Into the Water

Wendy Komori Stager –

When I think about water, the first images that come to me are a clear, cold glass of drinking water or the majestic expanse of the bay on a sunny northern California day.  However, water is not as benign as these images.  Water can also be powerful and dangerous.  A tsunami can ravage a coastline, a flash flood can reshape the course of a riverbank, and a person can drown in even a small body of water.

For people in Biblical times, water was a symbol of chaos.  Yet, John the Baptist invited people into the waters for baptism.  Jesus himself wanted to be baptized by John.  And although John was reluctant at first, Jesus insisted.  Jesus voluntarily entered the watery chaos and entered into the chaos of the human world.  One of the keystones of the Christian faith is that Jesus is fully human and fully divine.  He is both vulnerable enough to submit to human chaos and still the incarnation of God.