Dear Folks,
This is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the final day of the Christmas season. I believe that Epiphany was the end of the season, and celebrated the coming of the Magi, the miracle at Cana, and the baptism of the Lord, butsomeone decided that the Baptism should have its own feast day.
I challenge everyone to read Luke chapter 3 and get a sense of John’s call to renewal. Notice his images of the axe and the tree, then the wheat and the chaff. Now if you read Psalm 1, then Luke
13:1-9. We see how the Bible reinforces lessons by the repeated use and development of imagery.
The Gospel of John does some interesting teaching on baptism.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born* from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot
reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.e 7 Do not be amazed that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind* blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but
you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8).”
The word “born” can also be translated “begotten,” as in “Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob…”. In Biblical times, the seed of the father determined what you were and was the key to your
identity. We see Jesus talking about this in John 8:39-44, who your father really is makes all the difference.
It is in this light, we see that baptism changes who we are, and now we are children of God.
Jesus, of course, was already the begotten Son of God, so His baptism did not transform Him. He who was without sin, took on the mantle of sinner to suffer for our sins. “But he was pierced for
our sins, crushed for our iniquity (Isaiah 53:5).” He reversed our journey to perdition so that we could be saved. We remember when people were created, they were first tested in a garden and
failed. Then with Moses, they were tested in a desert and failed. Jesus, right after His baptism, went to the desert to be tested, and passed. His journey would lead him to the garden of Gethsemane and He would pass again. Then he would be crucified to save us.
Jesus’ baptism marked the beginning of His mission, and our baptism marks the beginning of our journey as disciples, children of God. Everything follows from that. How is God calling us to renewal? What form might that take in our journey of 2025?
Blessings,
Fr Jim