Baptism

 

Haiku for a calling

In the wilderness,

beyond the civil, polite,

and respectable.

Camel-hair jacket,

belt of leather, dining on

locusts, wild honey.

John the enigma,

known as baptiser, calling

people to repent.

I am nobody,

John declared. One is coming

far greater than I.

Jesus came to John

from Nazareth in the North;

Baptise me, he said.

Jesus emerges

from the Jordan to the dove

and to heaven’s voice.

Jesus is baptised

in God’s Spirit, and confirmed

in his ministry.

Baptised in water,

he will baptise his friends with

the Holy Spirit

This is the moment

and this is the man, says John.

He of whom I spoke.

© Ken Rookes 2020