You…are my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased

I wonder how many of us celebrate our Baptism as we might our birthday or anniversary. I’m not sure I can even locate my baptismal certificate much less know the month or day it took place. This Sunday we will celebrate the baptism of Jesus according to Luke 3:15-16, 21-22. Despite the fact that this event in our church calendar was once considered an even more important feast than Christmas, the Baptism of Jesus is usually acknowledged with a Gospel reading and a sermon. Yet, along with the Epiphany, it is a celebration of the true nature of the incarnation of God. Perhaps we should wait a little while before we put away our manger scenes. 

I suspect that for many Christians the sacrament of Baptism is somewhat of a mystery. If you ask some why they want their children baptized they would be hard pressed to explain. Do we do it to please grandparents? Is it a cultural act? Is it some sort of “ticket to admission” to a particular church or is it a pre-qualification for communion? How many of us were raised believing that Baptism was intended to “wash away” our sins? 

Instead, the sacrament informs us that the presence of God is with us and in us and is essential to our very being. Baptism reminds us that in addition to being part of the Christian community, we were invested in God’s Kingdom long before any sprinkling of water or liturgical incantation took place. 

In this Gospel Luke seems to “be apologizing” for having to baptize Jesus, when he tells us that he is not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. Then he goes on to say that while I am baptizing you with water, the one mightier than I is coming and will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. How many times have we said “Oh Lord I am not worthy” when we really are worthy? We are worthy because of our birth rite but like Mary we are humbled.

Back to our Gospel…when all the people and Jesus had been baptized, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. Th powerful affirmation of the Father made it clear to all just who Jesus was.

“In a very profound way we are in fact brothers and sisters to one another. Each of us has already received the first great gift of our spiritual inheritance: the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God resides in each of us as the source of the divine life and the source of all life…The life of God in us means that we are closely bonded to one another. We are more closely united by the living presence of the Spirit in us than we would be by family blood lines. The shared life in God, makes us family in a profoundly personal way. This is the faith vision of the reality which we call Church.” (John Powell, S.J. The Christian Vision, p131)