Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan by his cousin and co-cospirator John. Rev. Dr. Alicia Vargas titles her commentary on Jesus’ Baptism The Amazing Solidarity of Jesus with the People. What an interesting choice of words! Solidarity – what does that mean? According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, it means unity of purpose, interest, or sympathy. It can also mean mutual responsibility existing between two or more persons, communion of interests and responsibilities or an entire union; or, consolidation of interests and responsibilities; fellowship, community. Is Jesus’ baptism a sign of solidarity? – The concept of solidarity is not well established in theology, so let’s look at examples in the secular world first.
Where do we find solidarity? Solidarity is a very important principle in most European governments. It is the basic value underlying social security. In Germany, the word “Solidargemeinschaft,” community of solidarity, that word is often used to describe what it is that glues a nation together. The principle of solidarity guides most European health care systems. The statutory health insurance views the individual as part of a community of solidarity. The social risk connected with severe illness is carried by all members of that community of solidarity together and not by each individual alone.
In the United States today, such systems of solidarity are often described as undesirable, because they are believed to interfere with personal liberty. Liberty, what does that mean? According to the American Heritage Dictionary it means the condition of being free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor; or, the condition of being free from oppressive restriction or control by a government or other power; or, a right to engage in certain actions without control or interference by a government or other power.
While statutory health care systems are mandatory, they are not oppressive. The principle they are built on is not government interference or control, but mutual aid, solidarity. Statutory health care and other social security systems require the willingness of citizens to practice solidarity with each other, also with those who belong to a different political party, economic class, religion, culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or age group.
Workers’ Unions are built on the principle of solidarity; military alliances can be as well. NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) certainly is. It is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties.
Given these secular examples of applied solidarity – how do we view solidarity in our religious context? Vargas names Jesus’ baptism as an act of solidarity with humankind. This goes back to John S. Pobee’s book from 1979 Toward an African Theology. Pobee argues that, from an African as well as Ancient Middle Eastern perspective, belonging to a group is the essential definition of what it means to be human. A human being is by design relational and cannot survive without relationships to other human beings. One essential function of baptism is that it signifies belonging, first to the group of followers of John, later to the group of followers of Jesus.
Another essential function of baptism is to receive God’s forgiveness. Pobee points out that Jesus, being God, is sinless by definition. Therefore, Jesus does not need John’s baptism for the forgiveness of sins. As Jesus is not in need of forgiveness, Pobee concludes that Jesus is baptized for reasons of belonging. It is an act of solidarity with humankind. Human birth and human baptism make Jesus, who is God, human. Jesus now belongs to humankind.
Baptism was not only to wash away sins, but also to show his identification with humankind. Thus the baptism of Jesus, whatever else it was, was a rite of solidarity … .
Pobee: Toward an African Theology, 1979:89
What does Jesus’ solidarity mean theologically? The first dictionary meaning of solidarity, is unity of purpose. What common purpose results from Jesus’ baptism for humankind? Jesus tells us, only two short verses after his baptism is concluded:
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 1:14-15, NRSV.
Repenting, turning away from what is NOT the good news, and then believing in, proclaiming and acting in accordance to the Kingdom of God, that is the unity of purpose of Jesus and the people, our solidarity with each other. That is what Jesus came down to earth to proclaim and achieve. That is why Jesus is seeking and building relationship with those around him. Because the kingdom of God is not a kingdom of billions of individually separated mini-salvations, the kingdom of God is the universal ongoing fulfillment of God’s purpose in which humankind and all of creation find relationship; harmony; and completeness.
I believe that the idea of solidarity as a theological concept has been underutilized so far. If humankind is bound in a Solidargemeinschaft, a community of solidarity, with Jesus, each other and all of creation, that means that our web of connection and community is built on a common purpose, common interests and responsibilities. There is a sacred obligation, a Godly-human mutuality, which echoes the covenantal relationships of the Hebrew Bible. Britannica defines covenant as a binding promise of far-reaching importance. In baptism, believers receive Jesus’ promise of forgiveness and eternal life. And they enter into covenantal relationship with Jesus and each other. These are the baptismal promises as listed in Evangelical Lutheran Worship:
to live among God’s faithful people,
ELW, Affirmation of Baptism.
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
Next time, you are among a group of people – on the street, in a shopping mall, in a restaurant, a concert, the gym, the library, – look around you. These are the people you are bound to in sacred solidarity. As you look around, you will see many people you do not know. Pray for them. Bless them. When you work in your yard or walk in the park, look at the plants, listen to the birds around you. This is the life to which you are bound in sacred solidarity. Pray for it. Bless it. Remember those who have gone before you. Bless those who will come after. All are part of the sacred web of community which Jesus binds himself to in sacred solidarity.
Solid!