Today, with our celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, we close our celebration of the Christmas season & get ready to enter ordinary time again. Through Jesus' baptism in the waters of the River Jordan, he is named God's beloved Son with whom he is pleased, and Jesus' identity as the Messiah becomes more fully revealed to both himself and to the world. But the celebration of Jesus' baptism today does more than bring a close to our Christmas season. In many ways, we can say that Jesus' baptism assists Jesus in his self-understand of what his calling is here on earth, the fulfillment of his vocation. As we recognize Jesus' baptism and vocation, all of us are called to remember our own baptism and our vocations as disciples of Jesus.
We can understand the ways God calls us to vocation by seeing the way that he calls Jesus to his vocation at the time of his baptism. At his baptism, Jesus did not have any sign to show the Jewish people that they would recognize as an expected characteristic of the Messiah. Jesus had no money, no power, no influence, no followers, and no army. Jesus was not the kind of Savior that the Jewish people expected. He was not to save the world by establishing a political empire of riches & prosperity. He was not to defeat his opponents by a military might that was enhanced by God's supporting power. In fact, Jesus was not going to triumph over his enemies in any recognizable way during his lifetime. Instead of strength, weapons, or political power, Jesus would use words and actions to express love, healing, and truth. Since Jesus would die at the hands of his opposition, it appeared to the people of ancient Israel that God was doing nothing to help him. All of this was contrary to what everyone expected, but these were the real signs that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Often God is not always what we expect. God is not always predictable. In Jesus' baptism, not only do we remember an important event in his life in a special way, but we are reminded of how we are called to be in relationship with God, of how Jesus ultimately fulfilled his vocation. Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan as a 30-year old carpenter. But after he rises up from the waters, he is different.
We probably all long to hear God say, “You are my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.” I truly believe that this longing to please God, this desire to have a connection with the divine in our lives, is something that is innately part of our human nature. And today's Gospel gives us a hint of how we begin to please God and connect more closely to the divine in our lives. To please God, we begin by accepting his love, by accepting our baptismal call. In the waters of baptism, in the embrace of God's love, Jesus hears in a new way that he is God's son. Jesus accepts his call. It is after this baptism & the acceptance of his call that Jesus begins his earthly ministry and the proclamation of God's kingdom.
As we now move from the Christmas season and into ordinary time, but the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord today give us a sign of hope and encouragement as we continue along our journey.
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