BAPTISM OF THE LORD - Year B

BAPTISM OF THE LORD – Year B
(Is 55:1-11; 1John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11)

Theme: We are of the Lord; let us therefore, live as his true and beloved children

Reflection:

- Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Baptism of the Lord: Jesus, after his life at home and with his people for thirty years, comes to the river Jordan to receive baptism from John the Baptist, his predecessor who walks before him to prepare the way for him and to show to the world his presence, and thus to enter fully into the mission for which he has come to the world; in this sense, the feast of the Baptism of Jesus stands in between his preparation and his actualization of the will and purpose of his Father;
- The feast of Baptism is a central point to which all the preceding events like His Incarnation (that is, the Christmas), His manifestation to the Magi (that is, the Epiphany) lead him and from which all the following events like His Proclamation of the Kingdom of God and His Paschal Mystery begin. It is the ending of all his preparations and the beginning of the actual mission; it is the completion of his private manifestations at home and in his home town and it is the starting of his public testimony to others and to the surrounding towns;
- Even liturgically, this feast stands as the summary of all the preceding celebrations in joy and in festive atmosphere and at the same time it stands as the stepping stone for all the proceeding message and ministry by word and deed; we also stop celebrating and start living; we stop all the holidays and start working; we stop ‘being’ what we are and start ‘doing’ what we have to; it goes still further, we stop ‘showing’ that we are Christians and begin to ‘live’ and ‘testify’ our Christian vocation; this feast invites us today to pass from our identity to our task; to pass from our identity of being children of God to our task of living as the children of God; and thus the Church invites us to carry with us always this truth that ‘we belong to the Lord’ and thus we have the responsibility (and more than responsibility), ‘the mission of living’ as his true and loving children.
- His first and intentional manifestation to the people: every event of Jesus is the self-manifestation of God himself and until now only the infant Jesus has manifested himself as the ‘savior born’ to the pastors and as the ‘king of Jews’ to the three wise men from the east. And little further, as the ‘boy of maturity and wisdom of God’ to the scribes and doctors of the Church in the Jerusalem temple with his ‘questioning and answering’ them. Now as we follow the scriptures is the first time that Jesus who is by now well-grown and fully-matured in his decision to set out for the mission of his Father, comes out himself and with the committed vigor and manifests ‘his true divine identity and divine mission’ to the public with the testimony of the who sent him, the Father, and, with the power of the one who is in him, the Spirit. Thus this feast reminds us that it is the first and intentional act of self-manifestation of Jesus who is filled with the mission of God.
- Let us immediately enter into the readings which the Church herself presents to us today with lot of care and study of the scriptures so that they fill us the spiritual nourishment this particular moment as we listen to them and again so that we will enjoy their richness of meaning and take them as our torching guide in our walk of faith as the baptized children of God.

First Reading: Let us offer everything to Him who makes it ‘spirit-filled’ grace for us

