Baptism of the Lord Year A 2026

We encounter yet another theophany this weekend. Last Sunday we marked the 1st epiphany which was to commemorate the visit of the Magi. Today Jesus is baptised in the River Jordan. All three Synoptic Gospel are in unison that this event marked the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus.

The end of the Christmas season signals the start of the Ordinary Time. The Baptism of the Lord is also an encouragement for us to look into our own baptism. To appreciate this sacrament, we take a look at why Christ decided to be baptised. After all, He Himself was sinless. In fact, right from the start of the cousins’ encounter with each other, the Baptiser resisted. His reticence was technically an acknowledgement of Christ’s sinlessness and divinity.

But Jesus insisted and John relented.

In so doing, Christ reconfirmed that He was truly Emmanuel. He not only took on human flesh. More than mere identification and solidarity, He also substituted and submitted Himself to take our place. He embraced our humanity in every respect except sin in order to save us.

Secondly, He sanctified the waters of our Baptism. The catechism from the Council of Trent spoke of it this way: “(w)hen our Lord was baptised, water, by contact with His most holy and pure body, was consecrated to the salutary use of Baptism”. St Augustine put it in a better way. “The Lord is baptised, not because He had need to be cleansed, but in order that, by the contact of His pure flesh, He might purify the waters and impart to them the power of cleansing”. Thus, as Jesus entered the Jordan, He not only signalled the forgiveness of sins, He also removed Original Sin. The door is opened for each baptised to embrace a life of holiness.

Thirdly, through His baptism, in a way, He foreshadowed His own death and Resurrection. The water of the Jordan is both a symbol of death and of life. The river is a symbol of death, reminiscent of the destruction of the Great Deluge. But a stream is also a symbol of life. In that way, when we are baptised, we enter into death with Christ so that as He rose from the dead, we can rise with Him. According to Pope Benedict, Jesus used the word “baptism” to refer to His death but not just His. If baptism signals Jesus acceptance of death for the sins of humanity then the voice that announced over the baptismal waters, “This is my beloved Son” is an anticipatory reference to His Resurrection and ours too.

All in, this event of Jesus’ baptism has profound implications for us. Firstly, through His baptism, Jesus makes public His mission to sanctify and save the world. Secondly, we are not only privy to the inauguration of His mission. We are also privileged to catch a glimpse of who Jesus is and who God is as the Blessed Trinity. It is precisely the manifestation of the Three Persons that the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan is also known as a theophany. We hear the Father speaking, we witnessed the Holy Spirit descending, we see the Son being baptised. As the Son submits to the Father’s will, both the Father and the Holy Spirit confirms the divinity of Jesus

Baptism into Christ’s death has become an essential definition of our identity. It is not merely the gateway to salvation. If, through His baptism, Christ signalled His desire to enter into the messy human landscape, then, through our baptism we are invited to enter into the life of the Trinity. Through the Sacrament of Regeneration, we are brought into communion with the Father, Son and Spirit. Thus, this sacrament empowers us to live as children of God. If present liturgical sense concludes Christmas with the Baptism of Jesus then it is a fitting transition for us as we move from the festive mood surrounding Christ’s birth to the humdrum of ordinary time.

The human scene is NOT the ideal landscape for the practise of our faith. It is the only place we have to profess our faith because the mysteries of Christ’s life is to be lived through our daily rhythm and not in some idealised fantasy world. Baptism is much like our birthday through which we are reborn as God’s children. That means we are not just the mission of Christ, meaning that we are not merely the target of His mission to save. We are also invited to participate in His mission to save.

We are grafted into His Body, the Church thus sharing in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and royal mission. In fact, baptism provides a common basis for all Christians to cooperate, especially with those who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Baptism is valid as long as the rite involves immersion or pouring, done with a Trinitarian formula and the intention to baptise. The Catholic Church accepts the baptisms of Protestants because each baptised person is configured to Christ with an indelible spiritual mark which cannot be erased. Not even sin can destroy this mark even though what sin does is prevent us from bearing good fruits. That is how powerful our baptism is. According to St Augustine, the character of baptism marks us as belonging to Christ. Rightly we are called Christians.

St Paul urged the Ephesians to live up to the name of Christian because each one has been called by the one Lord to the one faith, one baptism and to the one God who is father of all, who is all over and through all and in all. There is never a good time for us to practise our faith. There will never be a right moment to be Church Militant. Some of us might be waiting for the right time to live as Christians or to step up as disciples. That moment will never come if we procrastinate. We are soldiers ever-ready to respond. Martyrs who laid down their lives for Christ did not wait for the opportune moment to do so. St Maximilian Kolbe, at the spur of the moment, stood forward and offered himself to replace another condemned prisoner. His entire life may have been a preparation but the moment was never the best of timing. Thus for us, today is as good a day to live out our baptism, to be a good Christian now and nottomorrow.