HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi
It is the feast of the baptism of our Lord. This marks the end of the season of Christmas and brings to our consciousness the starting point of the ministry of Jesus. This feast reveals an indispensable epiphany (i.e. theophany) in the economy of salvation where God reveals Himself in the three persons that He is: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were present. Here, among us is God audible, visible and tangible. This baptism (Greek baptisein; immersion) was so important for Jesus and the early Christian community that the three synoptic writers reported it. It continues to be important for the Church today and for all of us.
WAS JOHN’S BAPTISM HELPFUL AT ALL?
1. All of a sudden, a voice was heard in the wilderness calling on people to repent and come back to the Lord. A lot of people had gone to see with their eyes the point John was trying to make. Many went to him with a lot of questions on what to do to make the way of the Lord straight. Very many too had gone to John for baptism since, according to him, baptism was the sign of the repentance. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, which according to some biblical scholar has been likened to the ritual cleansing of the Qumran community in Israel. (Qumram community was comprised of pious and ascetic members who being against politics became reclusive and entertained messianic hopes in Israel, and hoped for a new Jerusalem where God would be worshipped in the temple that He Himself would build). It is true that John called for confessions (Mark 1:5) and denunciation of sins (Luke 3:3), as a prerequisite for the cleansing at the baptism of repentance; this is similar to the sequence in the ritual cleansing of the Qumranic form.
2. However, John’s cleansing was spiritual unlike that of the Qumran that was physical. His was never a means to cleanse people of physical impurity, but a spiritual cleansing for the remission of sins. And so, it became known as a baptism of repentance. In the face of all these acts, many started to think that John was the Messiah. From this background can we understand that feeling of expectancy that grew among the people in the Gospel of today (cf. Luke 4:15-16:21-22). The baptism of John was for repentance, but beyond this, it was also one of preparation. It was a baptism that was meant to prepare the way of the Lord. It was a baptism that was meant just as the First Reading (Isaiah 40:1-5;9-11) says, to make a straight path for the Lord, fill in every valley, and level every mountain and hill. When all these are done, the glory of the Lord would then be revealed and all mankind shall see it. John came to prepare this glory of the Lord that was meant to be revealed in Christ. However again, His baptism even though preparatory was not yet a christian baptism. This is why John said: “I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” In other words, John knew his mission. He was not the Christ, but came as the contractor that made the road good for Christ.
BUT WHY DID JESUS GO TO BE BAPTISED BY JOHN?
1. Here comes the statement of the problem regarding the feast of the baptism of our Lord. It has been clearly said that John’s baptism was for repentance and preparation. Why then did Jesus get baptised even when he did not need repentance (since he was without any original or actual sin) and even though He was the one for which the people were prepared? Was it to please Mary His mother as some in the early Church suggested or just as Jesus said according to Matthew, to fulfil all righteousness (Matthew 3:15)? Remember, there was already a feeling of expectancy about the Christ. This feeling was because of John, but he knew that it was not he. John had prepared many people to meet the Christ. And people had begun to retrace their steps back to God. The time of the Messiah had finally come. Jesus knew this, that John’s message was a call to action. Yes, he knew quite well that he needed to identify with the people in this search for God. And so, he went in to be baptised; to identify with us in our search for Him. This is so that having identified with us in our search, he can move with us as one of us. Baptism becomes then necessary to live a holy life with Jesus. To be with Jesus then, there is the need for our own baptism. Baptism then is the sign of love and the search for holiness.
2. His hour had come. Christ then had struck at the appropriate time. The events that followed that baptism of Christ confirmed the Father and the Holy Spirit’s approval of this hour. After the baptism, while Jesus was at prayer, the heavens opened and the spirit descended in bodily shape like a dove and a voice was heard: You are my beloved son, my favour rests on you. This was a ground-breaking theophany. God has finally revealed Himself in His three persons. The baptism of Jesus was therefore the confirmation of the role of Christ as the Messiah -his identity. It was an event that confirmed in Jesus that it was now time to start off his ministry - his mission. By immersing himself in the waters of Jordan, Jesus sanctified the waters of creation with which we must be baptised. And so, the baptism of Jesus becomes a sort of Second Creation during which there was the presence of the Trinity as in the First Creation ‘in the beginning’. Through those waters, we shall be created anew in Christ.
OUR BAPTISM IN THE LORD TODAY
1. The baptism of Jesus foreshadows our own baptism. The baptism of Jesus was a pointer to his life, death and resurrection into glory. His Baptism during which there was an immersion inside the water marked the beginning of his mission which would of course involve dying on the cross and followed by the immersion in the grave. But fortunately, as the immersion in water was followed by an emergence into his mission, so also would the immersion in the grave would be followed by an emergence into glory after the resurrection. We die in Christ so as to rise in his glory. And as John said, He will baptise us with the Holy Spirit and fire. So, it is then by this cleansing water of rebirth that we are made clean today. God made sure that the waters of creation that was rendered impure by the original sin of the first parents would be purified by the original action of His impeccable Son, Jesus.
2. Therefore, the Baptism of Christ not only foreshadows our own baptism, but also assures our baptism in the Holy Spirit. We are renewed in the Spirit. In the Second Reading (Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7), Paul makes it known that our continuous salvation is assured by the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us in the Holy Spirit which Christ has generously poured on us through Jesus Christ our saviour, so that we might be justified by him and become heirs in the hope of eternal life. At our baptism, the Trinity that was present during Christ’s baptism takes its abode in our souls. At our baptism, the voice of the Father heard during Christ’s baptism makes us adopted sons and daughters of God; we become His beloved children. Could this not be the reason for the new names we bear at our baptism? Yes, to show that we have become adopted Children of God At our baptism, the Holy Spirit that came down in the form of a dove on Jesus descends into us to assist us with the struggles associated with our faith. Most necessarily, prayers must accompany our baptism. Remember, after his baptism, Jesus prayed. After our baptism as Christians, we too need to pray unceasingly. Prayer streamlines us and directs us not to fall out of our justification in righteousness; and in this sense, prayer becomes the continuous effort that helps to maintain the sanctity we have acquired during our baptism. Happy Feast Day. God bless you.
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