January 8, 2010
Sunday Scripture
Baptism of the Lord Jesus
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
The baptism of Jesus presents us with a problem. The baptism which John preached was called “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.” It was an external sign that one had repented of actual sins. What repentance does Jesus need, of whom it is written in Hebrews 4:15, ”. . . one who in every way was tempted as we are, but without sin?” The First Letter of Peter calls Jesus, “a lamb without blemish or spot,” and says of Jesus, “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” John 8:46 presents Jesus himself saying, “Who of you can convict me of sin?”
Mark did not recognize this problem, but Matthew, Luke and John are well aware of the theological problem caused by Jesus submitting to the baptism of repentance of sins. This is why, in Matthew’s presentation of the baptism of Jesus, there is a brief dialogue between Jesus and John the Baptizer. John says, “I ought to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?” Jesus commands him to proceed with his baptism. Luke has a stranger way of handling the difficulty. In Luke’s gospel the Baptizer is imprisoned by Herod Antipas before Jesus comes to be baptized. Thus Luke can write the episode in such a way that Jesus was indeed baptized, but he never tells us that John did the baptizing. Today we would call that a coverup. Matthew certainly did a better job of it, but the Gospel of John goes ever further than Luke to avoid the problem, not even mentioning Jesus’ baptism, but only the descent upon Jesus of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
With all this in mind, inquiring minds want to know why Jesus confronted us and the gospel authors with such a challenge by submitting himself to John’s baptism? One answer is humility. Our four gospels present the Baptizer as the embodiment of humility. Should not the Son of God show his approval of John’s humility and of John’s mission by his own act of humility? That is why Jesus says to the Baptizer in Matthew’s gospel, “Thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Paul writes of Jesus in Philippians 2:6-8, “Although he was God in form, he did not count equality with God a thing to be clung to, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born as a human being . . . he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”
Mention of the Cross brings us to the deepest meaning of Jesus’ submission to a baptism of repentance for sins. Isaiah 53 writes of the “servant of God,” “The Lord has placed on him the wickedness of all of us, . . . He makes himself an offering for sin . . . The righteous one, my servant, shall make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their wickedness.” These descriptions of the Servant of Lord are basic to St. Paul’s theology of Jesus’ death and the theology of Jesus’ death in all four gospels. Thus the Gospel of John proclaims of Jesus’ encounter with the Baptizer, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Jesus’ baptism by the Baptizer is a preview and foretaste of the saving humility of Jesus’ death on the cross.
Already at his baptism Jesus begins to take upon himself the sins, the burdens of humanity, an assumption of human sins. This assumption of the human burden is completed on the cross. Thus Jesus himself will speak of his death as a baptism in Luke 12:50, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how great my anguish until it is accomplished!” Let homilists take upon themselves the explanation of the gospels, even if it requires the burden of study. The people are tired of sweet little stories or of hearing about the personal experiences of their homilists. Let the people hear the catechesis that the Holy Spirit and the authors of our gospels intended to be taught by the episodes presented to us in our Sunday gospel-readings.
This reading is foundational material used by Luke in the constructing of his version of the baptism of Jesus. At Jesus’ baptism in Luke, the Father bears witness to his Son in these words, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The Father’s words echo the words of Isaiah in this reading, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, with whom I am pleased.” In Luke’s story, as in all four gospels, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus at his baptism. In this first reading Isaiah proclaims of the servant of the Lord, “I have put my Spirit upon him.” Isaiah 42:1-6 is the first of four poems in this part of Isaiah. They are called “The Songs (poems) of the Servant of the Lord.” Most New Testament documents rely on these four poems to form the theology of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. In reading them, one already reads the gospels.
This reading was chosen because it echoes the gospel of today in these words, “. . . the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit . . .”