The first Sunday in ordinary time is dedicated to the Baptism of the Lord. This event marks Christ’s entry into public life. But, this event does not merely signal a transition in the life of Christ. For Matthew, this event is also cosmic in magnitude as Christ’s public manifestation to the world is also at the same time, the revelation that He is the beloved Son of God. Matthew wants to alert his Jewish audience that not far in the background of his narration of Christ’s baptism they should hear the echo of the Book of Genesis.The opening of the heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit like a dove recall two events in the history of salvation. First, the creation of the world and second, the aftermath of the flood. In the beginning, the Spirit hovered over the formless mass and after the destruction of the deluge, a dove signalled to Noah that a new era has begun. At the River Jordan, the Spirit in the shape of a dove hovered over Christ showed that mankind was now entering a history like never before.
In the meantime, dazzled as we are by the immensity of this cosmic event, we might just miss out on what this new history really meant. John preaches a baptism of repentance. For the Jews, a man’s sins belong to realm of private business between him and God. Something which many of you would like. But, here, at the Jordan there is a public admission of one’s sin. Thus, John’s protest is appropriate. He, who is sinless, does not need repentance. And yet, Christ subjects Himself to the same ritual as those who are sinful.
Now you can discern that the Baptism of Christ coming so closely at the heel of Christmas and Epiphany shows that there is a bond between the birth, the visit of the Magi and His public ministry. He will minister to us, not from a distance but in close proximity to us. He is truly Emmanuel, God with us. He became one of us through the incarnation. At His baptism, he confirms that He is committed to our cause and the parting words from heaven declared that His presence will be no less than the very presence of the divine.
Thus, the baptism event marking Christ’s entry into public life has repercussion or consequence for those who are baptised. In the first reading, there is a description of what a true servant is to be like. It is a hymn of the Deutero-Isaiah—the second book of Isaiah. The Jew had been exiled and so on one level, this true servant and later suffering servant applied to the “corporate” person of Israel. But in the context of the New Testament, the true and suffering servant would no longer be the generic corporate figure of Israel but would tangibly be realised in the person of Christ.
We can understand the implication of Christ as suffering servant through the ways baptism has been variously described. Listen to St Paul’s Letter to the Romans 6. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised in Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life”.
St Paul’s description of baptism invites us to consider what our perception of a life with Christ is supposed to be like. For as soon as we follow Christ, then we will have walked in the shadow of His cross—the spectre of death is always real. If anyone believes that life with Christ is hunky dory, he might want to rethink that. Here, I am tempted to say that those who never have to suffer are perhaps not on the road to heaven. Let me pause here for you to consider the gravity of what I have just said: Those who never have to suffer are perhaps not on the road to heaven. It sounds self-righteous but maybe a saying may help us look beyond what I have just said to the meaning of following Christ the Suffering Servant and it goes like this: Faith does not lessen the pain, it makes it bearable.
This ties in with what we are celebrating today: Christ’s baptism, His public ministry and the implication of Him being the suffering servant. His taking on our sins have made our life with Him possible as well as in many cases bearable. For most of us, fed on a diet of easy life, we have come to believe that suffering and dignity have become mutually exclusive. There seem to be no dignity in suffering. Yet, He came to show us what dignity really means. It is to be found in being loved by God. Our dignity does not come others or from others’ estimation of who we are. Therefore, our dignity is not diminished no matter how much we may suffer. Here, let me be clear that there is no glorification of suffering. There is no need to. Maybe I am lamenting that many of us, me included, have not reckoned nor counted the true cost of discipleship. There is no gratuitous glorification of suffering instead I am merely stating the obvious, that in Christ, persecution should not surprise us. Thus, a beloved does not need to lead a shielded life for with Christ near him, what vicissitudes he is faced with can never crush him and will never shatter the confidence of his dignity as a beloved of the Father. From this, let me ask a question. In the recent event over the so-called removal of crucifixes which left many of us disturbed, was it an affront to justice because a human right has been trampled on or did the anger reflect a lack of confidence in our dignity. The answer is, there was an injustice committed but more importantly, the level of anger also reflected the depth of our humiliation. Humiliation is proportional to anger but disproportionate to our dignity. It means that often a person who is not confident of his dignity will feel the greater humiliation. Those who are sensitive, easily slighted, insulted, etc probably will feel the humiliation more acutely.
In summary, the baptism of Christ marks His entry into public life—a change charged by the knowledge of His Father’s love for Him. So, for us who are baptised, it requires that we also embrace our dignity as the beloved of God. If only 20% (ideally 100%) of all baptised seriously embrace their dignity as sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Christ, we could become a potent force for the good. Then the public ministry of Christ could really begin in earnest. Otherwise, we will often be reduced to fighting for our dignity because we have been humiliated. So, do you want to be in the 20% or do you choose to remain just in the 80%.
