Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord is very important to the Church’s mission of bringing us to Christ. It reveals both the identity of the Lord and begins the Gospel’s revelation of the Lord’s work of salvation.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist. The three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke report this event. St. Luke’s account is read on the feast this year.
St. John’s Gospel alludes to John the Baptist’s baptisms in the Jordan and his describing Jesus as the lamb of God.
The first reading is one of the four suffering servant songs of Isaiah. Who was this suffering servant? The future Messiah? One of the prophets? The author? Was it a collective reference to the people of Israel? No one knows for certain, but Christian liturgies through the centuries have seen Jesus in the suffering servant songs.
So, these quite poetic passages are prominent in the liturgies of Lent and especially of Good Friday.
Certainly, reference to Christ is the message for this feast. In this Scripture, God reveals that a faithful and pure servant will come. He will endure outrage. Many will turn against him. Yet he will be steadfast.
Supplying the second reading is the Acts of the Apostles. After Easter, almost every liturgy contains a reading from the Acts of the Apostles, but this source rarely furnishes readings at Mass in any other time. So, the appearance of Acts on this weekend is unusual.
The reading is important. St. Peter’s identity is revealed. He spoke for all the Apostles and was chief among them. He reached out to gentiles by teaching Cornelius, a Roman officer, a foreigner, and pagan. Peter proclaimed Jesus, declaring that the saving ministry of Jesus began with his baptism. Peter’s message clearly was the continuation of the Lord’s message.
St. Luke’s Gospel provides the last reading. Luke’s revelation of the baptism highlights the Lord’s divine identity and mission of salvation. In Luke, God announces that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by him to redeem humanity. Jesus fulfilled the plan of God.
Certain images are important. In a distant echo of the creation accounts in Genesis, the reading shows that life comes from the water. Jesus emerged from the water to begin the mission of redemption. The faithful must repent. It prefigures Christian baptism.
Another crucial image is that of the sky. God spoke from the sky, a sign of divinity in the Old Testament.
Reflection
In Advent, the Church called us to renewed holiness and grace. The Church joyfully led us to Christmas, the celebration of the Lord’s birth. If we responded in Advent, Christmas was much more than a commemoration. It was a personal event in which faithful hearts and souls truly received Christ and were vivified, healed and freed from the burden of sin and the inevitability of death.
In the great revelation of the Epiphany celebrated last week, the Church continued to tell us about Jesus, the son of Mary and therefore human, but also the Son of God, as the Magi realized.
Now, on this feast, the Church instructs us further about Jesus. He is the instrument of God’s love for us. Doomed by our sins, we find another chance in Jesus. He is the Savior who reconciles us with God. He identifies with us.
Union with Jesus is critical, if we wish to be saved. He is God. God forgives us and restores us to eternal life if we accept the Lord.
Practically speaking, Jesus comes to us through Peter and the Apostles, the Lord’s special students, sent to bring salvation to all the world. They still are present in and through the Church. †