The Baptism of the Lord

Merry Christmas!

1. 1. Welcome to our celebration of the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord!
   2. Remembering our celebration: Nativity, Mary, Holy Family, and Epiphany
   3. Ends with this most strange Solemnity, the Baptism of the Lord

1. At the heart of today’s Gospel, we have Jesus, without sin, receiving a Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
   1. Some have said Jesus receives His ministry, his calling, and and the Holy Spirit at His Baptism
   2. But that is precisely what today IS NOT

• Trinity is always present in each of its members: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
  1. Jesus the Word made flesh, Consubstantial with the Father, without mixing, mingling, or confusion.
  2. Remember Jesus in the Temple teaching the elders
     1. Certainly a miracle! Presence of God!
     2. How many 12 year olds do you know that would gladly and joyfully talk to old men about religion for three days straight!!

1. Now we could gloss over this historical event, treat is as a familiar old story, dismiss it as a mystery
   1. That starts the Sacrament of Baptism
   2. It’s the first Luminous Mystery of the Rosary
      1. SPJPII
   3. Marks the start of Jesus’ public ministry
   4. But all four Gospels detail this strange event, calling our attention to ponder it.
   5. Now our faith is a beautiful faith, an intelligent faith, full of complexity and levels of meaning.
   6. The more we reflect on the deep levels of meaning in our Gospels, the deeper our faith becomes, the more solid, sustaining, and lasting in good times and bad.
   7. The real pay off: The deeper we understand our faith, the more prepared we are to help those in doubt, to help those in trial, to help those in danger of losing their faith
   8. The more prepared we are to share and to be God’s love.

1. So what is so strange about this event?
   1. People from all over – Judea, the region of the Jordan, and even Jerusalem
   2. Were going out to John in the desert, who ritually washed them in the river Jordan as they confessed their sins.
      1. But the temple in Jerusalem is where you offered sacrifices as you confessed your sin.
   3. John is the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, both from priestly families
      1. John is priest, should be in the temple in fine clothes!
      2. He is in the desert, wearing a camel hair shirt and eating bugs

1. But the strangest part of this event is that Jesus, the Son of God, stands like everyone else in the crowd on the river bank,
   1. who are waiting to confess theirs sins, and get a fresh start through John’s baptism.
   2. But Jesus, without sin, has nothing to confess
   3. Why, then, does He insist on Baptism?

• The confusion is even voiced by John
  1. In Matthew, John tries to prevent Jesus’ baptism, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me!”
  2. Jesus replies, “Allow if for now, to fulfill all righteousness,” that is the Will of the Father.
  3. I would be just as confused as John, but Jesus’ words “for now” suggest in time we will understand.

• Jesus gives another hint, and the key to understanding this event
  1. In both the Gospels of Mark (10:38) and Luke (12:50) Jesus refers to His passion and death as “His Baptism”
  2. Jesus connects His passion, death, and resurrection with His Baptism in the Jordan River

1. Now consider for a moment how in symphonies, the orchestra often performs a “prelude” to a much longer piece.
   1. The prelude often includes a short version of each of the movements or pieces to the larger performance
   2. It is a summary to draw the audience in, to anticipate the full performance to follow.
   3. Today, in movies, we often have a “preview” to draw us into the larger picture
   4. In the same way Jesus’ Baptism presents us with a prelude of all to follow in the Gospels.

1. First, Why is John ritually bathing and preparing people for a sin sacrifice not in the Temple, but in the River Jordan?
   1. The Jordan marks the Chosen People’s entry into the Promised Land.
   2. Moses led them to the Jordan, Aaron brought them across
   3. John is calling for a “do-over,” to go back to where it all began, before it went wrong.
   4. Jesus, then is the new Moses, and the new Aaron. He will meet His people in the Jordan, and, unlike Moses, lead them into the true promised land, the eternal Kingdom.

1. If this is a ritual washing in preparation for a sacrifice, where then is the sacrifice, the lamb?
   1. John the Baptist is the first to understand, and gives us all the answer
   2. In the words now repeated in every Mass, John points to Jesus and says, “Behold! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
   3. There’s more…..

• How strange that the “heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove.”
  1. Where have we seen a dove before in Scripture?
     1. A dove returns an olive branch to Noah, still on the ark, as a sign of the end of the flood and destruction of sinful creation, and the beginning of a renewed creation.
  2. Where have we heard of God and His Spirit hovering over the waters, as the dove hovers over the Jesus and the waters of the Jordan?
     1. In Genesis, at the very dawn of Creation, the Father’s Spirit hovers over the waters.

1. Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan is a prelude to the dawn of a New Creation, a New Kingdom, where heaven is opened to Creation, and with it the way to new and eternal life.
2. Then we hear the voice of the Father, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
   1. Confirming Jesus’ righteousness in following the Father’s will, and
   2. Anticipating Jesus’ acceptance of the Father’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the words, “Not my will, but your will be done.”

• Finally, there is Jesus’ words calling his own passion His baptism, linking His passion, death, and resurrection to Baptism.
  1. Jesus is the lamb of God, who plunges into the dark waters of our sin, even to the depth of death itself
  2. So that there is now where we can go, nothing we can experience or endure, where we will not find Christ Himself there, before us,
  3. Ready to embrace us in mercy and Love, and lift us up as new creations, filled with the Holy Spirit, sharers in the Divine Life, and Children of God.

• But the Baptism of the Lord is not just a prelude to the rest of Jesus’ life and the Gospel
  1. But is the Prelude to Our Life as well!
  2. Recall that a prelude is the opening to a larger piece of music.
  3. It not only anticipates the whole piece, but participates in it as well
  4. In the same way, our own Baptisms not only anticipate life in the Eternal Kingdom,
  5. but also participates in the Life To Come!

1. For in Baptism:
   1. We share in Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, die with Him in the waters of Baptism, and rise with Him as New Creations, freed from sin and infused with the Holy Spirit!
   2. We are anointed as a sign of our new life in His mystical body, the Church
   3. We are dressed in white, an outward sign of our dignity as a New Creation
   4. Finally, we receive the light of Christ, an outward sign of our enlightenment in the ways of truth by Christ.

• So…. If you are not Baptized…. What are you waiting for?!!!!

• For those of us who are Baptized, How can we keep this Good News to ourselves!
  1. Don’t let our Baptismal waters grow still and stagnant,
  2. Stir them up into flowing, cascading fountains of new life!
  3. Just as when we enter our Church, and dip our hands into the flowing, cascading, living holy water at the entrance of our Church, we recall with the sign of the cross the graces and mercy of Baptism by which we literally and physically enter the Church
  4. So too our reflection on this Sunday’s readings, and Baptism, should stir up our faith!

• Our faith is a beautiful faith, an intelligent faith, full of complexity and levels of meaning.
  1. The more we reflect on the deep levels of meaning in our Gospels, the deeper our faith becomes, the more sustaining and lasting in good times and bad.
  2. The real pay off: The deeper we understand our faith, the more prepared we are to help those in doubt, to help those in trial, to teach those who seek, and to help those in danger of losing their faith
  3. The more prepared we are to be partners in the the Gospel, to share and be God’s love.

• So we will spend time reflecting on our own Baptism, stirring up the living water with our heart, and renewing the gifts we have received as Children of God, members of His mystical body, infused with the Holy Spirit, heirs in hope of eternal life, and partners in spreading the Good News to all.

Sources:

Pope Benedict XVI; Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguation.

International Commission on English in the Liturgy; Order of Baptism of Children.

U.S. Catholic Church; Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Bishop Robert Barron; Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.