“The Holy Spirit came down upon Him
in bodily form like a dove.”(Lk. 3:22)
Baptism – a Commission to Stop and Make a Difference
January 13, 2013 – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
2nd reading from Acts
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading of the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Glory to You, Lord.
The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” After all the people had been baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son. I am well pleased with you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Good-by to the Christmas season
With the Feast of the Lord’s baptism, we say good-by to the Christmas season. The three Kings of Epiphany have come and gone. The Christmas tree has been defrocked and thrown out on the curb. The poinsettias are stubbornly holding on for dear life. Christmas long awaited during Advent has come, and now is about to leave us. Tomorrow we turn the liturgical clock back to Ordinary Time. Then we will trudge along in Ordinary Time and the deep snows of winter until Ash Wednesday (February 13). Then we will enter again into the Extraordinary Time of Lent in preparation for Easter (March 31) 2013.
Baptismoi: ritual washings
Ritual washings were an important part of the Old Testament system. The Greek word for these washings is baptismoi. Chapters 15 and 16 of Leviticus are replete with ritual washings – with baptismoi. For example, when a man has an emission of semen, he must wash (baptize) his whole body, and he remains unclean until evening. (Lv. 15:16) Another example: on the Day of Atonement when the high priest was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies, he had to first take off his linen garments and wash (baptize) his body. (Lv. 16:23-24) In the New Testament the Pharisees and teachers of the Law carried ritual washings to a ridiculous extreme; they insisted on ritually washing (baptizing) not only people but also “cups, jugs, kettles and beds.” (Mk. 7:4)
Baptizing Jesus - a problem for John
People come to John to confess their sins, and to be baptized - to be ritually cleansed with water. They go home dripping wet, but feeling clean in a way they never felt before. Word spreads, and soon everybody is coming to be ritually cleansed by John. Even Jesus himself, of whom Scripture says “He committed no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22), and “He was tempted like us in every way but did not sin” (Heb. 4:15) - even Jesus, the sinless one, comes to be baptized - cleansed - by John!
Baptizing Jesus - a problem for a puzzled preacher
Baptizing Jesus is a problem not only for John the Baptist but also for a certain preacher. Wanting to know what other people think about John baptizing the sinless Jesus, he blogged the following:
What really does the baptizing of Jesus mean to you? I’d like to know, and I’d like to know before this Sunday when I preach on the baptizing of Jesus. I have an idea, but if you have one I wish you would share it with me, and preferably before Saturday night! Just click on the word “comments” below and tell me why Jesus was baptized. The winner might be mentioned in Sunday’s sermon!
Our baptism – also a problem
Baptizing Jesus is a problem. Why did the sinless and spotless One undergo baptism – a washing? Was He simply identifying Himself with sinners whom He came to save? (Is. 53:12)
Baptizing our little ones at the baptismal font in church is also a problem. At the end of the day, we ask what is it that’s washed away in our little ones with the waters of baptism? The traditional answer says that with the waters of baptism we wash the sin of our first parents Adam and Eve, which we inherit by our very birth into the human family. But modern psychiatry cringes at the thought that we can be conceived and born with someone else’s sin on our souls. What’s more, it’s hard to believe that the innocent-looking babe whom we carry to the baptismal font is stained with Adam’s sin.
Baptism - a commission to make a difference
Traditionally we’ve always maintained that the washing with water and the anointing with holy oil in the baptismal rite make Christians different from Jews and Muslims. Whether baptism makes us significantly different from Jews and Muslims is an open question. Because of his close contact with many different people, Gregory Baum, a Jewish convert and popular theologian during Vatican II, writes, "The conviction grew in me that there was not much difference between the baptized and the non-baptized.” Jews, Christians and Muslims, he writes, all have basically the same hopes and despairs, loves and hates, defeats and victories. They all display the same selfishness and generosity, the same pettiness and heroism. (Journeys by Baum)
A parable about stopping to make a difference
Jesus crafted a magnificent parable about stopping to make a difference on the highway of life: A man going from Jerusalem to Jericho was waylaid by robbers and left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who didn’t stop but passed right by the wounded man. Then along came a Samaritan who slammed on the brakes of his busyness and stopped to pour the oil of compassion on the poor man’s wounds. Then he hoisted the man unto his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn where he provided for the man’s care and cure. Jesus ends that parable with the commission to “Go and do likewise.” (Lk. l0: 25-37)
Conclusion
Commissioned to stop and make a difference
Today’s feast of the Lord’s baptism bids good-by to the Advent-Christmas Season with these words:
When the Song of the Angels is stilled,
when the Star in the sky is gone,
when the Three Kings have returned to their villas,
when the Shepherds are back in their fields,
when the Lord and we are standing dripping wet
in the waters of our baptism,
business as usual is over,
and the business of our baptismal washing and anointing begins.
Baptism commissions us to stop and make a difference
on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.
