Baptism: part 4. The valley of the shadow of death.

What is out there in the dark?

​One of the most frightening images is an unrecognizable, changing shape in the dark. To say we're not afraid is a feeble effort to convince ourselves we're not seeing what we're seeing.

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Christ saw it and prayed to the Father that it would be removed from him. David saw it and told us he did not fear it. Now Zechariah tells everyone that this tiny baby, his son John, will prepare the way for the Messiah.

The One who will redeem his people—the Christ, the son of David—will not lead the people of God away from the valley but into it. The valley of the shadow of death is where God led David and the Christ. It was not an accident. It is where God put David, and Christ, and John. It is the path of God.

Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

for he has visited and redeemed his people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant,

the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

The one who would be called “the baptizer” is announced along with a recounting of God’s dealing with his people in Abraham, Moses, David, and the Messiah. “The baptizer” is a new person in the work of God but he is only a new person, not a new thing. The path of God goes from the wrong place to the right place, and along the way is the valley of the shadow of death. It is not a mistake. The Shepherd takes his sheep from one pasture to another, through the valley. The sheep that are not his are spared the valley.

We announce in our baptism that we are buried with Christ in his death, too easily forgetting that his death was death. A painting or sculpture with no smell, noise, pain, blood, or terror allows us to see the death without going through its horror. Yes, Christ died because our death could accomplish nothing, but his death does not mean our life accomplishes nothing. He does not expect us to think about his death. He expects us to live.

There is no path of God that goes around the valley.