The Thin Place of Holy Baptism

The Thin Place of Holy Baptism.

“ The thin place is where the veil between this world and the next is so sheer that it is easy to step through.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way).

This term from an ancient Celtic tradition has stood the test of time. The idea of a thin place between heaven and earth has captured our imaginations, and yet is not just a metaphor.  Thin places are literal as well.

The traditional thin place as the Irish understood it has been described in many ways:  where the veil between heaven and earth is so thin as to be porous, permeable, practically transparent; where the space between the divine and the human has narrowed; where eternity and time intersect; where the boundary between heaven and earth has collapsed; where the wall between heaven and earth have become indistinguishable; where the doors between heaven and earth have cracked open enough to walk through, if only temporarily; the place where eternity and time seem to join together.

Those descriptions of thin places have recently been expanded to include… wherever God has chosen to reveal Himself and make Himself known with unusual intimacy; wherever the sacred interaction with God’s presence is more pronounced and accessible; wherever the Holy Spirit is released in a particularly powerful way; a physical space where one can more directly and intensely experience God’s presence. I like to think of a thin place as when the Spirit of God opens the skylight of the earth’s roof and helps us climb through it into the cellar of heaven.

“One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized Him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a Voice from heaven said, “You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy!” (Mark 1:9-11; also refer to Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22; and John 1:29-34).

Here we find the Jordan River to be the thinnest of thin places. What else could we call this physical place where the sky is ripped open, the voice of God is heard, and the Spirit descends and alights on the Chosen One? This is the ultimate thin place, when the eternal Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all miraculously in one place to engage in a monumental event. This particular thin place, though, begs a couple of questions… What did the sky look like when it was torn apart like a rejected veil? What did the audible voice of the Father in heaven sound like?

John the Baptist meets Jesus Clip from Jesus of Nazareth 1977 (youtube.com)

The Sky is Split Apart. The Greek word used in Mark, and only in Mark, comes from the term “schizo,” which is not at all a meager little crack being created in the sky. Schizo is a very dramatic Greek term that means to violently tear apart, to divide asunder, to cleave open, to rend into two pieces. The term is also used in Mark 15:38, when the untearable Temple veil is ripped into two from top to bottom. So the image at the Baptism here is that of the fabric between heaven and earth being torn asunder, ripped apart. One gets the sense here of an excited young child eagerly looking at his Christmas presents beneath the tree, and he can’t wait to start ripping off the wrapping paper, and he starts to passionately rip the paper apart out of sheer excitement and anticipation. It’s as if the Trinity has been waiting for this very moment, has been building up their excitement for just the right time to tear apart the curtain separating heaven and earth. God has been holding it in since the foundation of the world, unable to contain Himself anymore. For the time has come! Let’s tear apart this sky and open the present of Christ’s ministry to the world! Finally, this moment has arrived! Let’s rip this curtain apart so My Spirit can descend onto My Son and He can hear the Father’s blessing! Let’s make this happen!

The Atmosphere. The Greek word used for “heavens” is “ouranus,” and could translate as sky, atmosphere, outer space, the visible heavens, or the spiritual home in which God dwells. Take your pick, it could be all the above in a sense, but we do know that the veil which separated heaven from earth was torn apart for a time, creating the ultimate thin place. This event is a direct fulfillment of Isaiah 64:1, in which the prophet pleaded, “Oh, how we wish You would tear open heaven and come down!” At Christ’s baptism, Isaiah finally got his wish. And down through the gaping hole in the atmosphere came the Spirit of God straight from heaven. Jesus was conceived in the Holy Spirit, and now He was confirmed in that same Spirit as He began his ministry.

The Voice from Heaven. Messianic scholar Dr. David Stern said that the rabbis call this vocal manifestation of God a “bat kol,” the “divine voice,” and literally means “the daughter of the voice.” In other words, it is likely that we humans are not equipped to actually listen to God’s full voice, so He spoke in a softer family voice, a lower register. And Dr. Stern notes too that the Father’s threefold voice to Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; I am well-pleased with you,” echoes God’s threefold command to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love…” (Gen 22:2). As we know from further reading in this Genesis passage, Yahweh goes on to say, “Go to the land of Mt. Moriah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain that I will point out to you.” So perhaps the Father’s blessing at Christ’s baptism also hints at the calling of Jesus to eventually sacrifice Himself on that same mountain.

The Pioneering Prologue? One wonders if the baptism of Jesus is a picture of what happens at every Trinitarian baptism, whether in a lake or the back of a pickup truck, in a swimming pool or in a worshipping church, in a jail cell or at an anointed altar. Whether sprinkled, poured, or fully submerged? Is this what happens in the spiritual world when an infant, or a teenager, or an elderly person on a death bed is baptized? Is all that spiritual activity witnessed at Christ’s baptism duplicated at our humble baptisms when in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? One can easily get the sense that each baptismal candidate is a participant in the life of Jesus, that a spiritual union is activated with the Godhead. Is this potent, mysterious sacrament that we experience somehow united with Christ into one event? Can this be true, that the baptism of Christ and my/our baptism is somehow one shared event? Before the baptismal waters, we have one identity, and we choose to die to that identity. And when we rise up out of the waters, we have adopted a whole new identity, we have “put on” Christ. It makes perfectly logical sense that whenever someone is baptized in the name of the Trinity and puts on Christ, then certainly in the unseen world the sky is torn apart, the Spirit descends, and the voice of the Father reverberates in our spirit.

