“A famous triple play”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation - Sunday, January 7, 2024

Mark 1:4-11 (Forward, p. 70) CEV p. 1026

Something that occasionally takes place in baseball or softball is a batting situation where two runners are put out simultaneously in just one play is called a double play. But a triple play, where three runners are put out, is somewhat unusual, and requires a particular combination of factors to be present. There must be at least two baserunners and no outs, which happen rather rarely (only some 1.51 % of all games.). And the ball must be hit in such a way that infielders can quickly catch it, pass it on to other players in turn who can successively tag multiple players. All of this is quite rare.

However, in a totally different kind of scenario, John the Baptist scored a triple play in his ministry of baptizing at the Jordan River. He achieved three things, at least:

a) Firstly, he prepared the way for the coming Messiah, as was his primary mandate, requiring them to repent (to turn back to God)

and be baptized.

b) Secondly, by baptizing Jesus and seeing the Holy Spirit alight on

Him in the form of a dove (see John 1:32-34), he knew that Jesus was the Messiah and was able to identify Jesus as such to his followers (see John 1:29,36).

c) And thirdly, in Jesus allowing Himself to be baptized by John in

spite of John’s protests (see Matthew 3:13-15), Jesus put Himself in our shoes. Here He chose to do to be baptised, as we do, in order to do ‘all that God wanted him to do.” Being Himself sinless, Jesus had no need to repent, to turn back to God, but here, at God’s leading, He chooses to stand with us in our need and in our dismal situation. Indeed, that is exactly what He did with His entire life. He emptied Himself of His divine prerogatives to become fully human, fully like us (see Philippians 2:7). He bore our sorrows and pain, our temptations, and even our sin. In fact, as the apostle Paul says, ‘He became sin for us, He who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

And so, in all these things we have a Saviour who fully understands our plight and sympathizes with us in that plight. He is truly ‘Emmanuel’, ‘God with us’. Furthermore, because He knows what it’s like, what it feels like, He can help us as no other person ever could. And so, seeing as He is so very able, it only makes sense for us to put our whole trust and dependence in Him. So, what an incredible ‘triple play’ John was thus able to pull off for us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Forward notes: “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (verse 4).

“The Greek root of the word repentance is metanoia, which simply means to change one’s mind. That sounds manageable, and changing our minds sounds like something we can do.

“In his wild and unique way, John exhorts us to change how we think, see, and live in the world through the practice of baptism. He is very clear about who he is and what his purpose is in the world. He is not influenced by what people may think about him, the way he dresses, what he eats, or what he proclaims. He is authentically John: wild, weird, and willful!

“There is freedom in shifting our minds toward more authentic living, where what we think and do align. When we achieve this ‘baptism of repentance,’ we can discover not only freedom, but also joy, hope, courage, and clear purpose. Thanks be to God!”

Moving Forward: “Are you living in a way that is authentic to your faith? How can you shift toward this alignment between what you think and what you do?”