FEAST OF
BAPTISM OF THE LORD 2013
(Lk 3:15-16.21-22)
Today’s
feast marks the end of the Christmas season. We observe that all through the
events surrounding the Nativity of Jesus, a cloud of silence covered the new
born Jesus. He lived in serene silence till this day. After His baptism, He
will be moving from place to place and we will hear His voice. In other words,
Jesus’ baptism marks the inauguration of His ministry. Among other symbolic
gestures noted in the history of theology, Jesus’ baptism can be seen as the
clearest explanation of the necessity of baptism for salvation. It becomes
Jesus’ ratification of our baptism and, in a way, of His internal involvement
in our baptism. Hence, our participation in the ‘one baptism’ (Eph 4:5) becomes
a sharing in the ‘one body’ (1Cor 12:13-14) of which Christ is the Head. Thus,
He goes ahead of us as the Good shepherd to direct us to this fountain of grace
(cf. Jn 10:4). Now, let us reflect on what happened after the Baptism as given
in the Gospel of today.
The Spirit
descended on Him in the form of a dove and the joyful voice of the Father came
from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you’ (Lk 3:22).
This event
takes our mind back to the very dawn of creation. Then the Spirit, the divine
wind descended and hovered around as God called things to existence (cf Gen
1:2). God looked at His creation and saw that it was good. By certifying His
creatures as good it implies that God was pleased with creation. It equally means
creation was beautiful and God took pleasure in it. In other words, creation
increased the joy of the Lord (Neh
8:10) and spread His glory abroad.
But not for
long! Sin unexpectedly interrupted the beauty, fear emerged and God’s
displeasure reigned. Immediately, God initiated the process of reclaiming His
pleasure in creation, of restoring His creatures to goodness and beauty. This
process of salvation found its ultimate fulfilment in Jesus Christ.
Today as
Jesus stepped out of His baptism, God is smiling
again; He has regained His pleasure in creation. In Jesus, creation is renewed;
once again it is good and beautiful, reflecting God’s glory. The Spirit
descends, not just as hovering wind, but in concrete form; now as a dove, at
another time as tongues of fire (cf Lk 3:12, Acts 2:2-4). The seal of the Spirit
will always be the mark of this new creation (cf. 2Cor 1:21-22, Eph 1:13-14).
In His
pleasure (cf. Eph 1:5. 9) God’s voice echoes again in creation as it was in the
beginning when God communicated directly with man and walked hand-in-hand with him
in the garden. His voice radiates joy—a confident smile. So in Jesus God is
smiling again!
Brothers
and sisters, God will also smile at us if we remain faithful to the one baptism
we share. Through baptism we have become God’s adopted children. If we remain
firm in our baptismal grace, God takes pleasure in us. It is not that the joy
of the Lord is dependent on us. Already God has had His full pleasure in Christ
Jesus. But if we are in Jesus we spread and multiply this joy. And this should
be our primary ambition: to please God.
If we
target to please God, the joy of the Lord will bounce back to constitute an
inner strength and freedom for us. We become partakers in His joy. In fact, we
have no other joy other than rejoicing in the Lord through Christ Jesus. God is
pleased—He smiles again—anytime we strengthen or renew our baptismal life in
Christ Jesus.
Fr. Jude C. Nwachukw, C.Ss.R
St Anthony’s Catholic Church,
Jabi, Abuja.
13th Jan, 2013
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