The Baptism of the Lord

Matthew 3: 13-17

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

Discussion Questions:

1. In what ways have you awakened to or experienced the spiritual gifts of your baptism recently? What are these for you
2. When have you had an experience of the Holy Spirit coming upon you? How did you respond?
3. When have you helped another to know how beloved he or she is?
4. Jesus’ mission as a servant is centered on justice. How are you and your faith community working to establish justice on the earth?
5. How have you redefined your understanding of power as a result following Jesus’ example of servanthood?

Biblical Context

Matthew 3: 13-17
Dr. Margaret Nutting Ralph PHD

On the Second Sunday of Advent we read Matthew’s account of John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord (Matt 3:1-12). John made it clear that the one for whom he prepared was far greater than he “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals” (Matt 3:11). In Matthew’s Gospel this account of John’s ministry comes immediately before the story of Jesus’ baptism that we read today.

Today we read that “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.” This raises a question in many of our minds. Why would Jesus need to be baptized by John? As Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ baptism it is evident that he expected his post-resurrection audience to ask this question. That Matthew is responding to this question becomes evident when we compare Matthew’s account to Mark’s.

Scripture scholars believe that both Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source when they were compiling their own Gospels. This means that one way to understand Matthew’s particular concerns is to compare his account to Mark’s. When Matthew diverges from his source does so for a reason. In Mark’s Gospel when John baptizes Jesus (see Mark 1:9-11), John does not raise the objection that he raises in Matthew’s account: “John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’ ” By placing this question on John’s lips Matthew is responding to the question, was Jesus baptized?”

When explaining to John why he should be baptized Jesus says, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” To “fulfill all righteousness” is to do God’s will, to promote justice. Jesus modeled complete obedience to the will of his Father. He was showing sinners the way to righteousness. Matthew then tells us that after Jesus was baptized “the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.” Jesus is filled with the Spirit as he prepares to begin his public ministry. Then a voice from heaven says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The words “This is my beloved Son” are an allusion to Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm, that is, it speaks of the messiah, the anointed one (the –word messiah means anointed’) whom God would send to save God’s people. The Israelites understood their kings to be God’s anointed. This psalm would have been sung over the centuries to honor the king.

In Psalm 2 God affirms that God has appointed Israel’s king:

“I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” (Ps 2:6)

Then the king speaks:

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord, who said to me, “You are my son; today
I am your father. Only ask it of me and I will make your inheritance the
nations and your possession the ends of the earth.” (Ps 2: 7-8)

Alluding to this psalm Matthew is once more teaching what he has already taught in his story of the annunciation to Joseph: Jesus is God’s son, begotten of God.

The words “with whom I am well pleased” are an allusion to the Book of Isaiah, and are part of our Old Testament Lectionary reading for this First Sunday in Ordinary Time. As we will soon see, alluding to this passage Matthew is foreshadowing Jesus’ passion and death and teaching that Jesus is God’s suffering servant whose passion and death redeemed all nations.

He is Always Coming to Us

Spiritual Reflection
Fr. Michael K. Marsh

“I need to be baptized by you,” John says to Jesus. It’s one thing for Jesus to show up but it’s another for him to show up wanting to be baptized. It’s one thing for Jesus to show up in power. It’s another for him to come just like all the others and to stand amidst the crowd and wait his turn to be baptized. So, what about all that time preaching in the wilderness? Did John really understand what he was saying? I don’t think John had any idea just how near the kingdom would come to him. He had no idea that power would be found in humility, submission, and immersing one’s life in the life of another. He had no idea that he would be baptizing Jesus. He thought it would be, that it should be, just the other way around.

I speak from experience when I say that John had no idea. It’s less a judgment and criticism, and more a recognition and resemblance. There have been times in my life when I had no idea how close the kingdom of heaven had come to me. I suspect you can recall times like that as well. They are times when we just didn’t see it or recognize it for what it was. We had no idea that God would show up in that way, that place, that time, that situation. We look back now and realize what we missed. John’s question echoes in our head, “And do you come to me?”

