Isaiah 29:17-24; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11; St Mark 7:31-37
Holy Baptism of Magnolia Presley Sloan Schneider
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
From start to finish the Gospel of St Mark is drenched with baptismal language and imagery. From St John appearing in the wilderness with a proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4) through the reading assigned to the Baptismal Rite to Jesus commission to Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mk 16:15-16). The totality of this brief Gospel is thoroughly baptismal.
And because its baptismal, St Mark includes more exorcisms than any other Evangelist. Consider only the first miracle performed by Jesus. In St Matthew its the healing of a leper - and that not until chapter eight! Jesus is the Teacher in that Gospel. For St John it’s of course the wedding at Cana, pointing forward to the nuptial event of His Cross and Passion. But for St Mark its an exorcism! St Luke has this too, but not until chapter four after He’s already rejected at Nazareth. John Mark has it already in chapter one! First thing!
Have you ever wondered why St Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan is substantially shorter than Matthew’s and Luke’s? Why he doesn’t record the specific temptations and responses? That’s because for John Mark the entire ministry of Jesus is seen as a temptation by the devil, a cosmic battle with the forces of darkness, a fight to the death with the Prince of Darkness who has his clutches around all humanity and works his poison into every aspect of body and soul.
So it is that Jesus encounters the deaf-mute in today’s text. He is going again through Tyre and Sidon, in the region of the Decapolis, where He had previously taught and done what? You guessed it - performed an exorcism. That one was on the man possessed by Legion. Remember how He allowed them, that vast collection of demons, to leave the man and go into the heard of pigs? He gave them permission (Mk 5:13). Even the demons cannot act apart from Jesus’ Word. And then the pigs ran over the cliff face and downed! Like a baptism?
But Jesus is back there again. And the man who had been possessed by demons had gone home to his friends and family and repeatedly told them all that Jesus had done for him and how He had mercy on him. In other words, the man confessed the Gospel; he evangelized his family, within his vocation as husband and father, neighbor and worker. So that now, when Jesus returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. They [maybe the man and his family] brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They bring to Jesus another poor creature trapped within the power of the devil, suffering bodily the events of the Fall and the curse.
Notice what Jesus did for this man - it is indicative of what else happened this morning - He took him aside from the crowd privately. He separated the man from the group. He dealt with him one on one. Interpersonally. Even as Jesus did for Magnolia this morning! He took her aside privately - she who was brought by others to Jesus, begging for His hand to be laid on her. And what did our Lord Christ do? He stuck the finger of His Word into her ears! He shoved His Holy Spirit, who works in His Word, into her ears that it may work in her heart to create saving faith.
Jesus once was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the people marveled (Lk 11:14). And Jesus said, It is by the finger of God that I cast out demons [and] the kingdom of God has come upon you (Lk 11:20). It is the same of Magnolia! He has cast out the unclean spirit by His finger, that is His Word and Spirit, and the kingdom of God has not only come upon her, but she has been sundered from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of the Light of Christ.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Back to our text. Jesus also spit and touched the man’s tongue. It is true, as some have pointed out, that Jesus is here dealing with a deaf man, so He utilizes non-verbal communication in order that this man may understand what is going on. But even more than that, Jesus is using the physicality of His own body, the very flesh and blood He assumed from His Virgin Mother, the self-same flesh and blood you have, and joined to His divinity, by the power of His Word, He is releasing captives from Satan’s grasp. He is breaking the chains of the Evil One and freeing prisoners. Not only in soul, but also in body.
For Jesus deals with us as we were created: in body and soul. We are - the term is - psychosomatic. He who daily forgives all our sins by His shed blood also provides daily bread. He supplies you with all that you in body and soul for your life on earth, and all that is necessary for your life in the world to come.
It is again, the same with Magnolia and her baptism - and all your baptisms. The Word which is spoken - the Name of the Blessed Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is for the soul. It enters through the ear and works in the heart to create saving faith; faith which apprehends the merit and work of Jesus Christ, trusts in Him for salvation, and looks to Him for all good. This faith Magnolia has and it is no different than the saving faith which you have.
