed to. And so, JTB tells the people, in essence, "Watch what he does. Follow him. He is the only hope you have now. Salvation is not found in me, or in this water. All I've done has been done to point to this one who is the Lamb of Godd. Follow him!"

I imagine, as they looked at Jesus, some may have thought, "Well, he doesn't look much like a Messiah." Others, perhaps, found he was exactly who they had imagined. The next few years would tell the tale as Jesus taught, lived, worked miracles and guided the people to understand his work was much different than they thought it would be. For some, the fulfillment was better than dreamed, and for others, it wasn't what they expected. But, either way, he is the one God sent. He is the one we should have expected. JTB recognized that, especially in the midst of Jesus' baptism.

The point of baptism, whether in JTB's day or ours, is to reveal Jesus, to point to Jesus. JTB shows us the way—may my life as one of the baptized point to the Lamb of God, the only one who can take away the sins of the world!