The Baptism of the Lord

Lectionary: 21

On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, 

“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Saint Mark will provide most of the gospel passages for our Sunday reflections this year. Scholars believe this shortest of the four gospels was written first. Saints Matthew and Luke used it as a foundation of their gospels, made minor adjustments to it, and added much material. Saint John chose a different tack. And, despite their differences, all four demonstrate remarkable agreement about the person, teachings, acts, and importance of Jesus. 

Saint Mark accentuates the extraordinary authority of Jesus amid his fatal isolation. No one is like him; no one understands what he is about. He enjoys a singular relationship to God which no one else may claim. He alone is the Messiah, but only he knows what the word means. No one can advise him or predict what he should do or will do. When Jesus tells his disciples what must happen in Jerusalem, they don't believe it. When it happens, they flee from him, hysterically denying they have ever known or associated with the man. 

In today's gospel about his baptism in the Jordan River, we should notice that only Jesus saw the heavens torn open, and the Spirit descending like a dove; only he heard the voice from heaven, "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased." 

The Speaker is apparently not so well pleased with anyone else. 

Baptism is, of course, familiar to every Christian. Through this initial rite of cleansing and drowning we enter the fellowship of the Church. Not only are we purified of the world's taint, we have died to its familiar attitudes and customs and been born to a new way of life. 

The Baptism of Jesus might not be our first impression about the ritual; it was there in Jewish religious customs before he was born; and Saint John used it both to condemn his contemporaries of sin and to recommit them to God's ways. He was preparing the way of the Lord, though exactly what that meant, and how it related to his cousin Jesus, might not have been so clear. 

Whatever John, or his Jewish people, or you and I thought of Baptism, it has been totally redefined by Jesus's entrance into the water, and his emergence from it. The baptized now are submerged in his isolation, incorporated into his body, and raised up again by the Spirit that descended upon him. A terrible beauty has been born in us which sets us apart and makes us suspect to our former friends, neighbors, and family. They don't know where we're coming from; nor do they see around us what we see. 

In today's second reading, Saint John tells us more about who we are, 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,

and everyone who loves the Father

loves also the one begotten by him.

In this way we know that we love the children of God

when we love God and obey his commandments.

Saint Paul adds, 

"For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body." 

And, "I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect."

We are still in the depths of a pandemic. But the end is in sight as several nations have developed effective vaccines. We should hope to emerge chastened by the discipline and prepared to make further sacrifices for our wellbeing, that of our neighbors, friends, and enemies, and the ecological world on which we depend. Baptism is not simply a second chance; it is a last chance. Let's not squander it.