The water, which always accompanies Holy Baptism, is poured upon the body. Not as a washing off of dirt, but these two - Water and the Word - are a baptism; a lavishing washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit, poured out generously in Jesus Christ for a good conscience before the throne of the Father.
For by the Word of Jesus access to God our Father is granted us to His beloved children. Notice what else Jesus does with this deaf man. And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be oped.” And his ears were opened, his tongue released and he spoke plainly. He opens not only the man’s ears by His Word, but He opens heaven itself that this man may hear the Word which comes down from heaven, that he may receive on his tongue the very Bread from Heaven, and also, so that heaven is now open to his prayers and petitions. And St Mark tells us that the man spoke plainly, that is, orthos; as in, ortho-dontist, or ortho-pedist, or ortho-doxy. The man spoke orthodoxly. He confessed aright, the one true faith.
Is this not exactly what has happened for Magnolia this morning? Jesus drove out the unclean spirit by His Word. He then stuck the finger of His Word in her ears and using water, loosed her tongue to confess His saving name? He delivered her from everlasting death, snatched her from the jaws of our satanic foe, rescued her from everlasting condemnation and brought her safely into the Ark of His Christian Church, separating her from the multitude of unbelievers, so that she, with all believers in His promise, would be declared worthy of eternal life.
This is the confidence we have, dear brothers, through Christ toward God. Not a sufficiency in ourselves. Nothing comes from us. Or from our grandpa’s baptizing us. Our sufficiency, proclaims St Paul, is from God.
Which is to say, our sufficiency is solely and completely in Jesus Christ, who comes from God. He entered into the fray. He didn’t sit idly by, but stepped foot onto battle field to engage the enemy in his own territory. And reading St Mark, He’s on a time-sensitive rescue mission. Immediately He goes here to drive out demons and cure disease. Immediately He goes there to feed thousands, heal the sick and raise the dead. Immediately He goes, out to raise up the fallen and strengthen those who stand, to beat down Satan under our feet.
Immediately He goes to His Cross to meet the Foe head on; to pursue the devil himself and take on death in His own death. Only here He doesn’t use His power and might; subduing the devil in a choke hold. Rather He submits in weakness to the will of His Father and the need of His people. This is true power. This is true strength. Jesus’ entire ministry is an exorcism. His Cross is no less so.
Here, He drives out the Prince of Demons by becoming the Curse Himself. He goes aside, privately, to His own gruesome death. He had no spit left in His parched throat. And finally, He sighs and breathes His last, yielding up His Spirit. And heaven is now open to you. Open to you in the One who does all things well. That is, kalos, good. As in, And God saw that it was kalos and there was evening and there was morning, the days of creation. He does all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. He forgives sins and rescues from death and the devil. He even dies well, bringing life and immortality to light; restoring all creation and opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
This is true for Magnolia this day. It is not less true for you today as on the day when you were baptized into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are baptized in both body and soul, your lives are presently hidden with God in Christ Jesus, awaiting the joy of the consummation of the age, but already now you know and experience the joy of the resurrection of the world to come. You suffer with aches and pains, arthritis and Alzheimer’s, despair and drunkenness, aggression and anger, but do you not have the full and free forgiveness of your sins? Has Jesus not stuck His watery fingers in your ears and loosed your tongue in Holy Baptism? Is heaven not open to you by way of His Cross and Passion, His Word and promise? These you have right now, though you do not yet see them with your eyes. This is the permanence of the ministry of the Gospel. These promises shall outlast this temporal world!
For this is the permanency of the ministry of the Spirit. The signs and the wonders Jesus gave to the Apostles’ to accompany His Word and work pass away. Heaven and earth shall pass away. But the ministry of the Spirit, the Word of the Lord, shall never pass away. You have the permanence and therefore certainty that baptism now saves you. The permanence and certainty that bread and wine are His Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. You have the permanence and certainty that with Magnolia, and all believers in Christ who hear His Word, receive His gifts, and proclaim His excellencies, that you shall obtain the promised inheritance in heaven.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy Baptism of Magnolia Presley Sloan Schneider
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
From start to finish the Gospel of St Mark is drenched with baptismal language and imagery. From St John appearing in the wilderness with a proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4) through the reading assigned to the Baptismal Rite to Jesus commission to Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mk 16:15-16). The totality of this brief Gospel is thoroughly baptismal.
