January 20 / Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11

Matthew 3:13-17 and Mark 1:9-11

“Notice what you notice.” Today we have Jesus’ baptism. As I recall, until we get to the Last Supper, Jesus’ baptism is the only event in his life that is covered in all four Gospels. Our reading schedule splits the four Gospels into two sets of two, first Matthew and Mark, then Luke and John. You may want to read all four on both days, but let’s keep our comments directed to the readings of the day.

Each day I notice things that I’m sure I’ve seen before or that I’ve read dozens, maybe even hundreds of times, but never really noticed. Today it’s Jesus coming south from Galilee (Matthew), more specifically from Nazareth (Mark). Presumably He had come to Jerusalem with His parents up to three times a year, so He was not unaccustomed to the trip. The straighter road would have been directly south, but we have often heard that Jews from Galilee refused to go through Samaria, instead diverting east and traveling along the Jordan River. My guess is that the Holy Family varied their routes and took both roads irregularly. See the map below.

So if Jesus irregularly diverted east, could He have come upon John baptizing and passed him by because His time had not yet come? Or would this have been the first time that Jesus encountered John baptizing? And was John baptizing near the very mouth of the Jordan River, 20 miles east of Jerusalem, or was he baptizing further north, near Aenon/Salim? So many questions! And I’m not even touching on the most intriguing question, “…to fulfill all righteousness…”? What does that mean? I’ll leave that to John S.!

So Jesus came south from Nazareth to be baptized. Not a lot of food for thought today…!

Blessings!