- Today’s first reading is full of spiritual power; each word of it gives us boost to opt for what is useful and what remains for ever; each verse of it encourages us to lead a life worthy of God’s call with the necessary sacrifice and ever-willing renewal of the soul. At the first look this reading looks out of place for the feast we celebrate because of lack of any reference to the baptism, but when we enter deeply into its integral comprehension, we find that its placement is right and that it prepares us to leave what is of this world and to choose what God has promised for us. Besides this, the reading begins with God’s call of invitation to the waters (v.1) and ends with the effect that these waters of God (Son and the Spirit) brings about (v. 11) in each individual recipient. Let us meditate and take into our hearts at least ‘three ways’ of placing our life in the hands of God;
- We have to spend our belongings for the things above (v.2): the verse encourages us with the demanding question: “why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food”.
o In the cited verse, first there is a question that makes us to have a self-examining our daily worries and fatigue: we really worry too much about buying and gathering many things for ourselves; we spend so much of our money to fill our homes with the things; we spend lot of energy to accumulate a lot for ourselves; many times, we spend each and every drop of blood to grow in life with riches and with prestige; who can say that they are not needed? They are very much needed as we live in the world and as we are capable of getting of all them; it is not a fault to have these things and necessary and available comforts in life; the only question of God is whether we are really spending our life for that which is real bread and the bread that satisfies us. Are we really happy in life with all that we have and we are doing? We have to question ourselves sincerely;
o Secondly there is a solution for the many ‘dissatisfactions’ of our life and the only way we need for our ‘true liberation’ is that which God proposes. He asks us first of all ‘to listen’ to him carefully, like Mary in Bethany, and then ‘to eat’ what is good and lasting, the bread that comes from heaven and the food that God himself provides us; therefore, ‘liturgy of the word’ and ‘liturgy of the bread’ are the solutions for our unending displeasures.
o This is what we have to seek for and for this we have to spend all our energies and our capacities: to participate in the marvelous work of God in front of our eyes, the Eucharist in which we are given the ‘word’ and ‘bread’ that satisfy our hunger and thirst and that makes us reach the true path.
- We have to capture the sight of God before we miss it (v.6): the verse reminds us the truth that it is not we who really search for God but it is He who searches for us and who makes himself closer to us and thus it is call for us to be attentive and observing ‘his presence’ near and in us: “seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near”.
o God makes himself ‘one of us’: from the beginning it is God who is in search of men; from his first question of seeking ‘Adam where are you’ and until now it is He who makes himself known to us; ultimately he comes down to the earth ‘searching for the lost men’ ( I have to come to seek and save the lost – Luke 19:10); His ultimate nearness to us as ‘God-with-us’ is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ amongst us; he knows our preoccupations; he knows what are searching for; he knows that we spend our time and energy to seek something else; he knows that man neglects his capacity to know him and to come near him; therefore, he himself comes closer to man and makes his presence felt by him;
o We have to move into him: now is the time for us to respond to this nearness of God; we have to ‘seek’ him with the sincere heart; we have to call upon him often so that we receive his answers for our life;
o Baptism is time for us to ‘find him’ and to ‘accept him’ and finally to enter into his life.
- Allowing the power of the word, the spirit, work in our hearts (v.10): the verse encourages to leave a space for the operation of the presence of God: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater”.
o The purpose and power of rain is to make a ground/soil bear fruit: the word that comes from God is in the same way enters deeply into the heart of men and tills the will – that is, making it sharpen to accept its presence – and finally makes it fruitful in following his ways. Otherwise its purpose and power are in vain; it makes even the barren ground flourish; it is so powerful that it cuts through and goes deep like that of double edged sword and cleans it and implants its goodness and charity;
o We have to prepare a space for it: God is always willing to enter into our hearts; he sent his Son so that he goes deep inside our hearts, indwells there, and makes our life a really Christian; he pours out his Spirit upon us and the Spirit’s work is continuous even though thorns of our indifferences, stone of our hardness of heart try to block it; at the end the spirit prevail and makes the love sprout from the heart that was senseless and spiritless;
o In fact, Jesus through his baptism enters into the waters of Jordan symbolically but more than that he enters in each and every recipient of baptism and remains there until bear much fruit and we shall remember his own words: ‘I speak to you these things so that you may bear the fruit and the fruit remains forever’ (John 15:1-11).

