AMDG
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| A monument to the Baptism of our Lord on the shore of the River Jordan. |
Only
the Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe the Nativity narrative. However, all four Gospels describe the
Baptism of Jesus. John only mentions
that the word was made flesh and Mark does not mention the Nativity at
all. Both begin with St. John the Baptist
in the first chapter. All demonstrate
that John is preparing the people to meet the Son of God. Since parchment or skins were expensive, the hand
written Gospels had to be relatively short.
Thus the four evangelists did not go into much detail and would skip the
less important.
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A group of
pilgrims being baptized for the first time or as in our case a symbolic renewal
of our original Baptism with water from the Jordan River. Many are baptized by immersion. The priest, who accompanied our group from
Poland, baptized each one of us by pouring water from the River Jordan over our
heads and repeating the words of the sacrament. If a person is dying and no priest is
available, we can baptize the person.
When we were at the site where it is believed that St. John baptized
Jesus, a large group of Ukrainian Orthodox pilgrims had a baptismal service. According to our hotel clerk, the greatest
number of pilgrims come from Russia.
This shows that Our Lady’s prophesy at Fatima --that Russia will be
converted-- is coming true. The
conversion of Russia has begun!
The Role of John the Baptist. A man named John was
sent from God. He came for
testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through
him. He was not the light, but came to
testify to the light (John 1:6-8).
In
those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea (and)
saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand!"…….John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had
a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the
whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by
him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins (Matthew 3:1-6).
A biblical map of
ancient Palestine that shows how the River Jordan connects the Sea of Galilee
in the north to the Dead Sea in the south.
John
testified to Jesus Christ. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests
and Levites to ask him, "Who are you?", he admitted and did not deny
it, but admitted, "I am not the
Messiah." So they asked him,
"What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am
not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you, so we
can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for
yourself?" He said: "I am 'the voice of one crying out in the
desert, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as Isaiah the
prophet said."
Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, "Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not
recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy
to untie"
(John 1:19-27).
“I
am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me
is mightier than I. I am not worthy to
carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). John
(the) Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins. People of the
whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to
him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged
their sins (Mark 1:4-5).
As
Christ did in His public ministry, John also had dialogues with the
Pharisees. He boldly told them the way
it is: “Produce good fruits as evidence
of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as
our father', for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these
stones. Even now the ax lies at the root
of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire."
And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" He said to them
in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do
likewise."
Even tax collectors came to be
baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He
answered them, "Stop collecting
more than what is prescribed." Soldiers
also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?" He told them,
"Do not practice extortion, do not
falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages" (Luke 3:7-14; Matthew 3:7-10). Exhorting
them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people (Luke 3:18).
He (John) saw Jesus coming toward
him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sins of the world.
(The priest and the congregation repeat this phrase at every Mass.) He is
the one of whom I said, 'A man is
coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.' I did not know him, but the reason why I came
baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel"(John
1:29-31).
 A conventional baptism on the River Jordan. |
The
Baptism of Christ. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the
Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried
to prevent him, saying, "I need to
be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?" Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the
water and behold, the heavens were opened (for him), and he saw the Spirit of
God descending like a dove (and) coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:13-17). This is the first public manifestation or (an epiphany)
of the Blessed Trinity…….the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
John
the Baptist testified: "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from
the sky and remain upon him. I did not
know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'On whomever
you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with
the Holy Spirit.' Now I
have seen and testified that he is the Son of God" (John 1:32-34).
Later
after Christ chose His apostles and began His public ministry, John continued
his preaching and baptizing. After this, Jesus and his disciples went
into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because
there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John
had not yet been imprisoned.
Now a dispute arose between the
disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings. So they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you across the
Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to
him." John answered and said,
"No one can receive anything except
what has been given him from heaven. You
yourselves can testify that I said (that) I am not the Messiah, but that I was
sent before him. The one who has the
bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices
greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease" (John 3:22-30).
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A baptism by immersion in the River
Jordan.
Insights. The baptism by John was symbolic
of repentance. It did not forgive sins;
that had to wait until the Redemption by our Lord on Calvary. Christ did not need to be baptized. He asked to be baptized in order to stress
its importance and use it as a means for instituting the sacrament of Baptism that
cleans the soul of all sin and initiates the child or convert into the
faith. Christ stood in the water, which
was used to baptize sinners, symbolizing His taking upon Himself all the sins
of the world……past, present and future.
According
to the official Catechism of the Catholic Church (#438), “God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power that He might be revealed to
Israel as its Messiah. His words and works
will manifest Him as ‘Holy One of God.” We
see that the Father is pleased with the humility of His Son in His human nature
to submit to being baptized with sinners and being willing to submit Himself to
the will of God. May we always desire to
conform to the will of God for our lives.
The
meaning of the names “Jesus” as well as “Messiah” are savior; the meaning of the
title, “Christ” is anointed one. Upon
descending upon our Lord, the Holy Spirit, who did not need the oils as symbols,
anointed Him as priest, prophet, and king.
As a priest, He will offer Himself on the cross as expiation for our
sins. As a prophet, He will speak for
God. As a King in the line of David, his
kingdom is the universe.
We
are also anointed upon receiving the sacrament of Baptism. We are also priests, although not ordained to
minister, in participating with the ordained celebrant in offering the body and
blood of Christ to the Father at Mass.
We are prophets in proclaiming the word of God to our children and
others. We are kings of our families and
are heirs to the kingdom of Heaven. As
kings are called to serve their subjects, so are we called by our anointing in
baptism to serve others.
Well
known is that the sacrament of Baptism erases the stain of original sin and remits
every sin of the recipient and any corresponding temporal punishment, but there’s
much more. This sacrament initiates the person
into the Church; makes a new creation of the neophyte; and gives sanctifying
grace which is divine life in the soul. Sanctifying
grace makes us heirs to eternal life and become capable of loving God above all
things and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Furthermore, we are baptized not only with water, but also with the Holy
Spirit who dwells in us and gives us His gifts.
The sacrament of Confirmation confirms and deepens the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit.
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