As we come to the end of the Christmas season we now begin the new year with the first week of Ordinary Time in the Church’s liturgical calendar. And it is appropriate that we begin with Jesus getting baptized by John the Baptist at the Jordan River. John the Baptist, the voice crying out in the wilderness, is confronted by the Word made flesh. The one who baptizes with water is approached by the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. And John protests: “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”
Jesus’ reply reveals everything: “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
Why does the sinless Son of God submit to a baptism of repentance? He is not confessing sin. He is consecrating a pattern. In this one, humble, flesh and water act, Jesus lays out the entire roadmap for the Christian life — a life lived in the Spirit of God. This pattern is set for each of us. Jesus shows us the Way, for He is the Truth that leads us to eternal life.
Jesus descends into solidarity with us. Jesus does not stay on the distant shore of holiness, shouting instructions. He wades into the muddy, crowded waters of our human condition. He joins the line of sinners, the anxious, the hopeful, the broken. By doing so, he sanctifies all water – and by extension, all material creation. And more importantly and profoundly, he sanctifies our humanity. He declares that God’s saving work begins not with escape from our flesh, but within it. Our baptism, our life in the Spirit, then, does not begin by fleeing the world, but by embracing our place within it, offering our real, messy lives to God right where we are.
The word baptism means to submerge. When we are baptized we die and begin our new life in the resurrected life of Christ. The Gospels tell us that as Jesus “was praying, heaven was opened.”. For us, this is the critical turn. The life in the Spirit is not a vague spiritual feeling, but a relational reality born of prayer. The barrier between the divine and human is breached by grace.
In baptism we are anointed for a mission. The Holy Spirit descends like a dove. This is not a private moment. In the Old Testament, the Spirit anointed kings, prophets, and priests for a task. And the Father’s voice proclaims the identity that defines the mission: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Before Jesus does anything in his public ministry, he hears who he is: Beloved. Empowered by the Spirit, he will now move into the wilderness to be tested, to preach, to heal, to serve, to love, and to sacrifice.
Yes, this is the pattern of our lives. We go into the real waters of our lives: work, family, the struggles, the joys, … Offer all things to God. Start where you are, not where you wish to be. In the midst of it, pray. Lift your heart. It is there, in openness, that the heavens are opened. The Holy Spirit is with you.
And what does the Spirit do? The Spirit imprints on your heart the same word spoken to Jesus: “You are my beloved child.” Your primary mission is to believe this, to live from this identity. Then, empowered by that love, you are sent — to your home, your workplace, your school, … wherever you day takes you. You are to live as a priest (blessing), prophet (speaking the truth), and king (ordering things with love), to resist temptation, to offer comfort, to be an instrument of God’s presence and love to the world.
Your own baptism was not just a ceremony. It was your insertion into this pattern Jesus Christ presents us with. Today’s Feast day is Jesus being baptized by John at the Jordan. Let us reaffirm our own baptism. Wade into the day with a humble heart. Lift your heart in prayer. Listen to the voice that speaks from above: “You are beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
St. Jude, pray for us ~ Blessings,
Fr. Ryan