Word to the Wise
Monday, January 8, 2007 - THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
[Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7 or Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11 or Acts 10:34-38 and Luke 3:15-16]After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.
Perhaps the most intriguing question to be asked about this incident is the one which asks why it even took place at all! John preached a baptism of repentance. Why was Jesus there? Isn't that a bit like standing in the line outside the confessional (wherever those occur now!). If we saw Jesus in that line, what would we think or say? What are YOU doing here? Yet Jesus comes to John the Baptist and undergoes the baptism of repentance. The event of this baptism is seen as the inaugural event of Jesus' public ministry. But what does it mean? There are probably a number of interpretations. One of them is that this is the moment that Jesus' is identified as the Messiah. But that doesn't seem to have been communicated to the people who were there at the moment. Another interpretation would have it simply as the private communication between the Father and the Son which was communicated later on to the disciples by Jesus. One interpretation which I find helpful is by an Australian Trappist monk, Michael Casey, in his book: FULLY HUMAN, FULLY DIVINE - AN INTERACTIVE CHRISTOLOGY. He writes: "In assuming our humanity, Jesus embraces it in its totality. In coming to baptism, it is as our representative and the mysterious bearer of our collective guilt that Jesus seeks forgiveness......" Going down into the water and coming up again is a form of death and resurrection and this is precisely what happens to us in our own baptism. Perhaps this feast can help us to remember the importance of that event. AMEN
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