Our sermon this past Sunday focused on the baptism of Jesus. Our pastor pointed out that in Mark, at Christ’s baptism the heavens are said to be “torn,” not just opened, and that Mark uses this word only twice: here and when the Temple curtain is torn at Jesus’ death. Indeed, there are many similarities between Christ’s baptism and his death, which is why Paul can say that “all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). This poem is my attempt to highlight the parallels.
Son of God
“Behold the Lamb of God,” the Baptist cries
The Christ repents of evil not his own
He steps down to the chilling stream that once
Gave way before another Joshua,
That those he led might reach the promised land
Now he descends into the surging deep
The waters rush above his head, and then
He rises, breathing deeply once again
The cloudy curtain of the heavens tears
A dove descends, like that which Noah saw
And marks completion of the judgment’s flood
A Voice proclaims him God’s beloved Son
The Lamb up to the slaughterhouse is led
To bear the weight of evil not his own
Guilt pulls him down toward death as mockers shout
At him to save himself, but he will not
That those he leads might reach the promised land
Thus He descends into the damp, dark grave and waits
To rise. But now He yields His dying breath
The sacred curtain of the temple tears
As rough wood carries sinners like an ark
Above the flood of judgment God has sent
A man declares, “This was the Son of God.”
Elizabeth Sunshine
July 16, 2018
