Homily, Baptism of the Lord
From The Pastor
‘Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am well pleased.’ Have you ever considered that God is pleased with you? That God delights in your way, or that God is pleased to hold you up? To this day, this servant referred to in our first reading is not explicitly known. Biblical scholars are quite ambiguous about the identity of this person. Some say it is an unnamed prophet, others think it is the people of Israel, God’s people. Christians see this person as the hoped for Christ anticipated in the prophecies of Isaiah.
If God is pleased to uphold his coming servant, Jesus, then by association God is in fact referring to each of us. Consider the thought. God is pleased with you. God readily and intentionally holds you up as one of his own. This is not a wayward thought of inflated self-importance. Why would God not be pleased with you? I know, I know. All your imperfections, sins, unwanted thoughts, or less than stellar behaviors. True enough for all of us, but not true if we believe all we profess in the person and the life of Jesus. God, in the gift of redemption accomplished in the Divine Son, now sees us in the image of that Son, his beloved One.
Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. What is this feast and why is it important? Technically it is not a feast day, but it serves as the conclusion of the Christmas season as a natural bridge that leads into Ordinary Time. The Baptism of Jesus is the last initial revelation of the identity of Jesus beyond his birth that naturally flows into the action of his life mission. The Baptism of Jesus biblically confirms his Divine nature through the voice of the Father and the vision of the dove representing the Holy Spirit.
Of equal importance, Jesus further confirms his human nature by requesting that John the Baptist perform his Baptism. Jesus fully identifies himself with our human condition, even our sinful nature. Jesus never sinned, but he fully identified with sinners. Jesus steps into our place to take on the reality of human sin in anticipation of his saving Cross. Accepting his death on the Cross, Jesus puts our sin to death by the power of the Divine love within his human nature. This is the beautiful mystery of our faith, the meaning of the Incarnation, and the fruit of our redemption accomplished on the Cross.
You have heard this before. Try to take it in in a new way. You are in Christ and Christ is in you. Becoming human, Jesus becomes every man, every woman, every person made in the image of God redeemed through his death and Resurrection. This is the meaning of St. Paul’s words in II Corinthians 5:21. ‘He who did not know sin, became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.’ As sinners alienated and separated from God, Jesus took our place in the reality of our human condition to restore us as the beloved ones of God.
The Baptism of Jesus images our Baptism. His Baptism becomes our freedom for sin and death. Of himself, Jesus had no need of Baptism other than to fully unite and identify himself with our human condition. This Baptism not only unites us to Jesus, but also to the Father. As the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in a new way at his Baptism, so does the same Holy Spirit come into us.
What the Father sees and loves in Jesus, he now sees and loves in all the redeemed; all those who believe in Jesus and who seek to follow his way. The Baptism of Jesus served as his commissioning to go forth and fulfill the mission and meaning of His life. Jesus begins his public ministry revealing in the rhythm and manner of his daily life, the power of God to heal, forgive, to show mercy, to preach, convert, and call us to a newness of life.
This is the work and action of our Christian life. Christianity is an interior faith. It must be known from the inside out, from the heart. Within and beyond the practice of church religion, faith must be an interior realization and acceptance that God dwells in us and lives through us. This is the meaning and the action of receiving the Holy Spirit at the time of Baptism. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus who is the inner nature of our identity as the beloved of God.
By the action of the Holy Spirit, we grow in a maturing conscious awareness of Christ who lives in us. This is most evident in our maturing love for self, others, with a maturing desire for God. When we love in any form of service, mercy, compassion, or forgiveness, God is revealed through us. These are times when we are likely to feel the stirring of our heart in the action of the Spirit who has moved us to act in love.
Consider your Baptism. Think about it. You are consecrated to Christ, who lives in you, and acts through you. You have the Holy Spirit. Why would God not be totally pleased with you, delighted to uphold you as his beloved one?
Claim it. Feel it. Live it.
Father John Esper
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