FEAST of the BAPTISM of the LORD – YEAR B
A New Covenant of Unconditional Love
(Isaiah 55:1-11; Ps 29; Mk 1:7-11)
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Have you ever felt insecure, unsure of yourself in some situations, perhaps even doubting if you are loved or really lovable?
Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord invites us to appreciate not only our baptism, but also our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God.
The readings for this feast provide very rich fare indeed, and deserve to be explored individually, for they build on one another.
The gospel begins with a striking statement that sets the stage: “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness.” Why, we might ask, was John out in the wilderness? After all, he was the son of Zechariah, a temple priest, and would have been raised to be like his father, as that priesthood was hereditary. So, what was he doing out in the wilderness?
It is probable that as the last Old Testament prophet, tasked with bridging the Old and the New, John was repudiating the whole system of temple sacrificial religion, much as St. Francis repudiated his father’s lavish way of life. The temple religion at that time was corrupt, to the point where it exploited and oppressed the poor and even excluded the gentiles from their own court due to the commercialization that was taking place there (one reason why Jesus eventually cleansed the Temple).
Not only was John out in the desert, all the people from miles around were coming to him. It was supposed to be the other way around – the people were supposed to be coming up to the temple for worship. No wonder the Pharisees sent the scribes and priests to question him. As well, John was proclaiming a message of repentance by a baptism of water. Before the people went into the temple for worship, they had to wash themselves in ceremonial baths, or mizpahs. The symbolism here is that John is announcing a new temple, a new Israel, a new Moses in Jesus, and he was washing the people, as a new mizpah, preparing them to receive Jesus, the new temple.
John proclaims “one is coming who is powerful than me, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” And suddenly, that one about whom Isaiah prophecies in the first reading, appears: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” There he was, the Messiah, the one who was to come, the one awaited for all ages, the fulfilment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament, born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth.
The symbolism continues. Jesus, who took on our human flesh at his birth, now took on our sinful humanity at his baptism. In the Jordan he made a loving commitment to redeem sinful humanity by his death on the Cross and resurrection to new life. The Holy Spirit that John spoke of (the last prophecy of the Old Testament) descended on him, like the dove from Noah’s ark, only now announcing a new creation.
The heavens torn open at the baptism of Jesus is a foreshadowing of the veil of the temple that would be torn from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, a death that was the ultimate sign of the unconditional love of God. The voice of the Father from the heavens is not just the Father blessing Jesus as his beloved Son, but also a now more open revelation of God as a Trinity of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The prophet Isaiah, as he has done all throughout the season of Advent, now takes up the torch. He speaks of a new covenant that is free, unlike the costly temple sacrifices. More, he speaks of a new covenant that flows out of God’s steadfast love for David. It is significant that the infancy narratives clearly connect Jesus with David, and the kingdom of David. That is because with David, something different than the covenant with Moses occurred. The Mosaic covenant was based on the law and conditional – quid pro quo. Keep the law and one would be rewarded; break the law and one would be punished. God however, promised that he would be with David no matter what he did. It was a covenant of unconditional love. And David did mess up seriously – even adultery and murder – but he repented, experienced God’s unconditional love as forgiveness and mercy, and became the only true king of Israel, until Jesus. So, Jesus is often referred to as Son of David in the scriptures, but never as Son of Moses.
Isaiah continues to say that the Word of God shall not descend from heaven without accomplishing its purpose. We see that prophecy being fulfilled in Jesus, the Word made flesh at the Incarnation, now by his baptism in the Jordan beginning to accomplish that purpose of redeeming and sanctifying humanity, of revealing to us the unconditional love of God.
We are left with the freeing and uplifting message that like King David, no matter what our past, or how low our self-worth may have diminished, we can rejoice in our identity as baptized and beloved sons and daughters of God. All we need to do is have faith in Jesus, repent of our sins, and come to him to soak up that unconditional love that alone can transform our lives.
If we have been baptized, what the Father spoke to Jesus, he speaks to us: “You are my beloved son; you are my beloved daughter.” Yes, we need to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. And yes, that takes time. But as we make that journey, we can rest secure that we are already God’s beloved child. Everything flows from that.
The Eucharist is above all a powerful experience of God’s unconditional love for us, forgiving us, healing us, and empowering us to go out and spread this good news of God’s love to the world.
