Homily: The Baptism of the Lord

9. 1st Sunday in the Ordinary Time – Baptism of Our Lord

Is. 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Mt. 3:13-17

The Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins set during World War II. Hitler proposed the idea of capturing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Steiner was forced to accept the mission.


Steiner and his men were relocated to an airfield on the north western coast of Holland, there they were to familiarize themselves with the British weapons and equipment. The team would be air dropped into Norfolk. The commandos outfit themselves as Polish troops. Their plan was to infiltrate into the village, Studley Constable, complete their mission, and make their escape.

At first, the plan went off without a hitch. Then, one day one of Steiner's men saw two local children fallen in a water wheel. His first instinct was to jump into the river to rescue them. But, he knew that his action would reveal who they were and would defeat their mission. Any attempt to rescue them was risking his life and the life of his fellow soldiers. The sight of the children being drawn to the water wheel could not hold him back. He jumped into the water and rescued them. During the rescue operation he was killed and his German uniform, worn under the Polish uniform, was seen by the local people. That revealed the identity of Steiner and his men. All of them were shot dead in the encounter that followed.

The German soldier risked his life in order to give life to two of the local children.

The Baptism of Jesus was the public announcement that Jesus was going to risk his life for giving life to the whole humanity. Jesus knew well about his mission and the reaction that he would have to face. There are around a hundred Prophecies in the Old Testament that are commonly referred to as being fulfilled by Jesus. The Old Testament prophesied about the messiah’s birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and eternal glory. Isaiah had prophesied that Jesus would commence his ministry in Galilee (Is 9:1-2). There are passages about His meekness (Is 42:2), His working miracles (Is 35:5), His patience and silence under suffering (Is 53:7), His being rejected by the Jewish rulers (Ps 118:22), His Death (Is 53:12) and His resurrection (Is 26:19). So, when, at Baptism Jesus made the public announcement of His mission, He was well aware that He was going to risk His life for the salvation of mankind.

During the First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, [Is. 42:1-4, 6-7] we heard the prophecy that the promised Messiah would be God's chosen Servant in Whom the Divine Soul would delight. [Is. 42:1] The Messiah would have the Spirit of God upon Him, bringing forth justice to all the nations.

Today's reading from the Gospel of Matthew [Mt. 3:13-17] recreated the event surrounding the Baptism of Jesus: "And when Jesus had been baptized, just as He came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to Him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and alighting on Him." [Mt. 3:16] "And a voice from heaven said, 'This is My Son, the Beloved, my favour rests on him.'" [Mt. 3:17]

In the Old Testament, the image of a dove symbolized many things. The dove was the symbol of love, symbol of deliverance, symbol of peace and symbol of God’s glory.

The dove is a Symbol of Love. The dove's beauty and its traditional faithfulness to its mate were taken by the ancients to be a symbol of human love and beauty. Jesus commanded the disciples to express in their lives the love and gentleness of the dove (Matt. 10:16). At the time of Baptism God declared, "This is my Son, whom I love". The symbol of love, the dove, and the word of love merged in the baptism of Jesus. God's love was flowing down to His Son. In Jesus a channel was found through which God's love could reach us; He was anointed to function as the means through which God's grace is available to us.

The dove is a Symbol of Deliverance. The rapid flight of the dove became a symbol of deliverance from one's enemies or from threatening circumstances. The psalmist writes: "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest" (55:6). The Israelites returning from the Exile are described as those "that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests" (Isa. 60:8; cf. Hosea 11:11).

The dove is a symbol of peace in Christianity and Judaism. When after the flood, Noah released a dove in order to find dry land it came back with an olive branch in its beak, which indicated that the waters were abating, and God had withdrawn His wrath and was at peace with mankind again.(Genesis 8:11).

In the Jewish tradition the dove appears as a symbol of God’s glory. The cloud signifying the glory of God and the dove are connected. Therefore, at the Baptism of Jesus, on the part of God, Jesus was declared as the one who would mediate God’s love for the humanity, as the one who would bring deliverance for his people, as the one who would establish peace and as the one who would show God’s glory to His people. On the part of Jesus, Baptism was the acceptance and inauguration of His mission as God's suffering Servant.

With Baptism Jesus was empowered for his public ministry. In today's Second Reading from The Acts of the Apostles, [Acts 10:34-8] we heard Saint Peter tell us that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the evil.

As Jesus was empowered for the Public Ministry at baptism, each one of us is empowered to continue the work of Jesus through our baptism. So Isaiah taught: “The Lord God stated that He has called us to righteousness. He has taken us by the hand and kept us. He has given us as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. [Is. 42:6-7]”. If we accept this mission and make effort in accomplishing it, one day God will declare, “This is my son/daughter, the Beloved; my favour rests on him/her.

Satish

Anecdotes

1. River of Life: Jordanian Jesus calls us for a gharvapsi experience that bids us enter the stormy rivers of Life. Many countries have ancient rivers imbued with a sense of the sacred. For millions of Hindus ‘Gangajal’ (the water of River Ganga, India) symbolizes shuddikaran and salvation. Jesus Christ, Saviour of all peoples beckons us for a back-to-basics baptism, a gharvapasi or ‘homecoming’ into our own Jordans and Gangas to die to selfishness and to be dyed in ‘Servant-colour’. May we courageously cross Life’s River with Jesus at the helm. – Francis Gonsalves, ‘Sunday Seeds for Dailyl Deeds’