P. Gorazd Cetkovský, O.Carm.
Theologians say that the baptism of the Lord Jesus in the Jordan is one of the most important events of his life. That is why all four Gospels speak about it1 and present it as the beginning of his public ministry.
Only the Gospel of Matthew conveys the Father’s voice from heaven in a way that the Father speaks to the people who are standing around, including us (Mt 3:17). According to the accounts of Mark (Mk 1:11) and Luke, the Father’s voice speaks to Jesus: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). We, the readers and listeners of the Gospel, are allowed to be spiritually witnesses to this event, to listen to it, and to try to understand it.
Here the Father reassures the Son of his identity and of his love for him. This strengthens him in his determination to do what the Father wishes, to fulfill the Father's will.
What significance did this hold for Jesus? Perhaps we are not exaggerating when we say it was great. Accepting these Father’s words is an important moment in his relationship with the Father. We can understand this when we try to imagine the consequences of Jesus being a true man. After all, even we – with our hardened hearts – would not be indifferent to such a declaration. It would mean a lot to us. All the more so for Jesus.
But for us – the “bystanders” – it is also of great importance that we can participate in this Father’s declaration. We fully hear who Jesus is, rejoice in it, and strengthen our desire to live accordingly. Since 2003, when John Paul II designated the event of the Baptism of the Lord as one of the mysteries of the Luminous Rosary,2 we have reflected on it more often and it has become closer to us.
What particularly resonates with me is Jesus' humility. He, the innocent one, joined “the line” among a crowd of sinners (selfish people, thieves, liars, brutes, immoral people, lazy ones, idlers in spiritual life, etc.) as one of them and thus approached John to be washed with the water of John's baptism. To accept: “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 3:11 and par.).
Shortly after the end of the year in which we have tried to be more attentive and open to God’s mercy, let us emphasize: it is precisely at this moment of Jesus’ manifested solidarity with sinners that the Father declared to him: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Thus, it did not happen at any “great” moment: during Jesus’ visit to the temple in Jerusalem (as happened in the case of Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah), it did not happen when Jesus read from Scripture in Capernaum or Nazareth and “all in the synagogue were looking intently at him” (Lk 4:20), nor at the moment of Jesus’ personal prayer in the solitude of the mountain (as it will later during the Transfiguration – Mt 17:5 and par.). No. But precisely at this moment, when Jesus mingled among sinners as one of us, when it was clear that he simply cared about us and wanted to help us, at that moment the Father addressed him, assured him, and encouraged him: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
The Year of Mercy has ended. With gratitude for it and for everything it brought us, let us draw close to Jesus. Let us never despair over any committed sin, let us not be terrified by chronic temptations and vices we carry with us, which so often prevail over us despite all our efforts, let us not despise ourselves for our repeatedly revealed weaknesses. Let us accept the humble Jesus, believe in his mercy and desire to help us in our weakness. Let us rejoice in the Father's words and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let us live, too, his baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11), which we have already received and which can continue to happen more and more to us.
