Sunday, 10th January, The Baptism of the Lord

Mark 1:7–11

John proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he 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.”

Commentary

Today begins to an end of our Christmas celebrations. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is the third and last of the three great manifestations by which were made known to us that our God had come among us in a very special way.

The first of these manifestations was through the story of the birth of Jesus in the manger at Bethlehem. The first people privileged to experience this manifestation were the shepherds, representing the poor, the sinful, and the social outcasts on whom Luke's Gospel is especially focused.

The second manifestation, the Epiphany, celebrated last Sunday, reflects Matthew's emphasis that Jesus was born not only for his own people but for people of every country and every race everywhere.

The third and final manifestation of God's presence among us through Jesus is found in all the four gospels. While the first two manifestations are linked with the birth of Jesus, this one comes at a much later date, at the moment when Jesus is about to begin his public life.

We might very well wonder why Jesus needed to be baptized. All those others being baptized in the Jordan by John were doing so as a sign of repentance for their sins and as an expression of their desire to turn around their lives. How could Jesus, the Son of God, be part of this?

Jesus in so doing was expressing his total solidarity with the human race, of which he was a member. He identified with them, not as a sinner but as a fellow human being. The expression of that solidarity is a much higher priority for him than any social status he might lose by being seen in the close company of confessed sinners.

It was a risk he would constantly take because the needs of the sinner were more important to him than his reputation with the self-righteous. It will have its final dramatic expression as Jesus dies on a cross, executed with and like two convicted criminals. For Jesus, there was never such a thing as 'face', being valued purely on external appearance.

However, we have to go far beyond seeing Jesus' baptism as a matter of dealing with sinfulness.

What is being really emphasized here is the positive element of Jesus being totally accepted and confirmed by his Father. What is happening at his baptism is that Jesus, as he stands there in the River Jordan, is being missioned by his Father for the work he is just about to begin. He is here getting the total endorsement of his Father for that work.

As he steps out of the water, the heavens open and the Spirit of God comes down on Jesus to fill him with all God's fullness. "This is my Son, the Beloved, in him I am deeply pleased."

As a final reflection it would be useful for us today to reflect on the meaning of our own baptism and how it relates with that of Jesus.

Baptism is not, as is true of all the sacraments, an isolated ritual. It takes place in the context of our whole life. Whether we are baptized as children or as adults, what primarily is happening is that we become incorporated and embodied into the Christian community.

Rather, if one becomes truly incorporated into a living Christian community, the sinful influences that pervade our world become reversed by our exposure to the vision of Jesus and the lived experience of a community based on love, justice and sharing because Baptism does not and cannot produce its effects in a social vacuum.

Furthermore, like Jesus, our baptism brings with it a serious obligation to share our faith with others both by word and example. It involves much more than simply 'saving our souls' and 'leading sinless lives'.

Let God our Father be able to say of us as he said of Jesus: "This is my Beloved; in this one I am very well pleased." Amen.