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Have you ever asked yourself: Why was Jesus baptized? John the Baptist was calling people to ask for forgiveness for their sins. They came to him to be baptized in the Jordan River as a sign of their repentance. And here Jesus is coming to John to be baptized. Why is Jesus seeking baptism? What’s going on? John himself raises this very question in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus basically tells him to just do it and don’t ask any questions. So what are we to think, regarding today’s feast; “The Baptism of the Lord”.
To help us with the answer to this question we need to recall the first story of creation in Genesis. Where the Spirit of God hovered over the waters and creation came out of chaos. In today’s Gospel, Saint Luke, reminds us that same Spirit hovers over Jesus in the form of a dove and the voice of God is heard. Jesus is the beloved Son upon whom he is well pleased. Does this sound like it could be a story about a new creation?
Indeed, this is a new creation story, establishing a new age and a new forgiveness of sins. Saint Luke is telling us that something new is indeed happening. In Jesus a new age is dawning. To use the words of John, Jesus will be introducing a new baptism in the Holy Spirit and in fire. John’s baptism of repentance was a visual sign of their change of heart. But John knows that something more is required. Forgiveness of sin certainly requires repentance. But what really destroys sin? Even repentance isn’t enough. We can’t bring about true forgiveness on our own. Jesus is that “something else;” he is the one who will literally forgive, destroy sin by baptizing us in the Holy Spirit and in fire.
So Jesus comes to John, to pick up, so to speak, from where John must leave off. Jesus, God made human and living among us, comes in the name of all humanity to celebrate the repentance of John and to accept his baptism as a sign of a change of heart—a change in the heart of all humanity which he will bring about by his life, death and resurrection. As a human being, Jesus does what the others are doing—coming to John to be baptized. But in the intimacy of “Prayer” with God, his Father, the “something more” is revealed to John and the people. The heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus, and the Father declares that Jesus is the beloved Son upon whom he is well pleased. What looks like just another man coming to repentance and accepting John’s baptism is really our God made flesh establishing the new age of forgiveness of sin—a forgiveness that is capable of actually destroying the power of sin in our hearts. Amazing, huh.
Being baptized by “the Holy Spirit and fire” means that we share in Jesus’ mission, including the total gift of ourselves. Let me give you a few expressions that might help us with what is intended by the Holy Spirit’s “fire” For example, a coach works on getting the team “all fired up” before a game, missionaries have this “fire in their belly,” that enables them to spread the Gospel, my wife tries to “light a fire under” me to undertake a new project, you get the concept. The expressions relate to, commitment, intensity, energy, a drive toward a goal. Our Baptism is meant to instill in us all this and more, with enthusiasm. This takes place when we adore him.
You see, our baptism is more than a ritual moment on a specific day; it is a gift of divine life from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, a gift to which we must respond daily. Who we are manifests God’s presence in the very dying to self we do each day as we conform ourselves to God’s will. We learn from experiencing and encountering the Divine through others. And in this our own self-esteem is boosted when we realize that we ourselves are God’s presence for others. Because of Jesus, we stand in a new relationship with God. We are God’s adopted sons and daughters in Jesus. In our baptism, original sin in us has been destroyed. Yes, we still sin. Yes, we are in constant need of repentance. And our new baptismal relationship with the Father in Jesus is still being worked out day by day. But the very possibility of forgiveness of sin is ours because of what Jesus did for us as savior and Messiah.
So, why was Jesus baptized: He was baptized in order to enter fully into our sinful humanity and our need for repentance so that he can do something about it; and that something is to destroy sin and death in us.