Baptism Of The Lord
The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”After all the people had been baptized
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased.”
The Baptism Of The Lord | Excerpt From Breaking the Bread Year C
The AnointingThe Liturgy last week revealed the mystery of God’s plan: in Jesus, all peoples (symbolized by the Magi) have been made“co-heirs” to the blessings promised to Israel. This week, we’re shown how we claim our inheritance.
Jesus doesn’t submit to John’s baptism as a sinner in need of purification. He humbles Himself to pass through Jordan’swaters in order to lead a new “exodus”—opening up the Promised Land of heaven so that all peoples can hear the words pronounced over Jesus today, words once reserved only for Israel and its king: that each of us is a beloved son or daughter of God (see Genesis 22:2; Exodus 4:22; Psalm 2:7).
Jesus is the chosen servant Isaiah prophesies in today’s First Reading, anointed with the Spirit to make things right and just on earth. God puts His Spirit upon Jesus to make Him “a covenant of the people,” the liberator of the captives, the light to the nations. Jesus, today’s Second Reading tells us, is the One long expected in Israel, “anointed . . . with the Holy Spirit and power.”
The word “Messiah” means “one anointed” with God’sSpirit. King David was the “anointed of the God of Jacob” (2 Samuel 23:1; see Psalm 18:51; 132:10, 17). The prophets taught Israel to await a royal offshoot of David, upon whom theS pirit would rest (see Isaiah 11:1–2).
That’s why the crowds are so anxious at the start of today’s Gospel. But it isn’t John they’re looking for. God confirms with His own voice what the angel had told Mary: Jesus is “the Son of the Most High,” come to claim “the throne of David . . . forever” (Luke 1:32–33). In the Baptism that He brings, the voice of God will hover over the waters as fiery flame, as we sing in today’s Psalm. He has sanctified the waters and made them a passageway to healing and freedom—a fountain of new birth and everlasting life.
Many have speculated as to why Jesus was baptized. The possibilities are beyond the scope of a catechism. Definitively, we do know that the Sacrament of Baptism is the ordinary means revealed by God to obtain salvation, and as such can be said to be necessary. Baptized into the Church, we receive new life
in Jesus and are saved from sin and death.
Prayer and the Holy Spirit seem to go hand-in-hand. It is the Holy Spirit who animates our prayer life and gives us everything we need to pray faithfully and effectively, pleasing God well.
Reflect: To what extent am I allowing myself to be taught to pray?
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/The_Baptism_of_Christ_MET_DP356935.jpg