Mac Powell – River Of Life (youtube.com)

Why Jesus? Why would Jesus the sinless One submit to a baptism which is intended for the repentance of sins?

1. To receive the Father’s blessing to begin His ministry. In His words of affirmation, God gave the heavenly seal of approval to inaugurate Jesus’ mission as Messiah. God’s words were, “You are my dearly beloved Son, and you bring me great joy! With you I am well pleased!” These words are a combination of Psalm 2:7, which is messianic, and Isaiah 42:1, which coronates the role of Suffering Servant, and Genesis 22:2, which brings to mind Isaac and the sacrifice and the fact that God is saying that He is the Father who has a Son who will truly die. God’s affirmation to Jesus confirms that the Messiah King would travel the road of the Suffering Servant.
2. To confess the sins of His people, in the tradition of Nehemiah (1:6), Ezra (9:10), Daniel (9:4-6), and others in biblical history who bore the burdens of the sins of the people. In submitting to baptism, Jesus shouldered the responsibility of Israel’s sinfulness, and acknowledged that Israel needs to be purified and forgiven. Jesus’ baptism was an act of repentance, but for His people, not for Him.
3. To identify with all of humanity and their fallen nature. Jesus is giving a nod to His human identity, wanting to be in solidarity with all people. All people need to be purified, He is a fellow human being, therefore He will identify Himself with humanity out of love and humility.
4. To show an example to believers, to be a pioneer in the baptismal way of turning to God. Jesus did nothing that requires repentance, but He wanted to show the way for those followers who are penitent.
5. To show support for John the Baptist, the “greatest prophet,” in his calling of preparing the way for the Lord. Jesus wanted to show the people that John was following a divinely inspired calling, and so He submitted to John’s baptism to affirm John’s prophetic work, and to confirm that John is preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah.
6. To declare publicly that He was beginning His mission to the world. Jesus is announcing that He will now begin to bring His message of salvation to His people and to the world. It’s interesting that, “In His first public declaration of His ministry, instead of going to Jerusalem and identifying with the established religious leaders, Jesus went to a river and identified with those who are repenting of sin.” (NLT notes).
7. To become ordained in His role as Messianic Savior. Jesus was thirty years old at the time of His baptism, which was when rabbis were dedicated to teach and priests were ordained and declared fit to serve in the Temple. Some scholars believe that His baptism was the established time to receive a formal dedication to serve Yahweh, that John dedicated the temple of Jesus’ body, much like Solomon once dedicated the Temple.
8. To symbolize death and resurrection. When Jesus was immersed in baptism, He was symbolically buried in death. And when He rose out of the water, He gave us a picture of how He would minister in the way of new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. In His baptism, Jesus foreshadowed His own death and Resurrection, and He revealed the meaning behind the future sacrament of Christian baptism.
9. To be recognized as the divine Messiah. In a moment of inspiration at the baptismal site, John the Baptist called Jesus “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). John is referencing the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:3) that was slain to save the enslaved people of Israel from certain death. The Baptist is saying that Jesus is the Passover Lamb that is to be sacrificed to save the people from certain spiritual death. One Bible translator suggests that John’s baptizing of Jesus publicly washed the sacrificial Lamb and fulfilled the requirements of the Law, confirming to Israel that the Lamb was spotless and without blemish. At the baptism, John confirmed that the untainted Lamb was now ready to be sacrificed for the life of the people. (Dr. Brian Simmons, Passion Translation notes).
10. To become the Big Fish. Because of Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18about a messianic figure called the Teacher, the Jewish people during Jesus’ time were expecting a new Moses to guide and save them, like the old Moses did. They believed that the second Moses would duplicate the teachings and miracles of the first Moses, and would be a mediator between God and the people. Moses was an Egyptian name which meant “taken out of the water,” and when pronounced sounded like swish-swish. So Moses was called the big fish in many rabbinic circles. Jesus did have many parallels with Moses during His ministry, with some scholars saying there were at least 50 distinct similarities between Jesus and Moses. Because of the prophecy in Deuteronomy, many rabbinic authorities explored the idea of the Messiah being another Big Fish. And sure enough, here is Jesus, being taken out of the water and revealing to all that He indeed was the Big Fish so often discussed in Judaism.

Revival. It seems that whenever a revival of the Faith begins, there is a surge of interest in baptisms. It’s like a spiritual reflex, second nature to the Spirit of revival, that someone who wants to follow Jesus will literally follow in His steps by participating in His baptism. And sure enough, now in our increasingly secular society, baptisms are occurring seemingly everywhere (the USA). Just as Creator God moved over the waters at creation, Sustainer God is moving through the waters again right now. Keep it coming, Lord! Flood this land with your baptismal waters!

Down in the River – Shenandoah Christian Music Camp (youtube.com)

Jesus Revolution – Baptism Scene (youtube.com)