With Jesus at the Jordan

From the sidelines we have watched the engagement and recent marriage of a young couple in our parish. They stood apart from others as a couple not only truly in love with each other, but also with the Lord. Converted to the faith, their zeal for their faith was evident by their actions: caring for others, growing in knowledge of the Lord, and joyfully sharing their faith with all.

We smiled at their expressions of piety, patted them on the back as they announced their engagement - he was so proud, she blushing with hope. Filled with expectations, looking within their hearts, they prepared, facing each decision and difficulty with courage, determination, faith and hope. We whispered a prayer as he received reconciliation just before the wedding feast. Vowing to live a Christian life, being as Christ to one another, they received Christ in the Eucharist “as a people of his own who are zealous to do good deeds.” We rejoiced in their happiness as we viewed their wedding pictures.

Reading the baptism of Jesus, I see the similarities to the young couple. The Church is described as “the bride of Christ.” At the wedding feast we, the Church, are united with Christ through love and grace coming from the Spirit of God who is Love. He is the initiator, the bridegroom; we are given the freedom to answer ”yes or no.”

Christ came of age, old enough to know all his consent would entail. The Jordan was his engagement event. Jesus publicly announces his mission, his vocation, his love, and he accepts fully the will of his Father for his life, accepting even death for our sins. He is completely reconciled to the Father’s will.

He is acknowledged, anointed, and blessed by the Father through the Third Person of the Trinity, seen by all in the form of a dove. By immersing himself into the Jordan, he humbles himself, emptying himself, accepting all our sins, much as the young couple agrees to accept the will of the Father through all of life’s joys and sorrows. Rising from the water, Jesus anticipates and leads all men into the Resurrection, the joy of our life. Each life is transformed; old lives, old habits, old sins left behind as each is changed into a new creation, a new joining together in love with each other and the Lord.

We do not have to be on the sidelines, no longer onlookers, but participants, only if we choose.