I imagine each of us has known moments in life when it felt as if we had no choice but to muscle our way through. Power was the only way. The power to overcome, to defeat, to push aside. It was “do or die” as they say. So, we hammered ourselves into shape. We got by on sheer will power. There was no one to help, or so it seemed. It was up to us. Anything else looked and sounded like weakness. It never crossed our mind that there might be another way. We had no clue that one more powerful than us would really show up and redefine what power means.

I wonder how many times we have said no to God simply because we had no idea. It was not a matter of disobedience, rejection, or unfaithfulness. We just had no idea that God’s ways are not our ways and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. We thought we understood and had it figured out. We thought our ways and our thoughts were God’s and left no room for God to surprise us. Who can blame John? How could he or we expect the Creator to be baptized by the created, that the Creator would give his sandals to the one who is unworthy to carry them? And yet, that is exactly what Jesus does.

“And yet, you come to me?” That’s not just John’s question. It’s also ours. At some point or another we’ve all asked it. Sometimes it just seems too incredible to believe that God would come to us. Maybe it’s because we see God as distant, cold, and uninvolved. Maybe it’s because we see ourselves as unworthy and undeserving. Maybe it’s because we were taught that God is more concerned about our behavior than our life. Maybe the pain, difficulty, and losses of our life have caused us to wonder whether God even cares. Maybe God’s ways don’t fit within our expectations. God won’t fit within our box and we can’t seem to get out of it. I don’t know when or how that question comes up for you, but I know where we find the answer.

The answer is found in the baptism of Jesus. His baptism answers once and for all the question, “And do you come to me?” “Yes, absolutely.” That is Jesus’ answer to John, to you, to me, to everyone. There is no one to whom Jesus does not come. That answer, however, is not without consequences. Jesus’ baptism sets before us a choice. We can either prevent or consent, closing or opening ourselves, to the baptism of Jesus. The issue is not Jesus’ coming to us. The issue is our preventing or consenting to his coming. Our work then is to always move from preventing to consenting. That is our repentance just as it was for John.

According to Matthew, John “would have prevented him.” John would have stepped in front of Jesus, stopping and denying Jesus’ baptism. That’s a pretty scary thought. It’s pretty frightening that we have the freedom and ability to prevent Jesus’ baptism. To prevent Jesus’ baptism means that we withhold ourselves from the God who comes. It means we deny God’s desire and longing for humanity expressed in the life of Jesus. It means we deprive God of the unique and irreplaceable love that he seeks in each one of us. In the end it means we deprive God of the life God wants to live and the life he wants to give to us.

Jesus’ baptism is more than his immersion in the water of the Jordan River. It is his immersion into all of creation, into the depths of humanity, and into your life and my life. This is the baptism of Jesus to which John consented. John moved form preventing to consenting. That movement, that consent, is the fulfillment of all righteousness. It puts life and relationships back together again. It joins earth to heaven and humanity to divinity. That consent is how we offer the waters of our life to Jesus. Over and over again Jesus returns to the waters of his baptism immersing himself into the struggles and triumphs, the joys and the tragedies, and the deaths and resurrections of our world and our lives.

There is no part of your life or my life devoid of Jesus’ baptism. He immerses himself completely. He sanctifies our life’s waters. He assumes all that we are and takes on our life. He immerses himself into our life that we might be raised up into his. For every immersion there is a raising up.

When Jesus came up from the water the heavens opened to him, the Spirit descended upon him, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” With Christ’s immersion into our life the heavens are opened to us. With his immersion into our life the Spirit descends upon us as well. With his immersion into our life we are also God’s beloved children, sons and daughters, every one of us.

“And do you come to me?” Yes, Jesus comes to us. He always has and always will. He can do nothing less. He is the God who comes. Consent to his coming. Offer the waters of your life. Let them be his baptismal water. Prevent nothing. Don’t withhold even one drop. Let every word, every action, every choice, every relationship be the place of his immersion and your raising up. It is the fulfillment of all righteousness.

 

Selections from Breaking Open the Lectionary: Lectionary Readings in Their Biblical Context for RCIA, Faith Sharing Groups, and Lectors—Cycle A, by Margaret Nutting Ralph, Copyright © 2007 by Margaret Nutting Ralph. Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ. Reprinted by permission of Paulist Press, Inc. www.paulistpress.com.

Reflection excerpt from: Interrupting the Silence, Fr. Michael K. Marsh. Used by permission