He Washed Away
Our Miseries With His Baptism
The
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord should inundate us with hope and holy joy by
making known to us the regenerating strength of pardon and divine mercy
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá
Dias, EP
I – THE FEAST OF THE
MANIFESTATION OF HIS DIVINITY
In the early times of Christianity, until the fourth century,
the Church contemplated three manifestations of Our Lord’s divinity: on the Solemnity
of the Epiphany, the adoration of the Magi, the Baptism in the Jordan and the
conversion of water into wine at the Wedding at Cana, His first public miracle.
This solemnity was considered the revelation of Jesus to the
gentiles, while Christmas was taken as a feast pertaining more to the Jews. If
the Jewish people were awaiting a human Messiah and thus received Him in a
manger in Bethlehem, the Gentiles—just as the adoration of the Magi shows
us—were expecting a Saviour God. This same divinity revealed to the Kings of
the Orient becomes much more marked in the episode of the Baptism of Christ,
although He had made Himself known before, by a request of Our Lady, in Cana.
The commemoration of the
three events on one and the same occasion was very solemn, and even to this
day, the Liturgy conserves some remnants of those grand celebrations. Such is
the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, evoked today in the Gospel chosen to
conclude the Christmas period. This episode is entirely linked to the
Precursor, St. John the Baptist, for he was called to prepare souls for the
coming of the Messiah, Who would begin His public life upon receiving Baptism.
II – A BAPTISM OF PENANCE
Hundred
of years had elapsed without a prophet having appeared in Israel to rally the
people
15
As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts
concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ.
Unfortunately, little is known of the childhood of St. John.
Therefore, although many authors affirm that he was orphaned since his boyhood
days, besides his mysterious departure for the desert (cf. Lk 1: 80), in which
he would live during most of the thirty years of Our Lord’s hidden life in the
house of Nazareth, this has not been categorically confirmed. The Precursor appeared
abruptly on the scene, in an uncommon garb of camel’s hair and a leather belt.
He ate locusts and wild honey, which indicated him as a man of penance.
Hundreds of years had elapsed without a prophet having appeared in Israel to
rally the people. “The prophetic charisma was, in effect, lacking among
them”—affirms St. John Chrysostom—“and it returned only then, after centuries.
Even his manner of preaching was new and astonishing. [...] John spoke only of
Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven and of the chastisements of hell.”1 With
this unique way of preaching he stirred consciences, standing out in bold
relief against the backdrop of apathy and indifference of the Jews before his
appearance and displeasing the Sanhedrin, who fomented this condition.
Taken with St. John’s moral
authority, the people soon began asking if he might not be the Messiah himself,
the awaited One of upright souls. This met with a negative and immediate reply
from the Precursor who was a most conscientious restitutor in relation to Our
Lord Jesus Christ. St. Augustine comments: “Some- thing great is this John,
immense excellence, imposing grace, great loftiness. [...] So great was the
grandeur of John, that men might have believed him to be the Christ; and thus
he demonstrates his humility in saying that he was not, having been taken as
such. [...] John’s greatest merit is [...] this act of humility.”2
A rite linked to a mission
16 John answered them all,
“I baptize you with water; but He Who is mightier than I is coming, the thong
of Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and with fire.”
Desiring to orient souls
toward the Saviour, John soon announced the true meaning of his baptism and the
incomparably greater gift which the Sacrament to be instituted by Jesus some
time after, would bring. In fact, he preached a baptism which, according to St.
Thomas, was at the halfway point between that of the Jews and sacramental
Baptism.3 Despite there being no mandate in Sacred Scripture about
the baptism of penance, as it would be of short duration, this rite came from
God, Who ordered it of John in private revelation (cf. Jn 1: 33); however, as
to its effect—the purification of the body, rather than the soul—nothing was
effected that could not be done by man, for which it was denominated the
baptism of John.4 In fact, it only had one minister, the Precursor.
