Why Was Jesus Baptized?

 

Deacon Dave · Why Was Jesus Baptized?

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. Gospel of St. Luke 3:15-22. Theme: Why Was Jesus Baptized? 

 Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings our Christmas Season officially to an end. And so today’s Liturgy ushers us out of Bethlehem, and moves us forward to the banks of the Jordan River. Jesus is no longer a baby in the manger but now comes to us as a 30-year old man. We encounter Him approaching his cousin, St. John the Baptist, who because of his fiery preaching and devout life, was mistakenly thought by many to be the Messiah. However, John sets them straight, telling them that they had picked the wrong man for the job but were about to meet the Real Deal in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. 

 To understand what’s going on at the Jordan River, it’s important to remember that Jesus was not baptized because He had any sins to be washed away. Even though He shared fully in our human nature He was always the faithful Son of God Who had nothing for which to repent. Rather, Jesus insisted on being baptized to show His solidarity with us sinners as our Savior and to sanctify the element of water which He would use as the sacramental channel for His saving grace. So in short, Jesus was not baptized because He needed it but because we do. The story of Jesus’ Baptism teaches us that what happened to Jesus at his Baptism, is also what happens to each one of us at ours, just in a different way. 

 The first thing we hear about after Jesus comes up out of the water is that Heaven was opened. And this is precisely what Baptism does for us. It re-opens the way to Heaven which was closed to us by the original sin of Adam and Eve. Recall that they were given the choice of living in obedience to their Creator or of going it on their own terms. They freely chose to turn their backs on their intimate relationship with God and the effects of their choice was passed on to all us, their descendants. Jesus came to undo what they had done. He came as Savior to heal the spiritual disability of original sin and to reunite us with God. And so this first step towards Heaven is taken by being cleansed in the Jesus-sanctified waters of Baptism. 

 The next marvelous thing we see happening to Jesus at the Jordan River is the Holy Spirit coming down upon Him under the appearance of a dove. Now, we might wonder why God chose to appear in the form of a dove? Well, because the dove is a biblical symbol of peace and innocence. By the waters of Baptism, we are made innocent through the forgiveness of sin and we make our peace, so to speak, with God. Baptism puts us into a right relationship with God as our Father, with the Son of God as our Savior and with God the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier. The innocence and peace we receive from this Sacrament remains with us as long as we remain faithful to the baptismal promises to reject sin and Satan, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and to live what He teaches us through the Bible and his Church. Should we ever fall away from these promises they can become ours once again through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And the Good News is that in God’s rich mercy there is no limit as to how many times this can happen! 

 Finally, the Gospel tells us that God the Father’s voice was audibly heard declaring Jesus to be His Beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. And this is exactly what God the Father thinks about each one of us, about you and about me! We have become spiritually one with Jesus in Baptism and so through Him, with Him and in Him, we become God’s beloved children in whom He finds delight! The Scriptures assure us that God rejoices over you, rejoices over me, rejoices over each one of us personally because He is a Father who unconditionally loves us. And it’s this conscious awareness of God’s personal love that moves us from the inside out to want to live in a way that delights Him in return. 

 So often, too often really, we seem to get that backwards and think that we have to be good and earn God’s love before we can receive His blessings. But it’s not that way it is with God at all. This is not at all what the Gospel of Jesus teaches us. God loves us freely, totally and unconditionally simply because we are his. From all eternity He foresaw each one of us - knowing full well the good and the not so good within us - and He so fell in love with what He saw that He called each one of us into existence at the proper time. And as if that wasn’t already enough, God then sent His very own beloved Son into the world as our Savior so that we could have visible proof of His love, be freed from the spiritual alienation of sin and live with Him forever. 

 And so it’s good that we move on from the Nativity of the Lord because that was just the beginning of the story of Jesus of Nazareth. If we compare the life of Christ to a book, we could say that staying at Christmas would be like never getting past the first chapter. Never getting caught up in its dramatic plot of interesting characters, miraculous cures, and powerful teachings. Never reaching the exciting apex of its conclusion with the stunning events of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday. So you see, the Baptism of Jesus follows upon the heels of Christmas because it sets us up for the rest of the story. Through the Gospels proclaimed at the Liturgy over the following weeks and months, we will learn more and more about the marvelous and awesome things that God has done for us and still does through the Christmas Gift that is Jesus Christ.