Baptism of Jesus
In the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year A, the Liturgy of the Word echoes the voice of God. In the first reading, God presents his Son saying: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.” In the Gospel of Matthew, God declares: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew describes how Jesus stands in line with sinners to be baptized with them. John recognizes him as the Messiah and tries to prevent him baptizing Jesus, but Jesus insists: “Let it be so for now; it is proper for us to fulfil all righteousness.”
Jesus is presented as the one who fulfils Isaiah’s prophecy. In fact, in the New Testament, Jesus is the Christ because he alone fulfils the many prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah.
He is the Messiah because he fulfils “all righteousness.” What does it mean to fulfil “all righteousness”? In the biblical context, righteousness means establishing right relationships according to God’s plan: relationships of fraternity, of fairness, bonds that generate life. By being baptized, Jesus wishes to show his solidarity with humanity, to establish bonds of fraternity and fairness with his brothers and sisters. Immediately after his baptism, Jesus comes up from the water and “the heavens were opened for him.” This apocalyptic expression indicates communication between God and humanity. It is an intimate experience (“for him”), not visible to all, in which Jesus feels the Spirit of God descending upon him. In other words, he feels within himself the full strength of God’s love. He will establish justice on earth, free prisoners from captivity, and bring light to those who dwell in darkness.
Jesus fulfils this righteousness by allowing himself to be baptized. Therefore, the heavens open for him; he sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting upon him; he hears the voice from heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus will be the Messiah who, through his actions and choices, will accomplish the Father’s plan. The Father, in turn, confirms his total love for the beloved Son and his joy in Jesus’ obedience, as he begins his public mission. The opening of heaven indicates that, with Jesus, the dialogue of salvation between God and humanity begins anew and will never be closed again.
With the baptism of Jesus, a new era begins for humanity: the era in which the Son of God acts in history. Everything Jesus will accomplish throughout his ministry will be of great importance, because it will be done by the very Son of God. A new era has begun under God’s power, in which all his plans will be fulfilled. It will be an era of fraternity, because in Jesus we are all brothers and sisters. He, the Son of God, became the brother of every person immersed in the waters of sin, of every person anointed by the Spirit, of every person who hears the words “you are my son.”
The Baptism of Jesus is closely linked to our own. Jesus takes upon himself our needs. We are beggars of the love of God, our Father. You and I can also imitate Jesus: going out to take on the needs of others. This is how we can lift others up: not by judging, not by telling them what to do, but by drawing near, by sharing, by sharing the love of God.
The missionary disciple is called to imitate Christ, and a concrete way of doing so is to care for the needs of others rather than our own. To go out of ourselves, to look at the one in need, who requires our attention, our time, our smile, and so on. Let us imitate Christ by lifting our gaze to our neighbour. This is the path to true happiness, for ‘there is more happiness in giving than in receiving’ (cf. Acts 20:35).