And because its baptismal, St Mark includes more exorcisms than any other Evangelist. Consider only the first miracle performed by Jesus. In St Matthew its the healing of a leper - and that not until chapter eight! Jesus is the Teacher in that Gospel. For St John it’s of course the wedding at Cana, pointing forward to the nuptial event of His Cross and Passion. But for St Mark its an exorcism! St Luke has this too, but not until chapter four after He’s already rejected at Nazareth. John Mark has it already in chapter one! First thing!
Have you ever wondered why St Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan is substantially shorter than Matthew’s and Luke’s? Why he doesn’t record the specific temptations and responses? That’s because for John Mark the entire ministry of Jesus is seen as a temptation by the devil, a cosmic battle with the forces of darkness, a fight to the death with the Prince of Darkness who has his clutches around all humanity and works his poison into every aspect of body and soul.
So it is that Jesus encounters the deaf-mute in today’s text. He is going again through Tyre and Sidon, in the region of the Decapolis, where He had previously taught and done what? You guessed it - performed an exorcism. That one was on the man possessed by Legion. Remember how He allowed them, that vast collection of demons, to leave the man and go into the heard of pigs? He gave them permission (Mk 5:13). Even the demons cannot act apart from Jesus’ Word. And then the pigs ran over the cliff face and downed! Like a baptism?
But Jesus is back there again. And the man who had been possessed by demons had gone home to his friends and family and repeatedly told them all that Jesus had done for him and how He had mercy on him. In other words, the man confessed the Gospel; he evangelized his family, within his vocation as husband and father, neighbor and worker. So that now, when Jesus returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. They [maybe the man and his family] brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They bring to Jesus another poor creature trapped within the power of the devil, suffering bodily the events of the Fall and the curse.
Notice what Jesus did for this man - it is indicative of what else happened this morning - He took him aside from the crowd privately. He separated the man from the group. He dealt with him one on one. Interpersonally. Even as Jesus did for Magnolia this morning! He took her aside privately - she who was brought by others to Jesus, begging for His hand to be laid on her. And what did our Lord Christ do? He stuck the finger of His Word into her ears! He shoved His Holy Spirit, who works in His Word, into her ears that it may work in her heart to create saving faith.
Jesus once was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the people marveled (Lk 11:14). And Jesus said, It is by the finger of God that I cast out demons [and] the kingdom of God has come upon you (Lk 11:20). It is the same of Magnolia! He has cast out the unclean spirit by His finger, that is His Word and Spirit, and the kingdom of God has not only come upon her, but she has been sundered from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of the Light of Christ.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Back to our text. Jesus also spit and touched the man’s tongue. It is true, as some have pointed out, that Jesus is here dealing with a deaf man, so He utilizes non-verbal communication in order that this man may understand what is going on. But even more than that, Jesus is using the physicality of His own body, the very flesh and blood He assumed from His Virgin Mother, the self-same flesh and blood you have, and joined to His divinity, by the power of His Word, He is releasing captives from Satan’s grasp. He is breaking the chains of the Evil One and freeing prisoners. Not only in soul, but also in body.
For Jesus deals with us as we were created: in body and soul. We are - the term is - psychosomatic. He who daily forgives all our sins by His shed blood also provides daily bread. He supplies you with all that you in body and soul for your life on earth, and all that is necessary for your life in the world to come.
It is again, the same with Magnolia and her baptism - and all your baptisms. The Word which is spoken - the Name of the Blessed Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is for the soul. It enters through the ear and works in the heart to create saving faith; faith which apprehends the merit and work of Jesus Christ, trusts in Him for salvation, and looks to Him for all good. This faith Magnolia has and it is no different than the saving faith which you have.
The water, which always accompanies Holy Baptism, is poured upon the body. Not as a washing off of dirt, but these two - Water and the Word - are a baptism; a lavishing washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit, poured out generously in Jesus Christ for a good conscience before the throne of the Father.
For by the Word of Jesus access to God our Father is granted us to His beloved children. Notice what else Jesus does with this deaf man. And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be oped.” And his ears were opened, his tongue released and he spoke plainly. He opens not only the man’s ears by His Word, but He opens heaven itself that this man may hear the Word which comes down from heaven, that he may receive on his tongue the very Bread from Heaven, and also, so that heaven is now open to his prayers and petitions. And St Mark tells us that the man spoke plainly, that is, orthos; as in, ortho-dontist, or ortho-pedist, or ortho-doxy. The man spoke orthodoxly. He confessed aright, the one true faith.
Is this not exactly what has happened for Magnolia this morning? Jesus drove out the unclean spirit by His Word. He then stuck the finger of His Word in her ears and using water, loosed her tongue to confess His saving name? He delivered her from everlasting death, snatched her from the jaws of our satanic foe, rescued her from everlasting condemnation and brought her safely into the Ark of His Christian Church, separating her from the multitude of unbelievers, so that she, with all believers in His promise, would be declared worthy of eternal life.
This is the confidence we have, dear brothers, through Christ toward God. Not a sufficiency in ourselves. Nothing comes from us. Or from our grandpa’s baptizing us. Our sufficiency, proclaims St Paul, is from God.
Which is to say, our sufficiency is solely and completely in Jesus Christ, who comes from God. He entered into the fray. He didn’t sit idly by, but stepped foot onto battle field to engage the enemy in his own territory. And reading St Mark, He’s on a time-sensitive rescue mission. Immediately He goes here to drive out demons and cure disease. Immediately He goes there to feed thousands, heal the sick and raise the dead. Immediately He goes, out to raise up the fallen and strengthen those who stand, to beat down Satan under our feet.
Immediately He goes to His Cross to meet the Foe head on; to pursue the devil himself and take on death in His own death. Only here He doesn’t use His power and might; subduing the devil in a choke hold. Rather He submits in weakness to the will of His Father and the need of His people. This is true power. This is true strength. Jesus’ entire ministry is an exorcism. His Cross is no less so.
Here, He drives out the Prince of Demons by becoming the Curse Himself. He goes aside, privately, to His own gruesome death. He had no spit left in His parched throat. And finally, He sighs and breathes His last, yielding up His Spirit. And heaven is now open to you. Open to you in the One who does all things well. That is, kalos, good. As in, And God saw that it was kalos and there was evening and there was morning, the days of creation. He does all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. He forgives sins and rescues from death and the devil. He even dies well, bringing life and immortality to light; restoring all creation and opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
This is true for Magnolia this day. It is not less true for you today as on the day when you were baptized into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are baptized in both body and soul, your lives are presently hidden with God in Christ Jesus, awaiting the joy of the consummation of the age, but already now you know and experience the joy of the resurrection of the world to come. You suffer with aches and pains, arthritis and Alzheimer’s, despair and drunkenness, aggression and anger, but do you not have the full and free forgiveness of your sins? Has Jesus not stuck His watery fingers in your ears and loosed your tongue in Holy Baptism? Is heaven not open to you by way of His Cross and Passion, His Word and promise? These you have right now, though you do not yet see them with your eyes. This is the permanence of the ministry of the Gospel. These promises shall outlast this temporal world!
For this is the permanency of the ministry of the Spirit. The signs and the wonders Jesus gave to the Apostles’ to accompany His Word and work pass away. Heaven and earth shall pass away. But the ministry of the Spirit, the Word of the Lord, shall never pass away. You have the permanence and therefore certainty that baptism now saves you. The permanence and certainty that bread and wine are His Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. You have the permanence and certainty that with Magnolia, and all believers in Christ who hear His Word, receive His gifts, and proclaim His excellencies, that you shall obtain the promised inheritance in heaven.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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