Feast of the Baptism of Jesus
Homily for the Baptism of the Lord – 12 January 2025
Every year when we celebrate this Feast, I am reminded of my own visits to the site on the Jordan River where Jesus was baptised by John. It is a powerful experience. There is a mood of anticipation there, like something profound is about to happen. When you are there, it is not difficult to imagine the scene 2000 years ago with crowds going to John the Baptist at the Jordan, to be baptised.
This baptismal site is in the middle of a desert and every time I have been there it has been incredibly hot – around 40 degrees Celsius. It is one of the lowest land places on the earth, and water bottles you have with you, start crumpling due to the atmospheric pressure. In the middle of this harsh, barren landscape there is this slow-flowing, muddy, clay-colour river. At the baptismal site, pilgrims read the Gospel text of the Baptism of Jesus, and they renew their baptismal promises and are sprinkled with Jordan water. With this water consecrated by Jesus by his own baptism, pilgrims pray for a renewal of the grace of baptism in themselves. As we celebrate this feast today, we can imaginatively put ourselves there and receive the cool water as a renewal of baptismal grace in us.
The story of Jesus’ baptism is told in all four Gospels. This is, in itself, an indication that the early Christians considered it an important event in the life of Jesus. But the Baptism of Jesus that we celebrate today is delightfully problematic in that it raises some interesting questions. For instance, Jesus’s baptism launched his public ministry when he was around 30 years old. The question that could possibly be playing on our minds, is “What is the connection between this celebration and the events of recent liturgies, the birth of Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem and the Epiphany to the Gentiles in the persons of the three magi who followed the star to find and worship the Christ-child?” “How we get from these events of Jesus’ infancy to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry as an adult in such a short time, liturgically-speaking.”
The second question that we should be asking is why Jesus would have needed to receive the baptism of John, which was a baptism of repentance. If Jesus is who we say he is, he was without sin and had no need to repent. And yet, Jesus did receive this baptism, so we need to ask what the meaning of this is. The third question that this liturgical celebration prompts is: How is the Baptism of Jesus related to our own baptism?
So, let’s answer these good questions.
Firstly, the connection between the events of the Nativity, the Epiphany, and the Baptism of Jesus, is that all three are epiphanies, all three are manifestations of the presence of God, in the person of Jesus Christ. In his Baptism, Jesus is shown to be the long- awaited Messiah. The Incarnation, the taking on of human nature by God, allows a “showing of God to us,” so that we can know him. We need to be constantly in awe of the extraordinary lengths that God goes to, to be close to us. God shows himself to us so that we can know him and love him.
In fact, the Baptism of the Lord presents us with a theophany, a revelation of God as Trinity. God the Son is baptised; God the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove; and God the Father proclaims from heaven, “You are my beloved Son.”
To answer the second question: “If Jesus is sinless, why did he accept the baptism of John, which was a baptism of repentance?” You can well imagine that John the Baptist was asking the same question. In today’s Gospel, he speaks of Jesus as mightier than himself, one whose sandals he is not worthy to untie. In fact, in the other Gospel accounts of the Baptism, we see that John hesitates to baptise Jesus.
Well, we can say that through his baptism, Jesus identifies himself with the witness of John the Baptist, who was preaching about the imminent coming of the Messiah. Through his baptism, Jesus shows himself to the people as God’s presence among them and begins his public ministry after the hidden life at Nazareth, the final phase of his mission for our salvation. But most importantly, Jesus, the sinless one, through his Baptism, identifies himself with sinful humanity. With this gesture of allowing himself to be baptised by John, he affirms that he is with us in our human condition, and he understands fully what it means to be human. Jesus, in his baptism, immerses himself in the humble, muddy river of our humanity.
The third question is about the connection of the Baptism of Jesus to our own baptism. The baptism of Jesus reminds us of our own baptism by which we are united to Jesus, and we are called to live out this union with him and participate in his mission in the world. Because of our baptism, we are adopted as children of God, and the words spoken to Jesus by the Father, are spoken to us. The Father says to us, “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.” So, this Feast of the Baptism of Jesus is meant to bring to mind our own baptism, our identity as baptised Christians. We are meant to be renewed in this identity, and we pray for a renewal of the grace of baptism in us.
Today, we acknowledge and renew within ourselves that our baptism has put us into a profound grace-filled relationship with God. We have received the mark of God’s ownership on our souls, and we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. We are reformed and patterned according to Jesus Christ, and as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, we can address God as Abba, Father. Pope St Leo the Great, in a Christmas homily, said, “Be aware of your nobility, O Christian; it is Christ’s own nature that you share.” So, let’s consider our dignity as baptised persons. Just as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, the Holy Spirit has been breathed into our souls. As Christians, we are Temples of the Holy Spirit.
The great lie of pop psychology is that our happiness comes from absolute freedom and realisation of our dreams. The world prompts us to seek fulfilment and happiness in successes and wealth. But the essential message of the Gospel is that “your life is not about you.” As St Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God with your body.” Through our baptism we belong to God. Through his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus identifies himself with each one of us. Through our baptism we are identified with him.
One of the drawbacks of infant baptism, while there are many good reasons to baptise infants, is that it is sometimes difficult for us to keep in mind our baptism, to remember who we are. There are so many baptised Catholics out there who are not in touch with this profound, irreversible connection they have with God because of baptism. Our baptismal identity and dignity can never be cancelled, but it is possible for us to either forget who we are or lose touch with our true identity.
God never forgets us and who we are, but we are perfectly capable of forgetting God and who we are to God. That’s why we need to be constantly re-evangelised, to brought back into, and grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus. We need celebrations like the one today to renew our baptismal promises. We need to put ourselves in the spiritual space where we can hear and experience God saying to us, “You are my beloved son; or you are my beloved daughter.”
This feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and indeed all the epiphanies that we have been celebrating, call for a response from us. If God is revealing himself to us so that we can know him and live in relationship with him, we need to receive this revelation of God and commit ourselves to it. We need to enter into communion with this God who seeks us out and saves us.
The point of the humble epiphany of God’s presence among us is that we should be moved with love for the beauty of this human face of God, a God who is humble, who loves, who heals, who saves, and who seeks out those who are lost.
