And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit–filled with wisdom (sung from “And the Child Grew” Christmas carol). That’s how Luke 2:40 summarizes Jesus’ life from age 12-30. There’s quite a gap between the stories of Jesus’s birth and his adulthood. One of the Gospels doesn’t even bother with the birth stories and skips ahead to a fully adult Jesus.

There were some Gospels that didn’t make the cut that try to fill in that gap. They’re referred to as infancy Gospels but the focus is more 5-12 years of age. In the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is said to do godlike things such as make clay sparrows come to life (II, 2-3). He helps his dad, Joseph, out by stretching out a piece of wood that Joseph cut too short (XIII, 1).

Back to the Gospels which are more familiar. The earliest Gospel, Mark begins with John the Baptist. John the Baptist lives in the desert wearing camel hair. He eats honey and locusts (Mark 1:6). The clothing and diet sets him off as a prophet. The clothing made of hair in particular points to an association with Elijah.

Luke lists some of John the Baptist’s lessons that have clear continuity with what Jesus later taught: “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise;” tax collectors should “Collect no more than the amount prescribed;” soldiers should “not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with [their] wages.”

 John the Baptist also warns of an imminent, coming judgment. John the Baptist believes that God is going to intervene in a major way in human history and soon. John the Baptist and his followers are waiting on God to act.

John is preparing his followers out in the desert. The details from here are a little sketchy, but one thing is very clear. John takes people out into the Jordan River, dips them in and brings them back out again.

To Christians around two thousand years later this appears to be Christian baptism which is quite familiar. John is not doing Christian baptism–it hasn’t been developed yet. So what’s going on here?

To those more familiar with Judaism, a ritual bath was hardly out of the ordinary. The Essenes, ascetic Jews who separated themselves from Jewish society performed ritual baths every morning[i] The Pharisees, reformers around the time of Jesus still fully engaged in society did ritual baths and were known to build mikvahot near their homes for easy access[ii] Jews who were not reformers at all engaged in ritual baths during times of transition, and in preparation for festivals. [iii]

What does set John the Baptist apart is the location of his baptism of his followers. More typical locations for ritual baths were in cold springs and rain collected in chambers especially created for the purpose known as mivkvahot. So why use the Jordan River? It was flowing water from a natural source which fulfilled requirements, but there’s more. Jordan River was known in Jewish society as the place where the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness. Was John foretelling what God would do with this new crossing? John’s followers were ready and waiting on God to lead them as God had once led their ancestors into the Promised Land

Jesus’s baptism by John offers a tantalizing hint of a much longer relationship. The gospels make a concerted effort to make Jesus more powerful and influential than John the Baptist.  For instance, Mark 1:7 has John the Baptist saying, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals” (Mark 1:7) Why were the gospel writers trying so hard?

For us, it can be reassuring that Jesus had a teacher and spiritual guide  It makes him much easier to relate to. After the Christmas carols declaring “Jesus Lord at thy birth,” Magi traveling a thousand miles seeing signs in the heavens and a king being so threatened by a baby that he killed all the baby boys at his approximate age, Jesus can seem out of reach. Surely he was qualitatively different from us. We can barely comprehend his life let alone relate to his experiences.

Jesus’s experience during his baptism seems extraordinary. While many people surely had moving spiritual experiences with John and the Jordan River, Jesus’s experience was a revelation, literally. Jesus saw a dove descend from heaven and he heard a voice. There is some variation, but the core of what he heard was this “This is My beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased.” Later gospels move the voice from Jesus’ hearing to bystanders.

There is a set of verses in the manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke that may predate the versions that we rely on. It would be easy to dismiss this as a later addition, but the verse that scribes might see as open to misinterpretation is probably edited out later rather than added in. In this missing verse God’s voice says, “You are my beloved son. Today I have begotten you.” This may be a quote of Psalm 2:7. If there had been a question before this time, it was obvious that then Jesus realized he was God’s son rather definitively. In this moment he was born in a new way spiritually. This gives an example of what Jesus might mean for us to be born again ( or born from above) as Jesus recommends to Nicodemus  in the Gospel of John (3:3-7). Jesus might be telling us we too can have some of what he experienced at his baptism.

Whether this is God’s voice gets decided more definitively in later Christian theology. The dove is seen as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. There is another intriguing possibility. Elsewhere Jesus refers to himself and John the Baptist as Sophia’s children (Luke 7:35) implying a more feminine aspect of God. Was this Jesus’s first deep experience of connection  with the feminine aspect of God?

