BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 7)
Baptism of the Lord, Year C – January 11, 2004
Is 40:1-5, 9-11 // Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7 // Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
Last Advent season, I volunteered to set the table for the community dinner every Sunday. I put forth the mood of expectancy for the coming of our Savior through the art of paper napkin folding. Each Advent Sunday, the Sisters entering the refectory would notice the increasing light pattern at the table: one paper napkin candle, two paper napkin candles, etc. On the fourth Sunday, after I had set the table, one enterprising Sister added a wonderful element to the décor. She placed a beautiful long-stemmed rose in the center of the candle-filled table. The sturdy-looking rose completed the evocative Advent setting and reminded us of the one who is to come, Jesus - the Rose of Judah – who, according to a popular Church hymn, “came a flower bright amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night”. The rose slowly opened its petals, to our delight. Indeed, there is beauty in a blooming rose and there is grace in the earth that buds forth its savior, Jesus – the Rose of Judah.
On the feast of the Lord’s Baptism, we contemplate another miraculous moment of beauty and grace: the heaven that opened its sky at the baptism of Jesus. On this Sunday, which closes the Advent-Christmas season, we continue to contemplate the mystery of the Word Incarnate who was manifested in a marvelous way and anew at his baptism at the Jordan. According to the evangelist, Luke: “After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’.” (Lk 3:21-22)
According to the biblical scholar, Carroll Stuhlmueller, “Men and women have been led to the final moment of world salvation through the baptism administered by John; they are ready to become the messianic, eschatological people. Luke, however, never mentions John by name in the account of Jesus’ baptism … The theophany rather than the baptism is the focal point for Luke, who alone states that Jesus remains at prayer.”
The utterly powerful image of the newly baptized Jesus in prayer evokes the haunting Advent invocation: “Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down” (Is 64:1). The prophetic and eschatological symbol of the “heavens that open” indicates that a divine revelation is made in answer to his prayer. Regarding Luke’s account of the baptism of Jesus, Jerome Kodell explains: “The heavens are opened, signaling a visitation of God with a new revelation for the people.” Harold Buetow, moreover, connects this imagery with “the first pages of the Bible of the morning of the first creation, when the breath of God (ruah elohim) flew to and fro like a bird above the primordial waters as a power of fruitfulness and life. Now, at the beginning of the New Testament, with Jesus’ baptism heralding a new creation, we see the Spirit coming upon Jesus.”
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at his baptism is a messianic event. The Spirit of the Father anoints Jesus and empowers him for his public ministry as the Messiah. In the light of Acts 10:38 (“God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil.”) and Lk 4:16-21 about the visit of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth where he publicly read the messianic text: “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me…” and applied it to himself, we surmise that the Spirit that rests upon him is for the fulfillment of God’s will: to liberate those bound by Satan and to preach the good news to the poor.
After the messianic anointing of Jesus, the Father’s voice came down from heaven, saying: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). With this divine declaration, Jesus is avowed as the expected messianic king, but his kingship will not be exercised in pomp and power, but in a spirit of humble self-sacrifice. The biblical scholar Samuel Oyin Abogunrin reflects on the event of Jesus’ baptism: “This was indeed the day Jesus began to act as God’s Son, but not as a royal king would. Jesus sought to bring the earth into subjection to God as the Suffering Servant (cf. Is 42:1-4; 53:1-12). From the time of his baptism Jesus was bound for the cross. He accepted the role of the Suffering Servant who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross (Phil 2:8). The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in a special way … Having been baptized and empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is ready to embark on his mission, to bear the sins of many and reveal the open door to the Father’s love and forgiveness.”
Do we regard with devotion the messianic event of Jesus’ baptism? Do we open our hearts to the grace that this divine revelation brings?
As baptized Christians, are we willing to follow the way of Jesus, the Suffering Servant?
Do we believe in the power of the Spirit who anoints and confirms us in our mission of Christian witnessing?
(Cf. Alternative Opening Prayer, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord)
Leader: Let us pray as we listen to the voice of God’s Spirit.
(Pause for silent prayer.
Father in heaven,
you revealed Christ as your Son
by the voice that spoke over the waters of the Jordan.
May all who share in the sonship of Christ
follow in his path of service to man,
and reflect the glory of his kingdom
even to the ends of the earth,
for he is Lord for ever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him.” (Lk 3:22)
ACTION PLAN: Today, the feast of the Lord’s baptism, thank the Lord for the gift of your own baptism and renew your own baptismal promises.
ACTION PLAN: In honor of the Lord’s baptism in which the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended, open up your hearts to a needy person and be for him or her an instrument of God’s revelation and messianic salvation.
Prepared by: Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM