Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 55:1-11 – Come to me and your soul will live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you.

Responsorial Psalm: Isaiah 12:2-3, 5-6 – With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Second Reading: 1 John 5:1-9 – Jesus Christ came by water and blood.

Gospel: Mark 1:7-11 – You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Christmas season. The Christmas season is so appropriately crafted that it begins with the birth and the infancy narrative of Jesus and ends with his baptism in the river Jordan. With his baptism, Jesus was ready to leave his infancy in Nazareth and begin his public ministry. In order to understand the place and importance of Jesus’ baptism, we need to trace the evolution of Christian baptism from the Old Testament through the baptism of John to our present day practice.

There are instances of practices in the OT analogous to baptism which took the form of ritual purifications and washings. The Jews undertook ritual washings to mark the end of ritual uncleanliness brought about by contact with unclean things. Before the birth of Christ, this ritual washing was already adopted by majority of the Jewish sects like the Pharisees, the Qumran and the Essenes. Water is always the element used in this ritual washing because of the natural symbolism of water as life-giving. Apart from the purificatory ablutions in Levitical law, the proselytes were required to submit to the rite of baptism before being incorporated into the community. While adopting these two practices as key elements in his baptismal ritual, John the Baptist however, introduced new features: The first was his insistence that his baptism be received only once by each individual. The Jewish ritual washing was done as often as one came in contact with unclean things. The second element is that his baptism was required by all people – Jews and Gentiles alike. Furthermore, he linked his baptism inextricably to another baptism that would be administered by the Mighty One who was to appear shortly. Another feature of John’s baptism is that it must be administered by another person. Most Jewish ritual washings were self-administered. Finally, John’s baptism demanded a turning around of one’s life (repentance for the Kingdom of God). It is in the light of John’s baptism that one can understand the important characteristics of early Christian baptism. The major difference is the fact that Christian baptism is performed in the name of Jesus, and that it involves the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But, how do we understand the action of Jesus when he submitted himself to John for baptism? This action caused a great deal of concern in the early Church because John (being the forerunner of Jesus) is considered to be someone “lesser” than him. The early church expected that it would have been someone higher who would submit to someone lower for baptism. John apparently might have thought the same as he openly protested Jesus’ demand. But more importantly, since John’s baptism was for the remission of sin, how can one explain that a sinless Jesus received it? These are some of the major issues surrounding Jesus’ baptism that were somehow upsetting to the early Church. However, his baptism by John has a lot of theological significance which we have to note.

The first thing to note is the answer given by Jesus himself to the protest of John in Mt. 3:15 when he said: “It is to fulfil all righteousness”. Jesus, in other words, believed that it was God’s will that he received the baptism. Of important note also is the fact that John used the occasion to publicly announce that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Prior to their encounter in the river Jordan, John did not have any opportunity to unmistakeably point out the very person he was heralding. Beside these points, we have other main significance of Jesus’ baptism as follows:

His baptism underscores his solidarity with sinful humanity. Baptism, as we all know, is a sacrament of liberation from sin. But although Jesus was without sin, his baptism points to his total identification with his own people. Through John the Baptist, God demanded that all Israel submits to baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. In order therefore to identify with his people, Jesus submitted to that demand.

Jesus used the occasion of the baptism and the event surrounding it to relive the history of salvation. In the history of salvation, the number 40 is a significant and recurrent one. It was therefore in line with that significance that, after his baptism, Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the desert where he was tempted but did not fall. In this way, he cancelled out the 40 years Israel spent in the desert where they were tempted and fell. With this, Jesus made a statement that desert experience with its harsh realities does not automatically translate to falling into temptation. In other words, he demonstrated that it is possible to withstand temptation even under the harshest and hostile condition such as the desert environment. The recurrent 40 days experience can also be seen in the lives of Moses who spent 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai, as well as in Elijah who spent 40 days and nights in preparation for the voice of God on Mount Horeb. In each of these 40 days experiences, the people who went through them came out completely transformed and strengthened.

The baptism was also the occasion for Christ’s manifestation of the Divine life. We are told that on that day the heaven opened and the Father spoke. The voice was a public proclamation and not a private communication: “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him”. Because of the public nature of this proclamation, all present that day heard it.

For us as Christians, the baptism of Jesus not only highlights the importance of this sacrament of forgiveness of sin and of incorporation into the body of Christ, but also urges us that, as baptized, we must realize that we are now matured and must leave our infancy behind and take on our public responsibility. Many Christians are weak and ineffective because they prefer to remain in their infancy and continue to enjoy the easy part of life where they have no responsibility and accountability whatsoever. Jesus left the comfort of Nazareth and went straight into the desert after his baptism. There, he was tested and consequently strengthened. This is an invitation for us to shed off our milk teeth, throw away our feeding bottles, and grow up in faith. When we submit ourselves to the desert experience, we shall surely come out stronger and more matured.