6th Sunday of Easter - 1 Peter 3:13-22
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| Baptism Now Saves You (Pen and Colored Pencil on Paper, 3" x 5"), 2017 |
Lectionary Sketch of the Week
1 Peter 3:13-22
"13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him."
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), 1 Pe 3:13–22.
This week's text reminds the church of the rich connections between the flood and Baptism and the resurrected Christ. You might be interested to look at Luther's Flood Prayer. In this drawing, I have attempted to bring these elements together into one composition. Most prominent is Christ resurrected with the reminder of his cross behind him. Behind him the ark is afloat by which God saved Noah and his family. The eight-sided Baptismal font reminds us of these eight people who were saved. It it also reminds us of the new life that is in Christ resurrected. Just as there are seven days of creation, the eighth day signifies the new creation. Thus, it is meant to bring us back full circle to Christ crucified and resurrected, the one to whom we are joined in the waters of Baptism. Through the water of baptism, one dies with Christ and is raised to new life with Him (Romans 6:3-11).
