Obeying the Will of God: Reflection for the Baptism of Jesus

The Christmas season ends with a great feast in the Roman Rite. The church commemorates Jesus's baptism in the Jordan by his cousin, John the Baptist.

Some reading about this wonder why this prophet foretold by many like Isaiah would have described him as God’s servant, “my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon

whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations.” He would continue to describe what he would do for the father. This beloved would be, “a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, / and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

St. Maximus of Turin also helped us to understand his Baptism differently. He reflects, “For by a new kind of consecration the water does not so much wash Christ as submit to being washed. Since the Savior plunged into the waters, he sanctified the outpouring of every flood and the course of every stream by the mystery of his baptism so that when someone wishes to be baptized in the name of the Lord, it is not so much the waters of this world that cover him but the waters of Christ that purify him.”

Let us, who have been baptized in him, listen to the voice that calls us beloved children and gives us work to do, the work of the Gospel proclaimed and lived in love for God and neighbor.

With Jesus, we have entered the waters of baptism; with Jesus, we have left the land of slavery to sin and death; with Jesus, we have risen as members of the body of the Word made flesh, whose coming we have celebrated during the season of Christmas and Epiphany now drawing to a close.

We now have a journey to make: let us follow the holy Lamb of God from death to life!