Word to the Wise
Friday, January 6, 2023 - Jan. 6 (if Epiphany is Jan. 7 or 8)
[1 John 5:5-13 and Mark 1:7-11 or Luke 3:23-38 or Luke 3:23, 31-34, 36, 38,286]Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, and the Spirit is truth. So there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. [1 John 5:5-13]
The "baptism" of Jesus (John 1:32-34) and the flow of blood and water from Jesus' side on the cross (John 19:34) seem to "bracket" the life of Jesus in the Gospel According to John. The reference to water and the Spirit arises again, after the baptism, in the encounter with Nicodemus (3:5) and the encounter with the Samaritan woman (4:13) Water also plays a role at the marriage feast of Cana (2:1-11) and the encounter with the man born blind (9:1-41) in which Jesus works a "sign."
The Christian community did not take long to adopt the practice of baptism as a definitive element in establishing Christian identity (much as circumcision did for male Jews). In the Gospel According to John, baptism becomes a "testimony" to the Spirit working in the life of the believer. The task of the disciple is to bear witness and to lead others to truth and belief in Christ.
The New Evangelization inaugurated by Pope St. John Paul II is meant to awaken the apostolic nature of baptism that can easily be forgotten once the ceremony is over and the certificate issued! Pope Francis has reminded us of the necessity of becoming "missionary disciples." Some have done this at the cost of their lives - a witness in blood! In the Bible, blood is the source of physical life. The flow of water and blood from Jesus' side on the cross as we see it on crucifixes, is a reminder to us of what baptism may entail. The First Letter of John gives us an early reflection on this. AMEN