Baptism of Our Lord– 10 January, 2021

Jordan River

When one is baptized, he or she participates in the death and resurrection of Jesus. As Christians, it shapes our souls and our lives. Regardless of who we are, it is in baptism that all differences fall away. . . It is a defining moment. . . Although our lives are very busy with many family and work related activities, it is the reality of the death and resurrection that is at the center of the life of the Christian. If we truly allow ourselves to be shaped by that reality, everything around will remain in perspective. The water of baptism cleanses, refreshes, and frees us from the grip of sin and death.

Mark 1:4-11

The early church saw in the Gospel according to St. Mark their connection to the Old Testament promises through the last of the long line of prophets, namely John the Baptist (who was reminiscent of Elijah in the wilderness), and the connection of their own baptisms to that of Jesus Christ's own baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

The Marcan community, composed of those baptized in Jesus Christ and those baptized by John but later “re-baptized” in Jesus's baptism, find their common community and unity in this baptismal narrative in Mark 1.

As noted in Acts 19, the preparatory baptism of John was with water as a sign of washing for the confession of sins; Jesus's baptism by the Holy Spirit was a blessing by incorporation into Jesus's own baptism, being baptized into the Beloved Son's beloved-ness, appropriated to us by and through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:1-7

Luke provides an account of the penetration of the Gospel to gentile areas. Here, on Paul's third missionary journey, we see the apostle bringing the Gospel to Ephesus, where “the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (v 20). Paul meets followers of John the Baptist and is introduced to the apostolic baptism that grants them the gift of the Holy Spirit. We immediately get the sense that baptism was the rite for initiation as Paul identifies these disciples as believers in his first question, and then proceeds to ask about their baptism when they respond negatively to the question of reception of the Holy Spirit, whereas the preparatory baptism of John the Baptist was to lead people to repentance.

Paul baptizes these Ephesian disciples with the baptism sanctioned by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the apostolic witness—a baptism that. . . aligned the Ephesian disciples to the Christ, connected them to that tradition and to the apostles performing that rite, and enlightened them to the presence (and existence) of God's Spirit.

Genesis 1:1-5

Far from presenting a scientific account of how and what God did, this text sweeps us into the broad, cosmic context of God, God's speech, and the creation that is brought forth from God's merely speaking. Out of the dark, empty void, we are presented with the creative Creator who ushers in light, and whose very present presence is. . . not indifferent. . . Instead, the God of heaven and earth is one who acts with purpose, creativity, and beauty.

Homily Service 42, no. 1 (2008): 87-96.