THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: God's manifestation

We have concluded Christmas time and today’s feast of the baptism of the Lord brings us back to the contemplation of the mystery of Christmas as a feast of revelation. During the time of Christmas we celebrate the revelation of God’s love to us.  Almost two weeks ago we celebrated the great mystery of the Nativity of Our Lord. On Christmas night the message of the angel to the shepherds revealed the child Jesus as the king and the savior. Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany; the feast of the manifestation of Jesus as God, King and Messiah. Today we see Jesus baptized by John in the River Jordan. In this feast of the baptism of the Lord we find another revelation: the heavens open, the Holy Spirit comes upon him in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven says “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is revealed to us as beloved Son of God. It is clear that all these three feasts we celebrate in Christmas (Nativity, Epiphany, and Baptism) are celebration of one thing: The manifestation of God’s love to humankind.

Let us understand the event of baptism. We know that the baptism of John was a baptism for the remission of sin. Then why is Jesus being baptized? Is he a sinner who comes for remission of sin? It is hard for us to understand why Jesus, who is revealed to us as Son of God, King and Messiah had to undergo a baptism of the remission of sin. Even John himself had difficulty to understand that and he said: I need to be baptized by you and yet you are coming to me? What is the meaning of the baptism of the Lord? Three things we need to understand here:

1.      Jesus went into the water of the Jordan not in order to be made Holy, but to make the water holy so that all the waters of the world would become life giving through the sacrament of baptism. His baptism is for the sanctification of water so that through water, the baptized may have life.

2.      Jesus went into the water of the Jordan to show us the example that  the only way to become children of  God is through baptism where we receive the Holy Spirit to make of us sons and daughters of God. His baptism is in solidarity with the human race so that through baptism, the baptized becomes child of God.

3.      Jesus went into the water of the Jordan to mark the inauguration of his public ministry, not as his personal work, but as the work of the Holy Trinity. This is why the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove and God’s voice testified that this is my Beloved with whom I am well pleased. His baptism if the revelation of God as Trinity.

The feast of the baptism of the Lord is also the celebration of the new creation. The Spirit that descended on Jesus at his baptism is the same Spirit that was on the waters during the first creation. (Gen 1:2) Therefore, the Baptism in the Jordan presents the truth that Jesus has started a new creation. He is the second man (1 Cor 15:47) or the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that comes to repair the first Adam’s guilt. The Church wants to stress through this liturgical feast the importance and significance of baptism in our Christian lives. Looking at all these reasons, the baptism of the Lord reminds us of our own baptism. In his baptism, Jesus laid the foundation for a new dispensation of grace. From hence, through the Sacrament of Baptism, the recipient begins a new life by establishing a union with the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and receiving the gift of faith. In this new birth, the believer receives remission from sin, receives the Spirit of sons-hip which enables him or her to become a child of God, a member of the Church, and a citizen of heaven. This way baptism becomes the gateway to the life of grace and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.

Through baptism, we not only become members of the Church, we are also given a mission to proclaim the Good News of Salvation to all. It is very true that we receive baptism only once in our life-time, but it is never a one-time event; we have to live and keep our baptismal promises throughout our life. We have to imitate Christ more and more daily. We who have received the grace of baptism must endeavor always to live up to our baptismal promises throughout our life. This is the message on this feast, this is the call as we celebrate the feast of the baptism of the Lord: to live our Christian values.