Sunday, January 11, 2015 - The Baptism of the Lord - What is the significance of your Baptism to you and others?

To read the texts click on the texts: Is 55:1-11; 1 Jn 5:1-9; Mk1:7-11

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord concludes the Advent-Christmas liturgical season, and is also the first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

While there are questions about some of the miracles that Jesus worked and some ask; “Did this really happen?” no one today doubts that the Baptism of Jesus was a historical event and really did take place. The reasons for this are not only that all the three Synoptic Gospels have narrated this event, but it can be seen from the manner in which they do so that at least Matthew and Luke are struggling with the narration and if given a choice would prefer not to narrate it. While Matthew adds the dialogue between Jesus and John before Jesus’ baptism and John baptises Jesus only after Jesus permits him (Mt 3:13-17), Luke has John in prison before the Baptism of Jesus and simply says “When the people had been baptised and when Jesus had also been baptised” (Lk 3:22). This indicates that though Matthew and Luke are loath to narrate the event they do so simply because it did take place. They also realized that it was a foundational event in the life of Jesus. His public ministry began after his baptism.

Even in Mark, the baptism of Jesus after John’s lofty pronouncement of the more powerful one the thong of whose sandals John is not worthy to untie seems out of place. This suggests that Jesus associated himself with the need to gather the elect and to prepare for the Lord’s coming with a gesture of repentance.

Though there are differences in the first part of their narration, all three evangelists agree about the three events that took place at Jesus’ baptism. The first was that the “heavens were torn open”, the second was that the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus and the third was that a voice from heaven spoke.

In Mark, Jesus is the only one who sees the heavens open and the Spirit descend, and only he hears the divine voice. The heavens’ being torn open reflects a metaphor for the coming of God into human history to deliver his people. It reflects the prayer of Isaiah to God to repeat for one last time the great redemptive acts for his people (Isa 64:1). The dove imagery symbolizes the creative activity of the Spirit of God and also the coming of the Spirit for empowerment. Jesus is empowered and his unique status is confirmed by the Spirit which comes down from heaven. The climax, however, is what the voice from heaven says. It is clear that in Mark Jesus receives an invitation from God. This invitation is through the combination of two Old Testament texts. The first of these is Ps. 2:7 which says “You are my beloved Son” and the second is from Isa 42:1 which says “in you my soul delights”. Ps.2 is a coronation Psalm originally referring to the Davidic king. It was sung when the king was being placed on his throne and so has to do with coronation, sonship and kingship. It has to do with glory and power. Isa 42 is the first of the four suffering servant songs in the second book of Isaiah and so has to do with the crowning with thorns, with being servant and slave. This means that the voice invites Jesus to be King and Servant, to be Servant king and clearly in Mark to be King who becomes king by being servant.

That this is clearly Mark’s intention is confirmed by many indicators in his Gospel. Of these two stand out.

The first is that immediately after receiving the invitation from God at his baptism, the Spirit drives Jesus into the desert where he was tempted by Satan. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not state the three temptations. He only says that Jesus was with the wild beasts and the angels came and waited on him. Echoes of the testing of the Israelites in the wilderness may have shaped this temptation story; Mark states that Jesus was tested by Satan for forty days, just as God had tested Israel for forty years. The enmity between humans and wild animals, which was a consequence of Adam’s fall, does not apply to Jesus. The allusions to the Adam story as well as to Israel’s wilderness experience show that Jesus’ relationship to God demonstrates what would have been the case for humanity if Adam had not sinned. A wilderness transformed into paradise formed part of the hope for salvation depicted in Isaiah Mark also probably intends to state that Jesus had already broken Satan’s power before his ministry began and through this narration makes clear that Jesus has accepted the invitation from God to be the king who becomes king by being servant.

The second indicator that Jesus is invited to be Servant King already at his baptism is after the death of Jesus. Here two incidents occur. The first is that the inner veil separating the holy of holies from the rest of the sanctuary is torn open, much like the heavens were torn open at the baptism. This might be intended to reveal that God is no longer present in the sanctuary or that now there is open access to God’s presence. It might also be that the torn veil foreshadowed the destruction of the Temple. While these interpretations are reasonable, it seems most likely, however, that Mark meant that true worship is now no longer in the Temple but on the Cross. The second incident that occurs after the death of Jesus is the Centurion’s confession. While at the baptism of Jesus it was the heavenly voice that called him “beloved Son”, here it is a human voice, the voice of a Gentile who calls Jesus “Son of God”. Jesus “becomes” Son of God on the Cross, when his arms are opened out in total surrender to the will of God. He accepted the invitation from God and responded to it wholeheartedly.

Thus the feast of the Baptism of the Lord which begins the Ordinary time of the year is a feast which issues an invitation to each of us who are willing to hear. This invitation is according to the second reading of today to believe in Jesus as Son of the father. It is to believe that Jesus is indeed the Christ; God’s anointed one, the Messiah. This belief is shown in action be keeping God’s commandment of unconditional love, a love which Jesus manifested so clearly on the Cross.

We can dare to do because of what God proposes in the first reading from Isaiah.  He will reverse judgements and offer once again waters that were once rejected. He promises of an everlasting covenant which is enlarged to include all God’s people. God’s word, once delivered, maintains a sure continuity through time, accomplishing what God had planned originally.