Baptism as Watershed

Baptism as Watershed
The Baptism of the Lord; Luke 3:15-22
John and Jesus
in the waters:
they were connected
before they were born,
enfolded in separate
but related waters
in Elizabeth, Mary,
two prophet women,
pregnant and waiting,
singing their songs
of liberation.

At that meeting the child
in the womb leapt for joy.
Perhaps Mary pondered
prophetic knowing
in one not yet born.
And what of her foetus
foretold by an angel?

John and Jesus:
connected again
in Jordan’s waters:
that storied river
that runs down a crack
in the heart of the land.

John had prepared,
become the Baptizer,
annealed by wilderness,
ascetic living,
crying: “Repent!
Be transformed in the waters!”
But what of Jesus?
Is he the one
so long awaited?

Now he has come
after the hidden years
as carpenter, scholar.
He’s connected to John
and transforming waters:
baptism as watershed,
accepting vocation.

The Baptizer’s strength
guides him under,
holds him there
for a pregnant moment,
covered by water
in the crack of the heartland.
He leaps up joyful
into the God-light,
wet and gasping
as though he is new born.

His cousin steps back,
surrenders his place
to the one coming after.
The Spirit alights
and the Father affirms him:
“You are my Son, 
the Beloved, and with you
I am well pleased.”

His purpose fulfilled,
what now for John,
imprisoned by Herod,
who will let his weakness
sanction a killing?
What now for Jesus,
ordained and commissioned,
wilderness waiting
to test his formation?

Soon he will grieve
after John’s execution;
Soon set his face
for the murderous city,
a cross on a hill
and an empty tomb.

The waters of death
will close over his head,
a pregnant waiting 
in the womb of a tomb,
but he will burst forth
as though from the Jordan
into the God-light
that flows through creation
for he is beloved
and his Father well-pleased.
	Barbara Messner 10/01/2025