THEOPHANY: THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

Theophany: The Baptism of the Lord, What Does it Mean?

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
The mystery of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by St John, the Precursor, proposes the contemplation of an already adult Jesus. This mystery is infinitely linked to the Solemnities of the Lord’s birth and the Epiphany that we have just celebrated, as in some ways it takes up and represents their significance to us.
At Christmas we have contemplated the human birth of the Word incarnate by the Virgin Mary. In the 4th century, the Fathers of the Church deepened the understanding of the faith with regard to the Christmas mystery in the light of Jesus’ Humanity. They spoke of the Incarnation of the Word already working like the ‘Christification’ of that humanity that he had assumed from His mother. Or put in simpler terms: Jesus is the Christ from the first instant of conception in Mary’s spotless womb because He Himself, with His Divine Power, consecrated, anointed and ‘Christified’ that human nature with which He became incarnate.
In the mystery of the Epiphany, we then meditated on Christ’s manifestation to all nations that was represented by the Magi, the wise men from the East, who came to adore the Child.
Now, in the mystery of Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan River, we again encounter and represent the truth of the Lord’s incarnation and His manifestation as the Christ. Jesus’ Baptism is in fact His definitive manifestation as the Messiah or Christ to Israel, and as the Son of the Father to the entire world. Here we find the dimension of the Epiphany which was His manifestation to all nations. The Father’s voice from heaven shows that Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal Son and the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove shows the Trinitarian nature of the Christian God. The true and unique God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, shows Himself in Christ, through Him, with Him and in Him.
The Baptism in the Jordan returns to the great Christmas theme of ‘Christification’, Jesus of Nazareth’s spiritual anointing, His presentation as the Anointed One per excellence, the Messiah or the One sent by the Father for the salvation of mankind. The Spirit that descended on Jesus shows and seals in an incontrovertible way the ‘Christification’ of Jesus’ humanity that the Word had already fulfilled from the first moment of His miraculous conception by Mary.
The same Spirit, that descended on the water of the River Jordan wafted over the waters during the first creation. (Gen 1:2) Therefore, the Baptism in the Jordan presents yet another truth: that Jesus has started a new creation. He is the second man (1 Cor 15:47) or the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that comes to repair the first Adam’s guilt. He does this as the Lamb of God that takes away our sins. ‘Looking at the events in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people realised what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon His shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners.’ (J Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, Bloomsbury 2007, p18)
John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.
Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honor to the body that is one with God.
Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received - though not in its fullness - a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

The Baptism of the Lord has historically been associated with the celebration of Epiphany. Even today, the feast of Theophany, celebrated on January 6 by the Greek Orthodox Church as a counterpart to the Roman Catholic Feast of the Epiphany, focuses primarily on the Baptism of the Lord as the revelation of God to man. Why do we remember the Baptism of Jesus? The Church wants to stress through this liturgical feast the importance and significance of baptism in our Christian lives.
Through baptism, we not only become formal members of the institutional Church, which makes baptism the Rite of Initiation. By virtue of our baptism, we also are given a mission to proclaim the Good News of Salvation to all. That is why many theologians today regard baptism as a sacrament of commissioning, that is, through this sacrament, we are being sent to the world to announce the goodness of our Lord. It is precisely because of this that Jesus willed that He be baptized by John the Baptist. He did not need cleansing. He simply wanted us to realize that like Him, we, too, are called to evangelize. This is our baptismal calling.
As we remember today Jesus’ Baptism in the River Jordan, we call to mind our own baptism. We, too, have been called to proclaim the Good News of Salvation. May we all be faithful to that mission.

Today, I want to remember my baptism. I can’t actually remember it since I was just a few weeks old, but I can reflect on what that promise was meant to be. My parents made it for me then. And I have made it for myself many times, since then. I have promised to live my life in the light of Christ. What I remember today is the close relationship Jesus had with his father. He knew how much his father loved him, because he took the time to listen. I want to hear that voice of God calling me his beloved over and over again.

But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, "You are the beloved and on you my favour rests."... I want you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very deep place. It is soft and gentle. I want you to gradually hear that voice. We both have to hear that voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks the truth, our truth. It tells us who we are. That is where the spiritual life starts - by claiming the voice that calls us the beloved.

    DOES JESUS' BAPTISM EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM?

      1. Many refer to Jesus' baptism to explain the purpose of

         Christian baptism

         a. That our baptism has nothing to do with the remission of

            sins

         b. That our baptism is but a public profession of one's faith

         c. That our baptism is to publicly identify our relation to

            Christ, just as His baptism publicly introduced Him to

            Israel

      2. However, there is no Biblical connection made between Jesus'

         baptism and our own

         a. Christian baptism is for the remission of sins - Ac 2:38;

            22:16

         b. Christian baptism is a union with Christ in His death

            - Ro 6:3-7

         c. Christian baptism was often administered in relative

            privacy - Ac 8:35-38; 16:25-34

       No Biblical writer suggests that we are baptized for the same

         reason Jesus was!