Among the joyous feasts like the ‘Feast of the Holy Family’ and ‘Mary Mother of God’ during the Christmastide, the ‘Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ’ comes as the conclusion of the season. If Jesus was without sin, as we believe, why did he seek out John the Baptist? Why did he undergo baptism at his hands? Why did Jesus participate in this ritual of repentance?
Without doubt Jesus had several reasons. First of all, Jesus wanted to show his appreciation of the preaching of John the Baptist. He wanted to support his witness, to acknowledge the truth of his message. In this way Jesus showed that God himself was speaking through this prophet, the teacher. Second, certainly Jesus wanted to give us an example of humility, an example of what we too should do. It is a great lesson to us. It shows what Baptism can do for us. What happened when Jesus received baptism from the hands of John the Baptist? Certainly it does happen when we receive Baptism. Three things.
1) The heavens were opened for Him.
2) And He saw the Holy Spirit of God descending like a dove.
3) And a voice came from the heavens, saying , “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.”
This is what has happened when we received our Baptism. We come to know that the Father expects us to be HIS BELOVED SONS AND DAUGHTHERS, IN WHOM HE IS WELL PLEASED. How can we become beloved sons and daughters of the Father?
By the disobedience of our first parents the heavens were closed for the whole humanity. Jesus took up all our disobedience on his shoulders and offered Himself. The waters of Baptism flowed from His side and the first Sacrament of the Initiation was instituted for all of us. Thus the heavens opened for us when we receive the Sacrament of Baptism.
Secondly, God Himself takes an initiative to give us His mighty Holy Spirit in the form of a simple, humble and harmless bird, ‘DOVE’. The moment we are baptized, we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. We posses the mighty power of God. We need to make use of the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, the voice that came from the heavens declaring Jesus as the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. We too will be able to hear the same words from the Father, provided we try to enter the opened heavens with the help of the Holy Spirit. We too can and should become the beloved of the Father.
In our generation, we need to remember the example of Jesus at his baptism. We need to look into our hearts, to examine our conscience, to see what we failed to do. Above all, we resolve to focus on our eternal destiny, to take on the spirit of Jesus, to come alive in our study of the Scripture, to be filled with gratitude for all the gifts we have received, to lift up our hearts, to give thanks to the Lord our God.
Without doubt Jesus had several reasons. First of all, Jesus wanted to show his appreciation of the preaching of John the Baptist. He wanted to support his witness, to acknowledge the truth of his message. In this way Jesus showed that God himself was speaking through this prophet, the teacher. Second, certainly Jesus wanted to give us an example of humility, an example of what we too should do. It is a great lesson to us. It shows what Baptism can do for us. What happened when Jesus received baptism from the hands of John the Baptist? Certainly it does happen when we receive Baptism. Three things.
1) The heavens were opened for Him.
2) And He saw the Holy Spirit of God descending like a dove.
3) And a voice came from the heavens, saying , “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.”
This is what has happened when we received our Baptism. We come to know that the Father expects us to be HIS BELOVED SONS AND DAUGHTHERS, IN WHOM HE IS WELL PLEASED. How can we become beloved sons and daughters of the Father?
By the disobedience of our first parents the heavens were closed for the whole humanity. Jesus took up all our disobedience on his shoulders and offered Himself. The waters of Baptism flowed from His side and the first Sacrament of the Initiation was instituted for all of us. Thus the heavens opened for us when we receive the Sacrament of Baptism.
Secondly, God Himself takes an initiative to give us His mighty Holy Spirit in the form of a simple, humble and harmless bird, ‘DOVE’. The moment we are baptized, we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. We posses the mighty power of God. We need to make use of the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, the voice that came from the heavens declaring Jesus as the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. We too will be able to hear the same words from the Father, provided we try to enter the opened heavens with the help of the Holy Spirit. We too can and should become the beloved of the Father.
In our generation, we need to remember the example of Jesus at his baptism. We need to look into our hearts, to examine our conscience, to see what we failed to do. Above all, we resolve to focus on our eternal destiny, to take on the spirit of Jesus, to come alive in our study of the Scripture, to be filled with gratitude for all the gifts we have received, to lift up our hearts, to give thanks to the Lord our God.
