Word to the Wise
Monday, January 8, 2024 - Sunday after Epiphany: The Baptism of the Lord - ABC
[Isa 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Mark 1:7-11 or Luke 3:23-38 or Luke 3:23, 31-34, 36, 38,286]It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 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." [Mark]
MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024 THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD (usually the Sunday after Epiphany)
The solar and liturgical calendars this year make for an abrupt experience. We have just celebrated the arrival of the Magi to worship the newborn Jesus! The curtain closes overnight and opens this morning on an adult Jesus who appears to be a disciple of John the Baptist, but, in fact is recognized by John the Baptist as "One mightier than I!" Jesus undergoes the baptism of John but is encouraged in his future ministry by his Father and the Holy Spirit. The first readers of this Gospel According the Mark (the oldest of the four) would have been aware of Isaiah's prophecy: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me...." [Isaiah 61:1 et seq.] Jesus would quote this passage when he first tried to preach in Nazareth [Luke 4].
In short, all four gospels saw Jesus' baptism at the Jordan as the inauguration of his public ministry. The infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke were written in the light of the story of that ministry. The feast of the Baptism of the Lord can serve as a reminder to us of our own baptism as the inauguration of our own public ministry!!! We have to get off our knees from the manger scene and join Jesus in the challenge to "bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners...." Baby Jesus goes back into tissue paper in a box till next Christmas. Adult Jesus looks at us from the cross on the wall. What happens between those two events - the manger and the cross - happens not only to Jesus, but, as he promised, to all disciples. The message is simple: "Get moving!" AMEN