Baptism, christening, name-giving.
How does this apply to “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”
(Matthew 1:1)?
Jesus is the son of David.
This is prepared for in the David-patterned genealogy (1:1-17), ratified by Joseph’s naming of God-with-us as Jesus (1:18-25), and recognised
by wise men from the East when they pay homage to the one born king of the Jews
(2:1-12).
Jesus is the son of God.
This is prepared for in the sojourn in Egypt (2:13-23) with the citation
from Hosea (“Out of Egypt I have called my son”), the massacre of the infants being
interpreted with the help of a citation from Jeremiah as a sign that Israel is
still in exile, awaiting return from captivity. Jesus is the son of God not
only because he is the Davidic king but also because he embodies (the holy
remnant of) Israel. (his favour the view that the primary allusion in “He will
be called a Nazorean” (2:23) is to Isaiah 4:2 (with Isaiah 11:1; 42:6; 49:6
also deserving attention, see the ICC 1:274-281 for details).
This is ratified in the
baptism of Jesus. Israel is prepared for the coming of God, the Lord, through the
ministry of John the Baptist (3:1-12). John recognises Jesus as the one who
brings the Holy Spirit (and the fire of judgement) and therefore at first seeks
to prevent the baptism of Jesus. But Jesus is the servant of God Israel failed
to be. Embodying Israel he is declared to be “my Son, the Beloved, with whom I
am well pleased.”
After the baptism, Jesus must be recognised
as “son of God” (4:1-11; the two references in verses 3 and 6 echo the two uses
of “my son” in chapters 2-3). If being God’s son were all about being superhumanly
divine, maybe the spectacles proposed by the devil would be appropriate. But it is
about being Israel, the servant of God led by the Spirit of God in the worship
of God.
Because Jesus is God-with-us
(Immanuel), he is the son of David who saves (Jesus). Because he is
the holy one (Nazorean), he is the son of God who restores Israel.
In the baptism of Jesus Israel
is again named “my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”. In our
baptism we are united to Jesus and become ourselves beloved children of God with
whom he is well pleased – nominally through water baptism, dynamically through baptism
with the Spirit.*
The baptism of Jesus belongs with the other baptisms John performed because in it Israel is re-made. It belongs with our baptism because this restored Israel grew into the body of Christ into which we are incorporated in Christian baptism.
*Finding the right adverbs here is
difficult. The alternative outwardly – inwardly is unsatisfactory because the
Spirit-filled life is very much evident outwardly; ritually – actually is
unsatisfactory because rites can affect an actual change (of status), e.g. a
marriage rite or, indeed, baptism.
