Monday, Jamuary 9, 2023

 The Baptism of the Lord

(Isaiah 42:1-4.6-7; Matthew 3:13-17)

When Mary greeted Elizabeth at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, the evangelist said, “…the infant leaped in her womb.”  The infant in her womb, of course, was John the Baptist who “leaped for joy” in the presence of Jesus. 

Matthew’s gospel does not report a visit by Mary to Elizabeth when both are pregnant.  However, in today’s gospel something roughly similar takes place.  John, the fiery prophet attracting Jewish leaders to the desert of Judea, recognizes the superiority of Jesus.  When Jesus comes to him for Baptism, John tells him that he (i.e., John) should be baptized by Jesus. 

The event indicates Jesus’ humility as well as John’s.  Jesus knows at least something of his divine origin, yet he submits to John’s baptism.  He tells John to allow the baptism “’to fulfill all righteousness.’’’  The righteousness of God calls one to be humble before another.  We are always to respect other people and never to arbitrarily impose our will upon them.  When Pope Francis went to Canada last year to apologize to the indigenous peoples for the abuses of Church officials, he was “fulfill(ing) righteousness.”

But in Matthew’s gospel, “all righteousness” means something more.  It refers to God’s plan to save the world from sin and resultant death.  Jesus is God’s humble servant of whom Isaiah prophesied in today’s first reading.  He has been called to bring about justice.  This does not mean that he will incarcerate humans, quite the contrary.  Jesus will bring about justice by paying the debt of human sin.  Because he is God, his death on the cross, symbolized by being flooded with water in Baptism, makes up for all human sin.  Still, we must repent of our sins and turn to Jesus.  Doing so, our eyes are opened so that we may move from the dens of sin to the path of life.

God acknowledges the righteousness of Jesus quite dramatically in the gospel.  It says that “the heavens were opened” which reminds the knowing reader of the end of the Book of Isaiah.  There the prophet cries, “’Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down…’”  That is happening as God proclaims to the world that Jesus is His Son who pleases Him.

Matthew presents Christ’s baptism as a grand epiphany.  He is telling us here is the divine Son of God for us to see, hear, and follow.  Beyond humility, he will teach us to discipline our desires and to extend our love to all.