“I was wishing,”
says C. S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian, upon learning that he is a descendant of
pirates, “that I came of a more honorable lineage.”
“You come of the
Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,” Aslan the Lion replies. “And that is both honor
enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the
shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”
It comes as no
surprise that right after narrating Jesus’ baptism, Luke launches into Our
Lord’s genealogy, which he traces right back to the Original Orchard Thief
himself. The entire ritual shouts the Savior’s willingness to wallow
base-over-apex in the muddy end of our troubled gene pool.
Jesus dives into
the Jordan as deep as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah: “Behold, my servant,
whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit
upon him.” (Isa 42.1) He plunges deeper down to the prophesied king of the
ancient psalmist: “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Ps 2.7) He
touches bottom by identifying with Isaac, the chosen child marked out for
sacrifice: “Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah;
and offer him there for a burnt offering.” (Gn 22.2) Then as he resurfaces in a
burst of bubbles, the vehicle of life that has weathered sin’s flood, he goes
all the way back to Noah: “And the dove came to him in the evening; and, lo, in
her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were
abated from off the earth.” (Gn 8.11) That is the same deep dive in which we
follow Jesus in our own baptism.
In this light, it
is worth noting that all this happened while Jesus prayed. Jesus prays a lot in
Luke’s Gospel, when calling disciples and getting transfigured and facing the
cross and forgiving his enemies. (Lk 3.21, 6.12, 9.18-22, 9.28-29, 11.1, 22.32,41,
23.34,46) It is almost as if his identity with his human family was more than
an act, as if he heard from God the same way you and I can – and must; almost
as if he was content to be a Son of Adam along with the rest of us.
During Epiphany we
celebrate the bursting forth of the light of Christ into our darkness. Maybe it
is a good idea to remember that this light did not chase away the reality of
who we are, but instead illuminated it. We are sons and daughters of Adam and
Eve, whose lineage Christ both bore and redeemed, and that is “both honor
enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the
shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth.”
Come On In, The Water’s Fine!
Doug
No comments:
Post a Comment