Baptism of the Lord
Mark, Matthew and Luke narrate the baptism of Jesus differently. (John, the Evangelist, doesn't even refer to the event.) Part of the differences (or omission) can be explained by eventual tensions between the followers of Jesus and those of John the Baptizer.
John the Baptist wasn't a Christian in our sense of the term. He was a member of a community of Jews who had fallen out with the Temple authorities in Jerusalem in the years before the birth of Jesus. They went out into the Judean wilderness to prepare themselves for the arrival of the Messiah. They lived in caves overlooking the Dead Sea, at a place called Qumran. There they studied and copied Scripture, reflected on their wilderness experience and often submitted themselves to a form of baptism to demonstrate their dedication and openness to God's will. They expected the Messiah to come down from heaven and right the wrong that had been inflicted upon them and their leader. Jesus wasn't part of the Qumran community. But he certainly was a disciple of John, the most famous member of that group. The Baptizer fell back on his Qumran roots to preach a reform of Judaism; a ministry which eventually led to his death. Those faithful Jews, like Jesus, who also wished to demonstrate their dedication and openness to the Lord, willingly stepped into the Jordan to receive John's baptism.
Jesus' act of being baptized by John later fueled a conflict between the followers of each reformer. John's disciples claimed these upstart Christians were putting their faith in the wrong Messiah. John, not Jesus, was the anointed one. That's why, when one reads the gospels chronologically, less and less is said of Jesus' baptism. Mark describes it in detail; in Matthew's gospel, John originally refuses to do the baptism, Luke in today's extract, refers to it only in a dependent clause, and John the Evangelist never mentions it.
So how do we relate today's feast to our own particular journey, or search for God? Today's feast speaks to us at several different levels. It speaks to us of new beginnings. We have just celebrated new life through the birth at Bethlehem. The baptism of Jesus signaled the beginning of his public life. We are at the beginning of a new year. And, in commemorating the baptism of Jesus, we celebrate the new life we all received at the beginning of our own lives at our own baptisms. As human beings we are constantly in need of new beginnnings, we are constantly in need of renewal. That is the way we experience life. Unless an individual or a community renews itself on a regular basis, unless it is the constant recipient of new blood, it stagnates and eventually dies.
The refreshing water of baptism connects us to Jesus and refreshes our community. One scripture commentator expresses this connection very well when he wroe: "Every baptismal font is a tributary of the river Jordan. Every time a new member is baptised into our own community, the river Jordan flows through our parish. The waters of baptism make us holy, and proclaim to all who have the eyes to see it, that the life of God has been given to this child. The life of God flows amongst us."
The ceremony of baptism brings the parish community back to the very point and place in which they first encountered God through ritual and celebration. This little baby is leading them back to a significant place, to a holy place, to another 'new beginning'. Baptism is primarily a community event, a community rejoicing at the arrival of new life. Those of you who come to this Mass will have witness for yourselves many, many time how much baptism enlivens and enhances our liturgy here. It is actually an enjoyable event, and a joyful celebration.
Today's feast speaks to us very eloquently of the humanity of Jesus. Through submitting to the baptisms of John, Jesus signals his intention to enter fully into the entire range of human experiences. Many religious people visualise Jesus as constantly hedging his divine bets. Because of their understanding of his divinity, they present him as a sort of divine Houdini who could escape from any human experience at any time he wished. Today's feast gives to lie to that defective understanding of Christmas and the incarnation. Through immersing himself in the river Jordan, Jesus is signalling that nothing human will be avoided or reneged upon. This is no divine play-acting; He embraces human life in all its fullness.
Perhaps the most important layer of today's feast for us is that it serves as an invitation to revisit our own beginnings, a reminder of the baptismal promises made by our parents and godparents on our own behalf at our baptism. As Christians we are constantly recalled to the baptismal font, we are constantly invited to begin again, to renew ourselves, and to renew our commitment to the Christian way.