There is no need to be born, to suffer indignations and be crucified on a cross.
Like man, but not in sin, he has no need of baptism but subjected himself to the rites to reveal himself, “a messianic manifestation, a sign for the church first, then to the world.”
He went to the waters as a carpenter, but God the Father’s proclamation and “the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove showed Him to be far more than a mere worker of wood,” said Saint Justin in Dialogue with Trypho.
Beginning of Jesus’ ministry
While Jesus and His disciples were baptizing in the Judean territory, so did John near Salim on the west bank of the Jordan River.
John’s disciples felt uneasy about this and told him about it. Since John considered baptism as a rite for the repentance of sins, in a self-effacing statement he said: “I have baptized you with water, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).
John who looked wild and unbalanced did not begin with polite and courteous words when he preached, but with, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Luke 3:7).
But despite his harshness in language and looks, crazy as a loon, crowds from Jerusalem and Judea traveled miles to listen to him. All were amazed of his passionate discourses about sinfulness, the need for repentance and the coming of a Redeemer.
John, was recognized by the Jews as a prophet of God. He spoke about the oracles of the prophets and the need to prepare for the kingdom of God.
While Jesus had nothing to repent for, in humility he presented himself to John for baptism, a public display to God’s commands and fulfilment of His laws. Although John protested, he finally submits himself to Jesus’ authority and baptized Jesus.
Heaven opened
When Jesus came out of the waters, John saw the heavens torn open, and the Holy Spirit, like a dove, alighted on Jesus. A voice from heaven announced: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased” (Mark 1:11).
God the Father choose the event to acknowledge that Jesus, indeed, is His son and inaugurate His public ministry in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17).
For the baptism of Jesus, Saint Hippolytus said, “no river is good except the Jordan.” And, “just as Joshua had entered the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan, Jesus opened the way to heaven by entering and dividing the same waters,” declared Saint Gregory of Nyssa.
Sacrament of baptism
A spiritual vacuum was created when man’s first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned. “There is a lack of something that should have been there” (Matthew 28:19).
Baptism is derived from the Greek word baptizein, meaning to plunge or immerse into water. Enlightenment for the baptized is regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit.
The baptized “becomes a son of light, indeed he becomes light himself” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1215). The sacrament does not only give special life (sanctifying grace) but also sacramental grace to preserve and ceaselessly renew life.
Baptism buries sin in the water. It is a gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own grace since it is given even to the guilty; anointing for it is priestly and royal as those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God’s Lordship. (Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oratio 40)
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Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.