It has been two and a half weeks since we celebrated Christmas day, commemorating the birth of our Savior. Today, our Christmas season officially comes to an end with the celebration of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Our Christmas season has included different celebrations that has made Christ manifest in different ways in the world. We celebrated the Holy Family the first Sunday after Christmas, as we saw Joseph lead Mary and baby Jesus to safety as King Herod sought to kill the Christ child. Then, we celebrated Mary, the Mother of God, as the Blessed Virgin pointed us to her Son and helped us understand his identity as fully human and fully divine. Last week, we celebrated the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus, as Gentiles from the East recognized the salvation that the light of Christ brings to all.
Today, we focus on the Baptism of Jesus as he begins his public ministry and his proclamation of God’s kingdom. We might wonder: Why would Jesus have to be baptized anyway if he was the Son of God, already free from sin? What insights can we learn from Jesus' baptism? And what does our own baptism really mean for us in our daily lives?
It might seem strange to us that we end the Christmas season with Jesus’ baptism, as the other major feast days in the Christmas season have to do with Jesus’ birth and with his family. But, the Church concludes the Christmas season with this feast day because Jesus' baptism reinforces the Christmas message that we hear throughout this season. Jesus’ baptism reiterates that God's chosen way of being with us is not as a faraway ruler of the universe up in the heavens, but as God who chooses solidarity with us in all of our human reality. Jesus' baptism show God as Emmanuel, as one of us.
As God with us, as God incarnate, Jesus leads us to be be what we were created to be. The other religions in the world do not see God as incarnate as one of us human beings. But our Christian faith teaches us that God chose to come to us in incarnate form in order to reveal his immense love for us.
What I find to be interesting is that the Orthodox Church uses this Gospel depicting Christ’s baptism as the Gospel reading for the feast of the Epiphany. They see Christ’s decision to submit to John’s baptism as the first revelation of who Jesus is. What is also interesting is that this Gospel of Christ’s baptism is the first depiction of God as Trinity. In this Gospel, Jesus is the beloved Son of God who is affirmed by the voice of God the Father and the Holy Spirit descending upon him like a dove.
The crowds came to John the Baptist for baptism in repentance for their sins, yet Jesus had no sins that needed repentance. John baptized them as they turned away from sin, but this also pointed to something greater, to Jesus, who would take on humanity's sins and would pay for them by making salvation available to all who seek it. Jesus was baptized publicly not only in recognition of his role in our redemption and in taking away our sins, but also to reveal his identity as God's Son. After his baptism, the Holy Spirit descends on him, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus' baptism is at the heart of his mission to heal us, in identifying with our sinfulness, our brokenness, and our human nature. Jesus' baptism and his identification with our human condition help us recall our own baptism and the hope that comes with it. Our Catholic faith is rich in symbols as powerful aides and reminders. Water is one of our most meaningful symbols, reminding us of the new life we receive from Christ in the waters of baptism. Think of how many of us Catholics make the sign of the cross as they enter and exit the church. Many parents help their children make the sign of the cross with the holy water. Sometimes, when I go to visit the sick or shut-ins, I carry a container of holy water in order to bless them and to remind them of our baptismal promises, of how Christ the Good Shepherd leads us to streams of living water. Water is a very earthy symbol for us as human beings, reminding us that our human existence is tied to water, as it makes life on earth possible, and from a spiritual perspective, baptismal water gives us new life in Christ.
In the rite of baptism, the parents of the child being baptized are told that they are to be the first of teachers and the best of teachers to their child in our faith. Jesus had his family who taught him in the ways of the faith, just as most of us had parents, godparents, and other family members present us for baptism as infants and who formed us to be believers. Yet, we also had others outside of our extended family who prepared us in the faith, who were examples and inspirations for us. Our parents, our godparents, and all those other men and women in our lives who have been examples of faith for us on our faith journey, who have helped us in our ups and downs in life, they have been teachers of the faith to us in different ways.
Through the new life in Christ that we gained in our baptism, through the baptism of Jesus that we celebrate today, may we all try to live that new life with passion and dedication in a way that is truly worthy of our calling as followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
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