HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF BAPTISM
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7/ Psalm 28/ Acts 10:34-38/ Matthew 3:13-17
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Baptism requires sacrifice
This feast ends the season of Christmas. The purpose of this feast is twofold namely to explain the importance in the four Gospels of the Lord’s Baptism and to encourage us to carry out a similar mission of holiness, prayer and service to others. Today also gives each and every one of us an opportunity to reflect on our own baptism. How will you respond to an invitation to do missionary work? This question is at the heart of the Gospel reading of today where we find God the Holy Trinity preparing Christ for his mission. Last week we celebrated Epiphany, or manifestation of the new born Christ to the world. Now the adult Christ is being manifested to the whole world by the whole Trinity.
In describing the baptism of our Lord in the Jordan, St. Matthew writes “After Jesus was baptised, he came directly out of the water. Suddenly, the sky opened he saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and hover over him (Matthew 3:15). In the Old Testament, the dove is the symbol of love. Here it is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the Love of God. Jesus is the ‘beloved Son’ of God. As St. Peter said to Cornelius in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles: “God anointed Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). Christ is the Spirit-filled agent of God’s will to bring man to salvation. He is the one who “Went about doing good works and healing all who were in the grip of the devil (Acts 10:38).
Jesus is the servant that Isaiah writes about in the First Reading of today. God will put his Spirit upon him in order for him to bring about justice for the nations. Jesus does this not by forcing people to change, “Not by crying out, nor shouting, not making his voice heard in the streets” (Isaiah 42:2), but by gently leading them. A change in men cannot come from external pressure and force. It comes from within. Isaiah puts it beautifully when he said “A bruised reed he shall not break and a smoldering wick he shall not quench” (Isaiah 42:3). This means that the mission of Christ made explicit at his baptism by John is to bring the saving love of God into the hearts of God’s people.
The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan set him off on his mission. Nothing would stop him from carrying on his mission. St. Luke says that the Good News that Jesus preached after his Baptism spread throughout Judea “ …beginning in Galilee after the Baptism John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” ( Acts 10:38).
We too, our baptism has set us off on mission. We became sons and daughters of God by adoption; we were anointed, filled with the Spirit; we were named ‘servants of God’; we had enough life breathed into us to make our mission successful. How have we lived our baptism?
Even John the Baptist knew that he was not the one to baptise Jesus. Rather Jesus was the one to baptise him. For John Jesus’ baptism was not necessary. “But Jesus answered him ‘Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness,’ ‘Then he consented” (Matthew 3:15). Obedience to God was what led Jesus to be baptised by John. Baptism was meant for people who needed repentance. However, Jesus never sinned. Therefore, was Jesus’ baptism necessary at all? Two reasons are advanced in defense of Jesus’ baptism namely his baptism gave approval to John’s ministry. Secondly, he identified himself with publicans and sinners the very people he came to save. Above all, his baptism pictured his future baptism on the cross (Matthew 20:22; Luke 12:50) when all the “waves and billows” of God’s judgment would go over him (Psalm 42:7; Jonah 2:3).
By sanctifying the waters of baptism by virtue of his own baptism, Jesus has made baptism the only gateway to salvation. Indeed, by baptism each and every Christian is called to a life of holiness and evangelisation. Also, by baptism we have entered into a covenant with Jesus; an eternal covenant that makes us liable to judgment.
We are called to bear witness to Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. We are called to lead others to Christ and not to ourselves just as John did. John bore witness to Jesus Christ as the son of God and also as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Thus, because of John’s witness, many sinners trusted Jesus Christ (John 10: 39-42).
John’s witness to Jesus was twofold: Jesus as the Son of God and Jesus as the Lamb of God. He presents Jesus as the glorious Son of God and at the same time the Lamb of God who will sacrifices himself for us daily. We too are called to witness to Jesus’ Son ship but at the same time, we are called to sacrifice a little for the work of evangelisation as Jesus did.
The coming of the Holy Spirit like a dove identified Jesus to John (John 1:31-34). And also assured Jesus as he began his ministry that the Spirit’s ministry would always be his (John 3:34). The dove is a beautiful symbol of the Spirit of God in its purity and in its ministry of peace. The first time we see a dove in scripture is in Genesis 8:6-11. Noah sent out two birds, a raven and a dove, but only the dove came back. The raven represented the flesh; there was plenty for the raven to eat outside the ark. But the dove would not defile itself with the carcasses, so it came back to the ark. The second time the dove was released, it returned with an olive leaf, a symbol of peace. Therefore, the Spirit’s presence at baptism assures us of God’s presence and his peace.
In conclusion, as we renew our baptismal vows today, let us do it sincerely. Let God’s promise that “I will put my Spirit within you and you shall live and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act” (Ezekiel 37:14) be fulfilled in our lives especially this year. Our baptism puts us in a position to continue the mission of Christ.