I would argue that this vision of the Holy Spirit descending to Jesus in the Jordan River was the beginning of Jesus’s spiritual journey.  The decision to cover it at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel and not too much later in John and just a bit farther Matthew and Luke points to its importance. Jesus’s faith received its foundation as affirmation and love. Jesus already had a hint of a different path than John the Baptist. Jesus now knew he was God/Sophia’s son. 

Jesus is the path. He is the way, but not merely in some cosmological way. Jesus demonstrated what he wanted us to do. Jesus expects us to experience God. We too can learn of God firsthand. Jesus expected these experiences to be like a second birth that would change how we relate to God. We too are beloved daughters and sons of God.

Jesus’s teachings may have begun to take a different turn when John the Baptist was executed. This would have been a serious trauma. John the Baptist had been Jesus’ mentor. It was clear that God’s intervention was not going to come as soon as John thought or in the form that John thought. John died and God did not intervene. I am thankful that my own mentor is likely to die of old age. Losing him will not be as consequential to me as John being executed was for Jesus. Still I know it will be painful. Think back to a time when you lost a mentor or beloved teacher. How traumatic was it for you?

A historical Jesus scholar, Marcus Borg describes some key details that characterize a spirit person like Jesus beginning with his baptism:

“Spirit persons are known cross-culturally. They are people who have vivid and frequent subjective experiences of another level or dimension of reality.”[iv] No one else would have to see and hear what Jesus experienced for it to be real.

Why do we care? Beyond Jesus, there are many people who experience reality at a higher level, have deep insights, and learn of the nature of the world through revelation. We can relate to people of other religions. We can relate to other believers throughout time. Buddha, Muhammad, and Abraham were spirit-persons as were Christian female saints such as Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich.

Quakers recognize that anyone can receive a message or leading, but it is still out of the ordinary to hear a voice or see a vision like George Fox experienced. Like Jesus, George Fox also had a key turning point in his faith journey when he heard the voice of God. What Fox heard was, “There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition.” As John the Baptist taught Jesus, so can Jesus teach you. So too can you find mentors and teachers.

You might recall when Fox had a vision of an ocean of darkness covered by an ocean of light. Fox said, “I saw, also, that there was an ocean of darkness and death; but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness”[v]. Fox may also be a spirit-person.

We’re not Jesus, John the Baptist, nor even George Fox, but I believe all of us can experience revelation. I remember late one night in Winnemucca. In the dark night and desert air the stars were clear. I felt an intense connection to an aspect of God. It’s the sort of experience you don’t see coming and ache to feel again. I felt the connection in a way I rarely could. It felt Real and True. 

Think back to a time when you  were walking through the forest or staring up into the stars at night. Have you felt an immense sense of wonder in those times? Think back to times when you felt the love of God. It could be in any intense conversation or even during waiting worship. What sets it apart from the everyday is when it feels somehow more real or true.

Borg says, “Spirit persons are people who experience the sacred frequently and vividly.” [vi]. We may not experience the sacred in this way on a regular basis, but our encounters with the sacred become pivotal in our spiritual journeys. 

Borg says, “Spirit persons share a second feature as well: they become mediators of the sacred. They mediate the Spirit in various ways. Sometimes they speak the word or will of God.”[vii] John the Baptist meets the requirements to be a spirit person in this way.  The history of the Jewish people includes many prophets who spoke the will and word of God.mYou may have experienced other Quakers so closely led by Spirit that they relay the word of God. I try to connect with God and align my sermons with my understanding of God’s will, but I do not experience direct messages like the Hebrew prophets. Still it is an immense responsibility. Think about times when you were led to share a specific message. Did you feel like God was speaking through you?

For Borg, the way of Jesus invites us to move from secondhand religion where others tell us about their experiences of God to firsthand religion where we experience God for ourselves. Surely this is a key part of our Quaker heritage. Followers of Jesus today still seek to connect with Sophia and God as Jesus once did. As Quakers we are ready to work with God to bring about God’s kingdom. We are open to God’s message revealed directly to us or through others. Our meeting can be a place where God’s true community happens. 

Queries

• Have you had a revelation of a deeper level of reality that seemed overwhelmingly true in a way you can’t explain?
• Have you met a spirit person?

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[i]https://www.bibleplaces.com/qumran/?srsltid=AfmBOopn3Iyl9jjrFZNwFLjIF1q9B_NNspSf5YbPtBK8l8XnOW-aI9jl

[ii] https://www.worldhistory.org/Pharisees/

[iii][iii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_washing_in_Judaism

[iv] pg 68, Borg, Marcus. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

[v] Journals of George Fox 1647

[vi] pg 69, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

[vii] pg 70, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time