Second Reading: In true faith we can be the conquerors of the world

- Love is the Letter and Character of John: John’s particular character of his gospel or his epistles is: love. He views God as the God of Love and he goes little further and says ‘God is Love’; it is from this back ground we have to read each and every phrase of his writings; all that God does is the manifestation of his love in his Son and in his Spirit;
- In Love God has generated us: another truth that we have to understand is ‘with the revelation of love by regenerating his Son Jesus into the world’ he has opened the possibility so that all those who participate in this love become ‘regenerated’ in and by Him with the merits of loving sacrifice of His Son and with the sanctifying grace of His Spirit. We have to carry with us this reality as long as we are Christians that ‘we are generated into the world by our parents’ and in baptism and in faith ‘we are regenerated into the heavens by the love of God’.
- In faith we win the world: once we participated or become part of regenerating love of God we are capable of conquering the world because we are filled with the ‘power’ of Jesus who is victorious on the dominion of sin, evil and death and we are the indwelling temples of the ‘presence’ of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16 – “Do you not know that ou are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”) and the Spirit who always battles against all forms of evil that drags us always out of grace and out of love like a roaring lion (1Pt 5:8 – “Discipline ourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith”). Thus in faith and in love we can always confront these situations of temptation and spiritual battle and finally win over the powers of the world;
- We stand above the world: we are called to be in the world but not of the world; we do not belong to the world though physically we are confined to this earth; as Christians we have an vocation: standing above the world and its implications; passing through the desires and pleasure of the world that surround us but without ‘stopping’ ourselves; we continue our spiritual journey in spite the attacks from every part of the human sphere and in every form of its pressure; we are capable of moving ahead only because we are regenerated by God in the Word and in the Spirit which took place in the event of our baptism of faith; we have to always bear this in mind and in heart: our identity as ‘regenerated’ by God and our mission as ‘standing’ above the world;

Gospel: ‘You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’ is God’s voice for us today

- Baptism of Jesus reveals His mission of love, of humility and of sacrifice:
o We will understand the gospel from its exegetical explanation so that we have also the possibility of participating in his ‘person’ and in his ‘work’, that is, in his identity of being a Beloved Son of God and in his mission of setting out for the fulfillment of His Will;
o He allowed himself to be baptized (v.9): Jesus came to the river Jordan and placed himself in the line of sinners, in the middle of his people, as though sharing all that they have, and asks John to give him the same rite as he was doing for others; though in the beginning John hesitated with his unworthiness before his greatness, once Jesus assured him that it has to be done in this way for now, then he has given him the baptism; Jesus permits himself to be in the condition of sinners (Rom 8:3) because he has humbled himself as a mere man (Phil 2:6-7) and undergoes the baptism of John; this baptism of Jesus is an announcement of his death on the cross (Mk 10:38);
o here we have another important virtue to learn: love that lowers itself for others; here we find the manifestation of the greatness of God-Love; but manifests in the manner which is contrary and incomprehensible to the mind of man; it is a greatness of love that is manifested in the act of humility, in the act of lowliness, in the act of utter degradation; He allows himself to be baptized, that is, to be immersed, in the waters of Jordan; we have to keep in mind two points here:
 Firstly, ti is not that Jesus was in need of baptism but he willed it; he allowed it; he permitted it; he desired it; he has surrendered himself completely to the design of God; all this is in response to the man who is self-satisfied with his limited and arrogant understanding of the world and himself and to the man who pretends to be in no way need of God; only in self-diminishing/ ‘humbling oneself’ that one can really feel and find the presence and power of God. The modern man is content with his technological developments and scientific progress and thus thinks in the pride of his capability that he can travel above the heavens; in this self arrogance he does not find any more time and space for the thought God and need of God. For this kind of attitude of man, Jesus’ love which is manifested in his humility gives an answer and makes him to realize the futility of the passing things and instills in him the desire to reach God;
 Secondly, Jesus reveals to the maximum his divine filial relationship to God: he proclaims himself in the silence of the human line and in the hidden gesture of being baptism that he is the Son of the One who has sent him and he is there to do everything for His glory; it also reminds us to bear always in our hearts that we are the children of God and thus we have the responsibility of obeying his word with total self-sacrificing love and thus manifest our filial bond that we have with God.
o The heaven were torn open (v.10): this imagination signifies that the communication is an act and that there is a communication between the heaven and the earth, between God and men; this kind of invocation previously appears in Isaiah 64:1: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down”; and again at the hour of the death of Jesus there would be mentioning of the veil that is torn open which signifies that with the breaking opening the hurdle in the temple there is open also a possibility for the new communication between the heaven and earth (the veil in the temple represents the firmament of heaven).
o Spirit of tenderness and sacrifice in the form of a dove: the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove helps us to comprehend the sense of the mission entrusted to the one who is ‘sent’ of God;
 the figure of a dove is in contrast to the imagination of an ‘eagle’ (Ex 19:4 and Deut 32:11) that has directed the marching of the people of Israel in Exodus to the promised land through the passage into the desert and into the waters of Jordan;
 the figure of a dove also reminds us of the ‘spirit of God’ hovering over the waters in the beginning and at the work of creation (Gen 1:2);
 the figure of a dove would also refer to the dove that Noah has sent out in the time of deluge, the great flood (Gen 8:8-12) and Peter connects it to the image of baptism of the purified humanity which has come out of waters (1 Pt 3:20-21);
 again, if we analyze the understanding of Hebrews of the image of a dove we get the complete meaning of it; they consider dove as an expression of sweetness, love and tenderness and in the same time they recall the idea of cry and suffering; this final impression come from the fact that the dove is the only suitable bird for being offered in the sacrifice.
o Therefore, the image of a dove orients Jesus towards a mission of love, of weakness, and of sacrifice.
o Beloved Son is realized in being ‘servant of the Lord’ (v.11): this verse that ‘you are my beloved son; with you I am well please’ sends us back to the Psalm 2:7 in which God affirms says to the Psalmist ‘you are my Son; today I have begotten you’ and the adjective of ‘beloved’ is used to constitute an allusion to the Isaac who was destined to the sacrifice (Gen 22:2, 12, 16 and Heb 11:17-19). This indicates that Jesus is the unique Son and that his relation to the Father is a relation of love. The last words of the phrase, “with you I am well pleased” are taken from the songs of the ‘Servant of the Lord” (Is 42:1) because Jesus is the servant of God who will fulfill his mission in the suffering and in the sacrifice;
o Therefore, the baptism of Jesus, through the various images, words, allusions, declares the sense of the mission given to Jesus: a mission of sweetness and love, which has to be realized through the humility of suffering and death and through which alone he enters into the kingship of the world.

