Luke, the master storyteller, spends the first three chapters of his gospel carefully interweaving the lives of two individuals John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. More than any other writer, Luke focuses on the special relationship between these two prophesied figures. While John's ministry and message are given considerable ink, Luke does so only to differentiate with indisputable clarity the mission and identity of John from Jesus.

Today's gospel text is part of that distinguishing process. While we tend to think of these texts as part of Jesus' baptismal scene, Luke is not so concerned with recording the event of Jesus' baptism. He uses that moment to distinguish clearly John the Baptist the messenger from Jesus the Messiah the Beloved one who has come from God. The issue for Luke …