HOMILY FROM CANON STEPHEN BAILLIE
The Baptism of the Lord C22
The Lord was Baptised, not to be cleansed Himself, but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which we knew no sin, might have the power of Baptism.
There is something astonishing about the baptism of Jesus. We are meant to be astonished (literally ‘astounded’ or ‘awestruck’) as we reflect on the Son of God undergoing a baptism of repentance. It looks like a strange inversion of the way things should be ordered. An ancient antiphon sums it up: ‘The soldier baptises the king, the slave his Lord, John baptises his Saviour. The waters of the Jordan are astonished … Even the waters of the Jordan river are shocked at what is happening.
Why should Jesus, at the age of thirty or so (the age at which Jewish Rabbis usually began to preach), submit to baptism at the hands of his cousin, John the Baptist, who announces and offers ‘a baptism of repentance’? Jesus, being sinless, surely doesn’t need to repent. Today’s Gospel does not tell us the reason, BUT we get the answer from Matthew’s Gospel where, in answer to the Baptist’s protestations, Jesus insists, saying that ‘it is fitting that we should fulfil all righteousness’ (Matthew 3:14). In other words, Jesus wants to identify with humankind in the fullest possible way, humbly joining the queue waiting for John’s baptism of repentance. All Gospel accounts place more emphasis on what happens after the event than on the baptism itself. Luke stresses that the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus while he is at prayer. A voice from heaven proclaims that he is the beloved Son of God. He is anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. His identity is confirmed.
The feast of the Baptism of the Lord makes the official end of the Christmas season, the transition to Ordinary Time. The focus today is not meant to be on our own baptism (which is for celebrating during the Easter Triduum), but on Jesus revealed as the Promised One, the humble Servant foretold by the prophet Isaiah, the beloved Son with whom the Father is well pleased.
