The Baptism of Jesus

John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. He baptized people  to call them to repentance. The baptism  he administered included the confession of sins. The “goal is truly to leave behind the sinful life one has led until now and to start out on the path to a new, changed life.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, 15-16.) Already back then, immersion in the water was understood as purification, as “liberation from the filth of the past that burdens and distorts life.” It symbolized death and resurrection, and rebirth.

If John’s baptism implied “a confession of guilt and a plea for forgiveness in order to make a new beginning;” and Jesus was sinless, it follows that Jesus did not need to be baptized. The fact that Jesus requested to be baptized by His cousin John the Baptist has a deeper meaning for us. Pope Benedict XVI comments that Jesus’ Baptism expresses solidarity with us, “who have incurred guilt but yearn for righteousness…Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon his shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. His inaugural gesture is an anticipation of the Cross.” (Ibid., 18)   He adds that “Jesus’ Baptism anticipated his death on the Cross, and the heavenly voice [from the Father] proclaimed an anticipation of the Resurrection.” (Ibid.)

As we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, may we be reminded of our own baptism through which we died with Christ so as to rise with Him.

Peace in Christ,

Fr. Robain