The feast of Baptism of the Lord marks the conclusion of Liturgical Christmas Season to begin Ordinary Time, which will have an extended interval of Lenten Season, Paschal Triduuu, and Paschal Season, from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost Sunday, to resume the rest of Ordinary Time.
We began Liturgical Year on First Sunday of Advent
to begin preparing ourselves for the Nativity of the incarnated Christ. Our
preparation for this, after 2.000 years of this event that we celebrate, is to
welcome the incarnated Christ at his arrival into our hearts, not a
manger. For this preparatory season, we
mainly worked on our hearts to be fit to be welcoming place for Christ.
During our Advent preparation (Advent season), for
two Sundays in row, the Second and Third Sundays of Advent, we listened to the
words of John the Baptist and reflected on him, as well as his role, as the
heralding man of the way of Christ (Mark 1:1-8; John 1:6-8, 19-28, for Cycle B).
For this reason, he called us to repent and be baptized as our preparation for
the coming of the incarnated Christ, whose birth was prophesized by his father,
Zechariah, as the daybreak from on high (Luke 1:78-79), upon speaking of his
son, John, as prophet of the Most High to go before the incarnated Christ to
prepare the way for Christ (Luke 1:76). And giving knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of sins is how Zachariah’s son, John the Baptist
prepares the way of Christ (Luke 1:77). And, John the Baptist testified to
Christ, the light, so that people may believe in Christ through his testimonies
(John 1:6-8), as the voice crying out in the wilderness, identifying himself as
the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 (John 1:23).
Then, during Christmas Season, from the solemn feast
of the Nativity of the Lord on until this day of the feast of the Baptism of
the Lord, we celebrate the unfolding mystery of the incarnation of Christ. In
this season of celebration, we reflect the progressive theophanies from newborn
baby Jesus at his birth to 30-year-old Jesus at his baptism, including
Epiphany, which is a theophany in which baby Jesus, the incarnated Christ,
appeared to and seen by Gentiles, for the first time, to signal for the
establishment of Christ’s Church as “holy, catholic (universal)”, as in the
Apostles Creed, and “holy, catholic, apostolic”, as in the Nicene Creed.
Until a grown-up Christ incarnate in Jesus came to
the banks of the Jordan River in Judea, where John the Baptist was preparing
for the way of Christ’s coming, the incarnated Christ had been rather in
obscurity, except to the shepherd who came to witness at his Nativity, Simeon
and Anna who recognized baby Jesus as the prophesized Messiah at his
Presentation, and the Magi who came and paid homage to at Epiphany. However,
upon his Baptism, Jesus, the incarnated Christ, is no longer in obscurity. From
this point on, he is in public, making himself easily seen by those who
believe. So, as his Passion began to be intensified, Jesus said, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have
always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing”(John 18:20).
The Baptism of the Lord signifies the beginning of
Jesus’ public ministry, making himself seen to anyone, who repent and reconcile
and believe. But, to those who stubbornly refuse to do so, Jesus was seen as
blasphemer, who deserve to be executed.
While John the Baptist baptized people to wash away
sins with water as a sign of penance (Mark 1:5), the First Reading (Isaiah 42:1-4,
6-7) reminds us that Baptism is not solely for penitential cleansing of sins
but a commissioning ritual to serve God. The first four verses of Isaiah 42 are
known as the servant song, along with Isaiah 49:1–6; Isaiah 50:4–7; and Isaiah
52:13–53:12, to remind how the incarnated Christ, the Son of God, born of Mary,
is to serve the will of God the Father (i.e. Mark 14:36).
The Baptism of the Lord, as described in the Gospel
Reading (Mark 1:7-11) is, indeed, to signal the fullness of time for the
incarnated Christ to be commissioned to initiate his service for the will of
the Father. And, what the service entails is reflected in the first four verses
of the First Reading (Isaiah 42:1-4), which make up the first segment of the
servant song in Isaiah. Then, in the latter half of the First Reading (Isaiah
42: 6-7), God speaks clearly why He let His Son be sent to us and incarnated in
the womb of Mary: to bring justice to the world, as a new covenant with us, and
to deliver us from the darkness of sins and ignorance, opening our eyes to
Christ, to enable us to experience “epiphany”, visible manifestation of the
incarnated Christ. This way, we can come toward Him through Christ (John 14:6).
