The baptism of Jesus: you are my favorite children (Mark 1:11)
Biblical reflections of Elijah Nealy, Sarah Carpenter-Vascik, Colleen Fay and Allyson Robinson published on the Out in Scripture website (United States) on December 2012, freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro
During the baptism of Jesus the Spirit of God proclaims "You are my favorite Son, I have pleased you in you" (Marco 1:11). This is really good news for trans people and for everyone. Baptism is the affirmation of the true identity of both Jesus and ours and of the relationship between God, Jesus and us. These words ensure that God loves us and consider us. Our need to baptize us highlights the profound spiritual craving of trans people, the various ways in which we have been excluded from the community of faith, the various ways in which our relationship with God has been so often banned. But God says "You are my favorite son, I pleased you in you".
The story of the Gospel of Marco ends with this proclamation on verse 11. In the following verse Marco says "immediately after the spirit he pushed him into the desert". We can think of the beginning of advent, those moments of desert and exile. Clearly our journey as trans people and believers never ends. It is a continuous process.
Even for those who are a "point of arrival", it is not the end at all, but a new beginning in the life cycle. After his period of desert, Jesus carries on his ministry; Sometimes it is "seen" for what it is and is sometimes poorly interpreted and rejected, as in Nazareth.
Original text (PDF): The Baptism of Jesus