To administer it, he chose the waters of the Jordan. This
selection was made, in the first place because, diplomatically speaking, it was
the ideal site. The region of Perea belonged to the circumscription of Herod
Antipas and, although the Sanhedrin were obliged to oversee religion throughout
the entire country, its distance from Jerusalem hampered the Jewish leaders
from taking effective action against him. Notwithstanding, as we shall see, the
election of the locale had a much deeper reason, related to the Baptism of Our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Supernatural Baptism with a
psychological effect
John preached penance in
tandem with his baptism, stimulating virtue. Even so, this baptism, of itself,
did not possess the capacity to purify, which is present in the Sacrament of
Baptism;5 it did not imprint character, it did not pardon sins nor
did it confer grace, for, although inspired by God, it was symbolic and its
effect proceeded from man. Consequently, all of those who were baptized by St.
John had to be baptized again by the Apostles (cf. Acts 19: 3-6).
Nevertheless, a question
arises: what was, then, the necessity of the institution of this baptism? With
wisdom and magnificent can- dour St. Thomas responds with four reasons. In the
first, he explains that it was necessary that Jesus be baptized by John in
order to establish Baptism; in the second place, in order to make Himself known
on the occasion of His Baptism; the third reason, he says, is that the baptism
of penance prepared men to receive sacramental Baptism later on. Finally, to
stir the people to penance, St. John created a climate that favoured the
respectful reception of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ.6 It
was a baptism that acted in the manner of sacramentals,7 for those
who entered the river and were submerged in it, mystically felt an interior
twofold effect: a supernatural action which prompted them to repentance for
their sins, and a psychological preparation of mentality for the future
acceptance of Baptism.
We may infer with certainty that, although some Pharisees
accepted John’s preaching (cf. Mt 3: 7), the majority were overly confidant in
their own justice; that is, they judged themselves sinless and gave little
credit to the voice of the prophet, entering the rolls of those who did not let
themselves be baptized. Contrary to these, soldiers, publicans and sinners of
all kinds believed in St. John (cf. Mt 21: 32). Thus the camps were being
divided within Jewish public opinion, as subsequent events would attest.
The mystical knowledge of
Jesus reveals John’s vocation
Commentators are almost
unanimous in opining that St. John had not yet met up with Our Lord, and
conversely, that Our Lord had not yet seen the Precursor with His human eyes.
According to St. John Chrysostom, be- fore going to the Jordan the Precursor
“met Him just as he was about to baptize Him, and this is because the Father
Himself revealed it.”8 Even without having beheld the countenance of
the Messiah, John possessed a mystic- al knowledge regarding Jesus which
conferred on him the capacity, for example, of holding his own in discussions
with the Pharisees about the Saviour, announcing Him with undeniable authority
(cf. Jn 1: 19-27) and revealing his own vocation. Finally, the anticipated
encounter between the Messiah and the Precursor would occur at the crowning
moment in which Jesus would be baptized and would begin His public mission.
The Jordan, a most
appropriate place for the Baptism of Our Lord
The
waters of the Jordan, opened by Joshua with the Ark of the Covenant, separated
servitude from liberty
21a Now when all the people
were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized.
Now, as we have seen, St. John had prudently chosen the region
of the Jordan to ad- minister his baptism, because of the opposition of the
Pharisees to everything that might shake the solid ‘Establishment’ of Jewish
society of the time. However, the highly symbolic aspect of the location calls
our attention. The Jordan was the river that the Jews had crossed to enter the
Promised Land, whose waters, opened by Joshua with the Ark of the Covenant (cf.
Jos 3: 14-17), separated the servitude of Egypt from the liberty obtained
following the forty years of penance in the desert. Also, the prophet Elijah,
before being taken up in a fiery chariot to an unknown locale, had thrown his
mantle over the waters of the Jordan to divide them, crossing over dry-shod to
the other side, in the company of Elisha (cf. 2 Kgs 2: 8). Upon returning,
Elisha crossed the river—Elijah having disappeared and having left him his
mantle—once more striking the waters with the prophetic mantle, in the name of
the “God of Elijah” (cf. 2 Kgs 2: 13-14). Analogously, according to St. Thomas,
“Christ’s Baptism [...] is the entrance to the Kingdom of God, which is
signified by the land of promise. [...] To this also is to be referred the
dividing of the water of the Jordan by Elijah who was to be snatched up to
Heaven in a fiery chariot [...], because, to wit, the approach to Heaven is
laid open by the fire of the Holy Ghost, to those who pass through the waters
of Baptism.” 9 These were the symbolic motives which made John
choose these waters for baptizing.
