The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ

After our Lord Jesus Christ was born, the next big thing for his parents to do after introducing the new baby to friends and family (or in this case to the Shepherd and the Magi) was to baptize the child. But in the case of our Lord Jesus, that did not really happen right away. What happened was the presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple because as we read in Luke 2:23-24, “Just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” In accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.” After the presentation, they fled to Egypt.

Well, this is what we do in today’s times. But in the case of the Holy Family, they really had no time for these religious formalities because as we learned, after the circumcision and presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ, King Herod got mad at the Magi who went to Bethlehem and paid homage to the Child Jesus but, after that, went home via another way. Thus, the angry King Herod ordered his men to kill all the children in Bethlehem below two years of age hoping the Messiah could be included in the bloody carnage. So this Sunday’s gospel reading is about the Baptism of Jesus, which comes from Matt.3:13-17.

 “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” 15 Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. 16 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. 17 And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

The baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ happened after the so-called “hidden years” and the significance of his baptism is to mark the beginning of his ministry. This is totally different in our times in the sense that during the baptism of our children, it is the time that we give the child its name. In most cases, the circumcision for a male child is already done while the child and mother are still in the hospital. So you can say that by the time of the baptism of our kids, the circumcision is already done with. You can also say that bringing the child to the church to be baptized is also in a way presenting the child to God in his temple.

Our baptism not only cleanses us from our state of original sin, it also makes us a member of the Christian or Catholic community. So in a way, we can find some parallels in our own baptism with that of our Lord’s baptism in the sense that he started his ministry after John the Baptist baptized him. As Christians, we are also called to our lay priesthood.

The baptism of our Lord Jesus also gives us a lesson on humility. Here is Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, coming to the River Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist, the solitary voice in the wilderness who prepared the way of the Lord. In a way, it is also God’s way of informing John the Baptist that his work on earth has been fulfilled. John who was already very popular with the people, in all humility gave way to Jesus.

At the height of the popularity of John the Baptist, he must have baptized thousands of Jews in the River Jordan. Yet he told his followers as they saw Jesus walking along the side of the River Jordan, “Behold the Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world.” John said this because as he Baptized Jesus, he too saw the heavens open up and heard the voice of God who said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

 Prior to this, I’m sure you must have wondered about the meaning of the conversation between our Lord Jesus and John the Baptist when the latter said: “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus replied, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Early in his ministry, the leaders of the Temple asked John the Baptist if he was the Messiah whose coming was foretold or prophesied? But John told them “I baptize you with water. But one mightier than I will come, the thongs of his sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

My favorite quote from John the Baptist was a statement he made when he saw Jesus again walking in the River Jordan and said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” This is a sentence that we Catholics should memorize and say when we finally find the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart … that “He must increase in our heart, while we must decrease.” This means, we become nothing while our Lord Jesus Christ is everything because this is the reality … that Jesus is the Lord God and we are truly nothing without him.

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