Therefore, the Baptism of the Lord to commission the Son, the incarnated
Christ, is to bring us to Him through His Son’s pastoral service with his
teaching and healing, which follow his Baptism.
So, when the incarnated Christ in Jesus emerged out
of the water at his Baptism, the heavens torn-opened and God the Father spoke:
You are my beloved Son; with you I
am well pleased (Mark 1:11), preceded with descent of
the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:10). And, this voice of God from heaven at the Baptism
of Christ reflects these verses from the Responsorial Psalm:
The
voice of the Lord is over the waters, the Lord, over vast waters.
The
voice of the Lord is mighty; the voice of the Lord is majestic. Psalm 29:3-4
The Father in heaven
voiced His love and content with His Son with His mighty and majestic voice
over the water of Jordan River.
In Japan, there is a saying, “If you love your child, then, let him/her go on a journey”(Kawaii ko niwa tabi wo saseyo). It is a proverb for parents not to spoil their children just because they love but to let them go on their journeys so that they can learn something invaluable about the world and grow. But, for the Father in heaven to send His only begotten Son out of His love is not really for the Son to grow but for him to serve His will for us. God has sent His Son as the incarnated Christ as He so loves us (John 3:16) and as so He loves the Son (Mark 1:11). Knowing that the Son’s readiness and commissioning to embark on his public ministry into his Passion and Death and Resurrection, the Father in heaven was well pleased and affirmed His love for the Son. The commissioning aspect of his Baptism was indicated with the descent of the Holy Spirit on him (Mark 1:10). And Peter reminds that John the Baptist regarded the Baptism of Christ as anointing with the Holy Spirit and power by the Father (Acts 10:38), as in the Second Reading (Acts 10:34-39). And Christ’s anointment with the Holy Spirit at his Baptism (Mark 1:10; Acts 10:38) leads to Pentecost, on which we as disciples are baptized with the Holy Spirit, as indicated by John the Baptist (Mark 1:7-8), echoed by Christ’s foretelling of Pentecost (John 14:15-27).
So, now you do not need to wonder why Jesus needed
to be baptized by John the Baptist even though he had no sin at all. It is not
because he is also fully human. For Jesus, the incarnated Christ, Baptism was a
commissioning ritual to mark the beginning of his public ministry, which is
reflected in Isaiah 42:1-4. And, the Father in heaven was well pleased to see
His Son at his commissioning with his Baptism (Mark 1:10) because his Baptism
means he was about to serve His will (Isaiah 42:6-7). This is why the feast of
the Baptism of the Lord signals the transition from Christmas Liturgical Season
to Ordinary Time, through which we focus on Jesus’ public ministry, reflected
in Isaiah 42:1-4 and the Father’s intent of it (Isaiah 42:6-7).
The incarnated Christ was baptized by John the
Baptist to be anointed with the Holy Spirit by the Father as his official
commissioning to begin his public ministry according to the will of the
Father. And, our baptism, the Sacrament
of Baptism also reflects this, as we to have been baptized as the first
Sacrament of Initiation. It marks the initiation to be adopted into the family
of God, and for us to be inducted into God’s family by the Sacrament of Baptism
is to serve God’s will on each of us, empowered by the Holy Spirit, upon the
Sacrament of Confirmation, reflecting Pentecost. Upon receiving the Sacrament
of Baptism, we prepare ourselves for the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and
further prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation to be commissioned and sent
out, thus becoming apostolic, to serve the will of God on each of us, utilizing
gifts of the Holy Spirit uniquely bestowed on us.
Now the incarnated Christ, Jesus, has grown up and
has been baptized to be anointed to launch his public ministry in the Father’s
will. He is no longer in obscurity of Nazareth. Behold, it is the show time of
Jesus! From this point on, as reflected in Ordinary Time, the incarnated Christ
is always in public as he no longer has a place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20).
And, having been baptized and confirmed to follow Christ, neither do we. As we
begin Ordinary Time with Liturgical Christmas Season behind, let us follow
Christ in public without fear! It’s show time without being showy but humble,
as we are to shine, not to be hidden (i.e. Matthew 5:14-16).
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