- Baptism of Jesus reveals the reality of the Trinitarian God at work in every event of salvation:
o Our Christian faith confirms and proclaims that our God is Triune and three persons who are the ‘communion of reciprocal love’; in love three become one; theology also elaborates this truth by saying that ‘in love which is the binding force of union each person of the Trinity moves towards the other two with complete self-offering and with the total openness to be filled by others’. It becomes a play of love; in love there is total self-giving and total receptiveness; in love there are no conditions; in love there are no limits; in love there are no boundaries; therefore in perfect giving and receiving each stands before the others: because of love and it is for this reason we say that ‘God is Love’.
o In every event that God intends and brings into realization there is the presence of the Triune God: in the act of creation – there is the Creator, the Word he utters and the Spirit who hovers over the waters: and we say it is an act of the Father in the Son and in the Spirit; in the act of incarnation – there is the Father who wills and makes his Son enters into the world, the Son Jesus who obeys the Father and makes himself to appear in human form and the Spirit who makes this will of the Father and the incarnation of the Son possible with his power; now in the event of Baptism – there is the Son who stands there for the baptism, the Voice of the Father who testifies him as the Beloved Son, and the descent of the Spirit in the form of a dove; in this way, the Baptism of Jesus reveals the presence of the Trinity in the work of renewal of human being through the grace of baptism.

Conclusion:

- In the baptism we become the children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, members of the Church and indwelling place of the Spirit and the instruments of grace to others;
- In the baptism we are immersed into the mystery of Christ:
o into the mystery of incarnation of Jesus where we learn the act of ‘total humility of the self’,
o into the mystery of proclamation of the kingdom of God where we learn the act of ‘committed research into the depths of the principles of God’s will’,
o into the mystery of passion and death where we learn the act of ‘utter commending of the life’,
o at the end, into the mystery of resurrection where we learn the act of ‘testimony of new life’.
- In the baptism we participate in the death of Jesus and thus rise to new life; our life is transformed and our mission is reformed;
- Therefore, we have to carry with us always this truth that ‘in baptism we become children of God because we belong no more to the world but to God’, and that therefore, we have the responsibility of living a life of true children; thus on the one hand, let us enjoy our identity of ‘God’s chosen children and on the other hand, let us also enjoy our mission of suffering and sacrifice in love.