This weekend we keep the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and our season of celebration comes to an end. This Sunday afternoon white hangings will be replaced by green, gold candlesticks will be replaced with wood, and from tomorrow we will use the prayers and readings for the first week of Ordinary Time. Our Sunday readings are those of Year C, which means that the Gospel readings mainly come from Saint Luke – including many which are a delight to preach on. When Luke came to write his Gospel, Mark’s Gospel had already been written and so Luke followed his general framework and even copied whole sections, just as Mathew had done. However, Luke does not follow Mark slavishly and he has a definite point of view which he wishes to communicate to his readers. It’s worth comparing their two accounts of the baptism.

Mark starts his Gospel with the adult life of Jesus, so his presentation of John the Baptist and the baptism scene is right there at the beginning of the Gospel – between verses 4 and 11. Luke’s version comes in his Chapter 3 because he has spent two chapters telling us about the conception and birth of John the Baptist and then of Jesus (the infancy narratives). Luke does not describe the Baptist’s dress, as Mark does, but he tells us more about John’s advice to the various groups who came for baptism (Luke 3:1-19); we heard this on the Third Sunday in Advent. Then, surprisingly, Luke immediately records John’s imprisonment by Herod (3:19-20), which comes much later in Mark’s gospel (Chapter 6). The result is that Luke does not – cannot – say that Jesus was baptized by John (see below).

In Mark Jesus has a very individual encounter with John while Luke has him as one of the crowd and doesn’t say who was doing the baptizing. In fact Luke excludes John at this crucial point for a reason. For him John is the last figure of the Old Testament, representing God’s promises. Now, with the baptism of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit on him, the time of fulfillment begins. Finally, after the Ascension, the time of Jesus will be followed by the third epoch of salvation history, the time of the Church (recorded by Luke in a separate book, the Acts of the Apostles).

Otherwise, Luke follows Mark pretty closely: the heavens open, the Spirit descends, the voice identifies Jesus as “my beloved Son”. But notice that Luke has Jesus stop and pray before the spirit descends. This is a typical pattern in his Gospel. Luke regularly presents Jesus at prayer at important points in his ministry: here at his baptism; at the choice of the Twelve (Luke 6:12); before Peter’s confession (Luke 9:18); at the transfiguration (Luke 9:28); when he teaches his disciples to pray (Luke 11:1); at the Last Supper (Luke 22:32); on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:41); on the cross (Luke 23:46). Let’s learn from the example of Jesus. As we end the time of celebration and go into the New Year we know there will be many turning points, many decisions to be made. We, too, should stop and pray first, asking the Father to send us his Spirit and his strength.