The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/010911.shtml

The Baptism of Jesus. This is the start of Jesus’ public ministry, when God claimed Him not just in front of His family of Mary and Joseph, but before the world. It is where John recognizes Jesus, as we will read next week in the readings.

Take time to read the 1st reading. There God makes bold claims that his chosen servant will establish justice, open the eyes of the blind, and from the dungeon, bring out those who live in darkness. He has established Jesus for victory! All this, and what a quiet way to begin that march.

The Lord says in Isaiah, “he shall bring forth justice to the nations, / not crying out, not shouting, / not making his voice heard in the street. / a bruised reed he shall not break, / and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, / until he establishes justice on earth.”

It is always easy to forget that Jesus came bravely, to meekly die for the sins of all. He is the messiah, and even though the Jews were told in what way he would come, everyone still expected God’s chosen one to be a king like David. They expected glory, recognition, military might that would force justice and blaze light in the darkness. The messiah should have been an unstoppable force.

Jesus came for baptism by John so that no one would misunderstand who he was here for. John baptized the sinners; Jesus wished to be baptized with them. Yet he was the one who in days to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. But on that day, John saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove upon him, gentle and mild. “a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench.” Though everyone expected him to overthrow the foreign government of Caesar, or establish his authority over the chief priests, Jesus resisted all that.

The Church always knows that Jesus came to die for our sins. We remember this in His birth, and we remember it at His baptism. He established justice, by punishing all the sins of the world with death. He established mercy by taking that punishment on himself.

It is for this, Jesus’ obedience and faithfulness to God, that moved God to say “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

In baptizing himself with the sinners, Jesus also shows that there is no one outside His love. Peter recognizes this in the house of Cornelius: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”

We baptize ourselves in fulfillment of all righteousness with Jesus, and when we dip our fingers into water before Mass, and make the sign of the cross over ourselves, we renew the baptismal covenant we made to love God and hate the devil. We remember our promise, and the baptism of Jesus, because both involve obedience to God’s plan. May we always remember the obedience with which God was well pleased.