A sanctioning of the
mission of John the Baptist
At the same time, Our Lord
was baptized with the intention of approving and confirming the baptism of St.
John, ratifying all the baptisms he had done up to that moment. In this sense,
Jesus’ Baptism has great importance, for it does not denote a merely symbolic
act, but rather a liturgical one undertaken by Christ Himself. Since the
Precursor’s mission consisted in preparing the paths for the coming of the
Messiah, the apex of the prophet’s ministry was attained with the arrival of
the Saviour, and soon he would begin to decrease while Christ increased (cf. Jn
3: 30). Poetically, Tertullian says that “in the same way that dawn marks the
end of night and the beginning of day, so al- so John the Baptist is the end of
night and the dawn of the evangelic day.”10
Why did Our Lord want to be
baptized?
Notwithstanding, before
such an imposing fact as the Baptism of a God, some questions arise: why did
Jesus want to be baptized by John? Did He need to repent of some sin? Such a
thought would be blasphemous! In effect, the sublime episode of the Baptism of
Christ led St. Bernard to proclaim: “Do the healthy need medicine, or do those
that are clean require purification? What has sin to do with Thee, that baptism
should be necessary for Thee? Is it for the sin of Thy Father? But Thy Father
is God, and who does not know that God cannot have sin? And Thou art equal to
Him, God of God and Light of Light. Is it for Thy Mother’s sin? But she is a
Virgin conceived with- out sin, and in Thy birth she preserved her virginal
integrity. What blemish, then, can be found in the Lamb without spot?”11
Jesus undoubtedly wanted to
receive Baptism out of humility, lowering Himself to be baptized by John, who,
witnessing this attitude proclaimed (Mt 3: 14): “I need to be baptized by You,
and do You come to me!” This affirmation helps us to understand what an immense
privilege it was for the Precursor to have baptized Our Lord. The Angelic
Doctor goes on to enumerate the various reasons that indicate the utter
suitability of this mysterious Baptism.12
Our Lord’s presence sanctified
the entire universe
One of the most beautiful
reasons was our Saviour’s desire to confer on waters, with the contact with His
adorable flesh—which is divine, albeit human—the capacity of purifying, which
is the quality of Baptism. Upon bestowing the waters of the Jordan with “the
fragrance of His divinity”13 the Redeemer sanctified all the waters
of the universe, with sights on those who would thereafter receive the
regenerating bath. In fact, everything Our Lord Jesus Christ touched was
touched by God Himself.
Now, if Jesus sanctified
the waters of the entire universe by entering the Jordan River, we have
foundation to affirm that in treading the soil with His sacred feet and
dampening it with His Most Precious Blood on Calvary, He sanctified the whole
earth; in the same way, in breathing and being elevated on the sacred wood, He
sanctified the air.14 Finally, descending to Purgatory,15 He
also sanctified fire. We may ascertain, then, that the four elements of the
created universe were sanctified by their simple contact with Him. We should,
then, always maintain the clear notion that the presence of the true God and
true Man, in this world, changed the face of the earth.
Jesus washed our sins in
those waters
Christ did not need to be
baptized, for it was He Who, inspiring St. John, had instituted this rite, but
rather that “Baptism needed the power of Jesus.”16 From all eternity
the Word knew perfectly, in His own divine Essence, each one of us, with our
sins, miseries and insufficiencies. Being God, He could have cleansed the earth
by a simple act of His will; nonetheless, He, the Innocent, free from all
blemish, chose to assume a flesh “similar to that of sin” (Rom 8: 3). He willed
to be baptized, then, not “to be purified, but to purify,”17 completely
submerging the old Adam with Himself, in the baptismal water.18 We
should consider that if an infinite humanity existed, with infinite sins, He
would have taken them upon Himself, washing them at that moment in the waters
of the Jordan.
