The Baptism of the Lord
“The reading proclaimed today takes us to the banks of the Jordan. Today we pause spiritually at the side of the river that flows through the two biblical Testaments, to contemplate the great epiphany of the Trinity on the day when Jesus is brought into the limelight of history, in those very waters, to begin his public ministry.
Christian art will personify this river as an old man looking with awe at what is happening in his watery depths. For, as the Byzantine liturgy says, "Christ the Sun is washed" in it. This same liturgy, at Matins on the day of the Theophany or Epiphany of Christ, imagines a dialogue with the river: "What did you see, O Jordan, that disturbed you so deeply? I saw the Invisible One naked and I trembled. How can one not tremble and draw back before him? At his sight, the angels trembled, the heavens leapt for joy, the earth shook, the sea turned back with all the visible and invisible beings. Christ appeared in the Jordan to bless all waters!".
The presence of the Trinity at that event is clearly affirmed in all the Gospel accounts of the episode. We have just heard the most complete one, Matthew's, which includes a dialogue between Jesus and the Baptist. At the center of the scene, we see the figure of Christ, the Messiah who fulfills all righteousness (cf. Mt 3: 15). He is the one who brings the divine plan of salvation to fulfillment, humbly showing his solidarity with sinners.
His voluntary humbling wins him a wondrous exaltation: The Father's voice from heaven resounds above him, proclaiming: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (cf. Mt 3; 17, Mk 1:11).” (St. John Paul II, General Audience, April 12, 2000)
Also, when we meditate this mystery of the Baptism of our Lord, it is impossible to escape from something absolutely crucial in Christianity: the mystery of the Incarnation. One of the theologians once asked: Did the Potter want to be a pot? Thinking about the essence of the Lord Jesus is difficult. In human terms, it is hard to understand. That is why many people try to build a mental structure for themselves, referring to ancient thinking, seeing the Lord Jesus as half God and half Man. Such thinking is additionally fostered by the fact that we call Him the Son of God, in the Gospels we see Him praying to the Father, asking for various things, including taking away the cup of bitterness, and even calling "God, my God, why have you forsaken me".
The dogma of the Holy Trinity is one of the most difficult to understand, which is why we have been grappling with it for centuries. The Lord Jesus, however, was not half God and half human, like a hero of ancient Greek myths. He was fully God and fully human. Fully God. Fully human. Personally, it amazes me all the time. Yes, here actually the Potter wished to be a pot. But not on the whim of an almighty ruler. God becomes man not to fulfill his whims, but because of his nature. God is love and out of love for man, love that is absolutely incomprehensible, he becomes man. Sometimes in God we see a strict ruler who looks down from above, watches over the observance of the imposed laws, rewards for good deeds, and punishes bad. He is completely unattainable in it, alienated, he does not understand us humans. The mystery of the Incarnation excludes this image.
Because God has become fully human, therefore we know that He knows our fate perfectly well. He knew and understood our fate before, but after what he did, we can be sure that it is. He did not spare himself anything. Neither the helplessness of a small child, nor the cruelty of death, nor the despair of loneliness. God knows us. God knows me. After all, every hair on the head is counted, as the Lord Jesus says in a different Gospel passage. He knows me, understands me, knows what my life is, what are my dilemmas, what sorrows and what joys, what longings and desires. He is close. He is as close as no human will ever be.
We know that the Lord Jesus, is God, is free from sin. So, he did not have to wash it in baptism. Not only did he not have original sin, which every human being has and which we wash away with baptism, but he was also free from any sin. And yet he was baptized. In the life and public activity of the Lord Jesus, nothing is accidental. Everything he did, said, every gesture are signs worth to read. This baptism too. I think to myself that the baptism that every human being need is another sign that God is becoming fully human, although of course He is still fully God. This is another sign that should help me, man, to believe in God, who by his own choice becomes man, that is, his own creation.
A potter who becomes a pot. It was not God who needed this sign, but I - man need this sign, and God gives it to me. What distinguishes Christianity from various other beliefs is the love that God has for His creation. When we look at various beliefs geographically and historically scattered around the world, most of them do not have that - love. The God I believe loves me and He shows it every step of the way.
All evangelists repeat an element in this story that seems to me to be extremely important. Immediately after baptism, the Lord God reveals himself, the Father himself, who says: "Here is my beloved Son". An amazing moment.
Each of us, every child, regardless of age, needs a relationship with his father and needs to hear him proudly say: "here is my beloved son" or "here is my beloved daughter". A disturbed relationship with the father generally causes hiccups in our lives. We need a relationship with the Father. And the Lord Jesus needed it too. These were not just words for the people watching the scene, it was not just a form of anointing. These were also, and perhaps above all, the words that the Father addressed to the Son. It is worth remembering the sequence of events.
From this moment, the Holy Spirit leads the Lord Jesus into the desert, to a forty-day fast and temptation by Satan. These words of the Father were needed to give the Son the strength to endure these difficult desert days. Without these words, there would be no forty days of fasting and temptation. Without these forty days of fasting and temptation and the victorious trial, what happened next would not be possible - the proclamation of the Good News and the whole journey of the Lord Jesus. The journey that eventually led him to Jerusalem, to the Garden of Olives and to the cross. So, without baptism there would be no resurrection. When I was a child and the priest poured water on my head during my baptism, Heavenly Father also said: "This is my beloved child." Knowing that I am a beloved child helps me in my life. He said that about you too.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george