“This is my beloved Son…”
The feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings to a close the Christmas season in which we meditate on the Son of God resting in the crib. The crib symbolizes our hearts, which should be a resting place for God. During the Advent season, we prepare the crib of our hearts to receive the Son of God. During the Christmas season, we rejoice that God has humbled Himself to rest in the crib of our hearts:
We ought to have prepared the way of the Lord during the weeks of Advent; and if so, our hearts have conceived him: therefore now our good works must bring him forth, that thus our heavenly Father, seeing not us ourselves, but his own Son Jesus now living within us, may say of each of us, in his mercy, what he heretofore said in very truth of the Incarnate Word: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [1]
When is the first time we see Jesus as an adult in public? We first see Jesus in public ministry when John baptizes Him. “Jesus’ public life begins with his Baptism by John in the Jordan.” [2]
Who were “all the people” who got baptized? All the other people were the sinners who came to repent for their sins. “Tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes – come to be baptized by him.” [3]
Why did Jesus have to be baptized? The baptism by John was a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus had no sin, and thus there was no need for baptism. He was not baptized for His sake, but rather for our sake. It was necessary that His Sacred Body be plunged into the water of the Jordan, so that the waters of Baptism would be forever pure, forever holy. By His Baptism He makes the water holy for us. He takes part in Baptism as a sign of accepting his mission to come as God’s suffering Servant:
He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ Already he is anticipating the ‘Baptism’ of his bloody death. Already he is coming to ‘fulfill all righteousness,’ that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father’s will: out of love he consents to this Baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father’s voice responds to the Son’s acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to ‘rest on him.’ Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his Baptism ‘the heavens were opened’ – the heavens that Adam’s sin had closed – and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation. [4]
It is only through Baptism that we can understand what it means to be a son or daughter of God and have the grace necessary to be made worthy of that name. “Certainly he [Jesus] comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.” [5]
Why use water for Baptisms? Water is used for Baptisms because it is an external means to symbolize the washing of our soul. When we want to clean our hands we wash them with water. When we want to wash our bodies we take a shower or bath. Through the waters of Baptism, our souls are cleansed. Water is an essential part of our existence. It covers over 70% of this planet, and up to 60% of our body weight is water. Also, God created the waters at the beginning of creation, which shows that it is a necessary component for life.
What is happening at the Baptism of Jesus? What is happening at our Baptism? Jesus, Who clothes himself in humanity, takes that sinful humanity into the waters. Sinful humanity is buried in the water, but rises as a new creation in Christ. “Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him.” [6] Jesus is one person with two natures, human and divine. He takes our fallen human nature into the waters. The weight of fallen humanity would cause any sinner to drown. God alone can carry the weight of fallen humanity into the waters, without humanity drowning.
At the same time that humanity is being buried in the waters, the waters are being touched by the divine nature of Jesus, and thus the waters are sanctified “for our sake and in readiness for us.” [7] When we are baptized in the sanctified waters, we are made holy by the removal of original sin and the infusion of grace. The stain of original sin can only be removed once, which is why we profess only one Baptism. The waters of Baptism, made holy by the Son of God, await us. There is only one Baptism. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). Our Baptism is therefore one and the same as the Baptism of our Lord. We profess at Mass the Nicene Creed in which we state, “I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” It is in this one Baptism that our sinful humanity is buried, and we rise a new creation with Christ. We are touched by the waters, and now as “sons” and “daughters” we are “called to the one hope that belongs to your call” (Ephesians 4:4). We are called to be holy, as Christ is holy. We are called to heaven, and heaven is now possible. “The heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open.” [8]
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own Baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved son in the Son and ‘walk in newness of life’. [9]
The Christian’s life is a life of living out our baptismal vows. Our assimilation to Jesus and our walking in the “newness of life” need to be made manifest to the world. People should be able to see in our life that we are Christian in thought, word, and deed. This newness of life is not just a change from the “old,” but freshness and light to a world which so easily becomes stale and dark. In the so-called “culture of death,” the Christian and his “newness of life” give both hope and witness of Christ, Who says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Our Lord says this while sitting on the thrown of Heaven. It is at our Baptism that He comes to sit on the thrown of our heart and says to us, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).
How are we united with Christ in our Baptism? Since Christ is the “Son,” we too are born again in Baptism and become a “son” and “daughter” of God. As Saint Gregory of Nazianzus said, “Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him...” [10] “By Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an ‘adopted son’ he can henceforth call God ‘Father,’ in union with the only Son.” [11] Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are made “sons” of God, and God can say the very same words to us as He said to Jesus at His Baptism, “This is my beloved son” (Matthew 3:17). “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). We are a son or daughter of God because we have believed and accepted that the Son of God lives within us. This belief and acceptance first happened at our Baptism. God the Father sees the life of His beloved Son within our hearts. We have made a place for the Son of God in our hearts. Saint Augustine says, “The only Son of God became a son of man to make men sons of God.” [12]
Do we believe God when He says to us, “This is my beloved Son”? We should believe God when He says “This is my beloved Son” in reference to Jesus at His Baptism. “This is the manifestation (“Epiphany”) of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.” [13] This title tells us so much, but above all it tells us that we are precious and of value in the eyes of God, even if we do not feel precious or valued in the eyes of the world.
$20 bill
A young lady in her early to mid-twenties was traveling on an airplane, and was bumped up to first class. She had never been in first class, and did not know what to expect. When she entered the first class portion of the aircraft, everyone was quiet and kept to himself. She herself proceeded to sit down and stayed quite. Then she noticed that those around her seemed to be curious about why she was in first class. Usually people in first class are older, or on business. Maybe the only time a young person flies first class is if they are famous, such as a singer or actor. The man next to the lady continued to act curious, so she decided to ask him, “You don’t know who I am do you?” The man was now very curious and had to apologize that he did not know who she was. She continued and said, “I can’t believe you don’t know who I am?” After making the man wait for a while, she said, “I am a daughter of God.”
This story illustrates that in the eyes of others, we are valued by what we have or what we are, not who we are. Which is more important? Being a daughter of God is much more important that being a celebrity, but people notice us so often for what we are or what we have, rather than who we are.
Why do we sometimes feel that we are of no value? This same young lady gave an analogy of a $20 bill, and how no matter what you do to a $20 bill, it still has value. She asked a volunteer to come to the front and asked if the person wanted the $20 bill, and of course, they said yes. She then crumpled the bill up and asked the person if they still wanted it, and the person said yes. She then took the crumpled bill and stuffed it in her sock, walked around on it, took it out, and asked if the person still wanted it. They said yes. She then stuck the crumpled, stinky bill in her mouth and began to chew on it. When the person was asked if they wanted it, they still said yes. Finally she uncrumpled the $20 bill, and in front of the person, ripped off about one-fourth of the bill. They still wanted it.
Why did the person still want the $20 bill? Because it still had value. In our lives we are crumpled up sometimes; we stink from our sin; we even feel as if we have been chewed up and spit out, and sometimes the pain is so intense we feel ripped into pieces. Even with all of that, we, like the $20 bill, still have value. We have value primarily because we are created in the image and likeness of God. It is to God Himself, our Creator, to Whom we ask, “be my helper and my deliverer,” [14] and “keep us, Lord, as the apple of Thine eye,” [15] and “shelter us under the shadow of Thy wings.”. [16] It is God, our loving Creator and Father, Who helps us and delivers us, Who has us always in His loving eyes, and shelters us under the shadow of His wings. We have value because He has claimed us as His own, by making us His “son” or His “daughter,” through our Baptism. There is no greater value.