The divine attitude of the
Saviour should inspire profound confidence in us, for, although we are guilty
of blame, “much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of
that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many” (Rom 5: 15). Indeed, as the Head
of the Mystical Body, from Him proceed and are distributed the graces for all
members.
Finally, with His Baptism, He willed to open a path for us and
encourage us to understand the importance of this Sacrament.19
The capital importance of the prayer in the Jordan
Upon bestowing the waters
of the Jordan with “the fragrance of His divinity” the Redeemer sanctified all
the waters of the universe
21b And was praying...
In view of such marvels, we could make conjectures on the
beautiful prayer that Jesus undoubtedly made at the grand moment of His
submersion into the waters of the Jordan. But this we will only know on the day
of our entrance into eternity, in the vision of God face to face. For now, we
may only savour the immediate effects produced by it.
21c ... the Heaven was opened .
A superficial analysis of
this brief Gospel phrase might lead us to assume that, in the magnificent
episode of this Baptism, Heaven opened for the Holy Spirit to descend; however
this was unnecessary.20 In fact, the most important meaning of these
words refers to a superior reality. Through the Passion of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the doors of Heaven, which had been closed since the expulsion of Adam
and Eve from Earthly Paradise because of sin, were opened to humanity. But
since this applies to each person individually in the sacramental Baptism
instituted by Our Lord, this reference to the opening of Heaven at the moment
in which Christ was submerged by St. John in the waters of the Jordan was more
fitting. 21
In this way are shown the
elements that are included in the efficacy of this Sacrament. Just as the
heavens opened at that moment, it would be celestial virtue, explains St.
Thomas, that would sanctify Baptism, make us capable, by faith, to see heavenly
things and even more, as was said above, to open to us the gates of Heaven.
Finally, for us to understand that it is only possible to cross these
thresholds by the power and strength of prayer, everything happened while He
prayed, according to what is indicated in the verse.22
The first manifestation of
the Blessed Trinity
22a and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form, as a
dove. From
all eternity God conceived the dove, intending it, at a certain moment, to
serve as a representation of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. St.
Cyprian states that it is a peculiar bird for it is always serene; it never
uses its beak to hurt anyone; it is domestic, to such a point that, when it
hatches its chicks it stays with its brood, in the same place.23 Moreover,
it is not excitable, but meekly allows itself to be dominated by man. St.
Thomas declares that the Holy Spirit chose to appear in the form of a dove
after the Baptism of Our Lord, among other reasons, to signify that we should
approach Baptism with simplicity and without guile. 24
The figure of the dove was
seemly, therefore, in having us understand that, having been baptized and
transformed into temples of the Holy Spirit, we have the utter necessity of conserving
the temple of our soul with the simplicity and candour of the dove, that is, in
innocence.
22b And a voice came from
Heaven, “Thou art My beloved Son; with Thee I am well pleased.”
This is a magnificent
scene, which makes the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity public and manifest
for the first time in history. The Father, making His voice heard, and the Holy
Spirit, becoming visible in the form of a dove, give testimony to the divinity
of Christ. In effect, “the Father is invisible, but the Son is equally
invisible in His divinity, since ‘no one has seen God’ (Jn 1: 18); for the Son
also being God, as God, one cannot see the Son in Him. However, He willed to
show Himself in a body; and as the Father has no body, He wished to prove that
He is present in the Son, by saying: ‘Thou art My beloved Son; with Thee I am
well pleased.’ [...] The power of a divinity without difference causes no
diversity between the Father and the Son, but indicates that the Father and the
Son participate in one and the same power. We believe in the Father, Whose
voice the elements allowed to be heard; we believe in the Father, at Whose
voice the elements loaned their ministry.”25
III – LET US BE GRATEFUL TO
GOD!
The
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord should inundate us with hope and holy joy by
making known to us the regenerating strength of pardon and divine mercy
“Baptism is the radiance of
souls, transformation of life, [...] it is aid to our weakness. [...]
Baptism is the carriage to God, journeying with Christ, the bulwark of the
Faith, perfection of the mind, key to the Kingdom of Heaven, change of life, destruction of slavery and freedom
from shackles,”26 teaches St. Gregory of Nazianzus. The Feast of the
Baptism of the Lord should inundate us with hope and holy joy by making known
to us the regenerating strength of pardon and divine mercy, in which we should
trust in all of life’s circumstances. Whatever our situation may be, if we have
faith and conscientiously fulfil the holy Commandments, a solution will never
be lacking, since “for God nothing is impossible! (Lk 1: 37)” How grateful we
should be to Our Lord for all that He has done for us.
Jesus initiated His public life with Baptism and with
this celebration, the Liturgy marks the beginning of Ordinary Time, which
encompasses the whole mission of the Divine Master, tracing out His preaching and manifestations throughout the
varied liturgical readings of the year. Having contemplated the marvels
contained in this Gospel passage, let us ask Our Lord for abundant graces, so
that at the end of our earthly pilgrimage we may enter the gates of Heaven that
He opened to us on this magnificent day.
1 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Hom-
ilia X, n.5. In: Obras, vol. I: Homilías sobre el Evangelio de San Mateo
(1-45). (Ed.2). Ma- drid: BAC, 2007, p.191.
2 ST. AUGUSTINE. In Ioannis
Evangelium, Tractatus II, n.5; Tractatus IV, n.3; n.6. In: Obras, vol. XIII.
(Ed.2). Madrid: BAC, 1968, p.94; 128; 132.
3 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.
Summa Theologiae, III, q.38, a.1, ad 1.
4 Idem, a.2.
5 Idem, a.3.
6 Cf. Idem, a.1.
7 Cf. Idem, ad 1.
8 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Hom-
ilia XVII, n.3. In: Homilías sobre el Evangelio de San Juan, vol. I: 1-29.
(Ed.2). Madrid: Ciudad Nu- eva, 1991, p.220.
9 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, op.
cit., q.39, a.4.
10 TERTULIAN. Adversus
Marcion- em, L.IV, c.33, apud BARBIER, SJ, Jean-André (Org.). I Tesori di
Cornelio a Lapide, vol. II. (Ed.4). Torino: Società Internazionale, 1948,
p.160.
11 ST. BERNARD. Sermones de
Tempore: In Epiphania Dom- ini, Sermo I, n.6. In: Obras Com- pletas, vol. I.
Madrid: BAC, 1953, p.314.
12 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS,
op. cit., q.39, a.1.
13 ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM.
Catechesis Mystagogica III, n.1: MG 33, 1087.
14 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS,
op. cit., q.46, a.4.
15 Cf. Idem, q.52, a.2. 16
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
Homilia XVII, n.2. In:
Homilías sobre el Evangelio de San Juan (1- 29), op. cit., p.218.
17 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, op.
cit., q.39, a.1, ad 1.
“Baptism of Jesus” - Shrine
Church of Our Lady of Solace, Coney Island, New York
18 Cf. ST. GREGORY OF NAZI-
ANZUS, Homilia XXXIX, n.17. In: Homilías sobre la Natividad. (Ed.2). Madrid:
Ciudad Nueva, 1992, p.86.
19 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS,
op. cit., q.39, a.1.
20 Cf. Idem, a.5, ad 2. 21
Cf. Idem, a.5. 22 Cf. Idem, ibidem.
23 Cf. ST. CYPRIAN. De
unitate Ec- clesiae, n.9. In: Obras. Madrid: BAC, 1964, p.151.
24 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS,
op. cit., q.39, a.6, ad 4.
25 ST. AMBROSE. Expositio
Evan- gelii secundum Lucam, L.II, n.94-95. In: Obras, vol. I. Madrid: BAC,
1966, p.144-145.
26 ST. GREGORY OF
NAZIANZUS, Homily XL, n.3. In: Homilías sobre la Natividad, op. cit., p.96-97.
[From the Heralds of the Gospel Magazine Jan 2013]
