Wednesday 24th May 2006
As (Jesus) was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased' Mark 1:10,11
'The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, the Holy Ghost incomprehensible' - so states the Athanasian Creed, which I actually remember chanting as a choir-boy ages ago. At the time I thought that incomprehensible was exactly the right word, and I suspect that's how most church people still regard the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which we celebrate this month on June 11th. When Unitarians or Jehovah's Witnesses ridicule the whole idea of 'three Persons in one God' the temptation is to mutter that 'it's a mystery' and change the subject.
But that would be a pity, because somewhere in what sounds like a mathematical riddle there is a profound and dynamic truth about God, and when we uncover it and experience the Trinity (rather than simply subscribing to the idea) it can transform our relationship with him.
In the short passage above, from Mark's account of the baptism of Jesus, the three 'members' of the Trinity are all involved. Jesus, the obedient Son, has just emerged from the waters of the Jordan, newly baptized by John.
The Spirit of power descends on him, not like a military juggernaut but with the gentleness of a dove. And from the skies, as it were, the Father endorses the Son's great mission of salvation. There is one God - all the history of Israel confirms that great truth. However, the one God is not a simple unity but - like so many things in his amazing creation - a complex and dynamic relationship.
In my own life as a Christian I can daily experience the Father's wisdom and direction, the Son's involvement with human frailty and sin, and the Holy Spirit's grace and power. We may not be able fully to understand the mystery of the Trinity, but we can, day by day, experience it in our lives.