ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR C
First
Sunday (Baptism of Our Lord) [Lk 3:15-16.21-22]
12.01.2025
Jesus’
Baptism: God’s Beloved Son Becoming His Servant
1.
Theme in brief
Our mission to serve
2.
Focus Statement
By baptism
we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to commit ourselves to a mission of service
to humanity and we become God’s beloved children by our faithfulness to this
mission.
3.
Explanation of the text
Earlier Luke’s gospel
had already spoken about crowds of people who came to John the Baptist from
various walks of life to be baptized by him (3:7-14). In the present passage we
notice those people wondering whether John might be the Messiah (3:15). Denying that claim,
he made a distinction
between him and the Messiah, his baptism and the Messiah’s baptism. He said
that the One who was coming after him (Messiah) was “more powerful” than him (3:16). He
confessed his subordination
to the Messiah by saying that he was even unworthy to perform the role of a slave who untied
the thongs or straps of his master’s sandals (3:16). He baptized only with
water (3:16) – a ritual to signify ‘repentance’ and ‘forgiveness of sins’ (3:3)
– but the more ‘Powerful One’ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (3:16) – an obvious reference
to the descent of the Spirit in the form of tongues of fire on the day of
Pentecost symbolizing his superior cleansing and purifying power (Acts 2:3).
In modern terms, Jesus' baptism could be
taken as a sort of ‘inauguration ceremony’ of his public ministry. His Baptism was a turning point in his life, a moment
of final decision
to launch his public ministry of service to humanity. But before he could make
a ‘final
commitment’ to the mission entrusted to him by his Father, he wanted
an assurance whether he had taken the right step. The voice of the Father
telling him, “You are my beloved Son, I am well pleased with you” (3:22) was an
assurance
to him that he had taken the right decision. An inner voice must have urged or
propelled him very powerfully to commit himself firmly to God’s will. Jesus’ decision was endorsed by the opening of heaven, the descent of the Holy
Spirit, and the voice of approval from the Father (3:21-22). Jesus set out for
his public ministry of service with the anointing and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Unlike other evangelists, Luke says that
heaven opened not when Jesus was receiving
baptism, but when he was praying after his baptism (3:21). Luke
frequently portrays Jesus at prayer, especially when he took important decisions
or at various turning points in his life (5:16; 6:12; 9:18;
11:1; etc.) He wants to give us the message that Jesus' ministry was based on and powered
by prayer. The opening of heaven symbolizes either the intervention of God or
receiving an answer from God for his prayer.
Probably Luke wanted to tell believers that God anointed Jesus with the power
of the Hoy Spirit in answer to his prayer, and his public ministry was
empowered by the Holy Spirit.
A voice coming from
heaven (surely the voice of the Father), “You are my beloved Son; with you I
am well pleased,” (3:22) is
composed of two OT texts. The first part is from Psalm 2:7 – “You are my son;
today I have begotten you.” This was generally accepted as a description of the
Messianic King who
was considered as God’s Son. The second part is from Isaiah 42:1 – “Here is my
servant… my chosen, in whom my soul delights.” God’s
“chosen servant”
is also called God’s Suffering Servant because of the suffering he
would undergo. Luke substitutes the words “Chosen Servant” with “Beloved Son,” and
identifies him with the Son of God, whose mission of service will involve
suffering and sacrifice.
God is well pleased with him precisely because of his willingness to do his
will or to be faithful
to his role as servant of humanity to the extent of suffering crucifixion. The
Spirit of God descending like a dove on Jesus can mean either the creative
spirit which hovered over the waters when God created the heavens and the earth
(Gen 1:1-2), or the One who brings message of new life like the dove at Noah’s
time that brought a freshly plucked (green) olive leaf when the mighty flood that
drowned the whole earth receded after fourty days and nights (Gen 8:11). The
olive branch brought by the dove also symbolizes peace and reconciliation to be
established by the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. Application to life
Today we celebrate
the feast of the Baptism of our Lord by John the Baptist in the River
Jordan. Though sinless, by accepting baptism, Jesus shows his solidarity
with sinful humanity. In baptism he takes our place so that we could take his
place and become another Christ after our baptism. Thus, his baptism
serves as a model for our baptism. For us too, our baptism is like
a new birth through which we begin not only a new life of
grace but also a commission to continue Christ’s mission of service. Today’s
feast invites us to make our baptism alive and dynamic, and not a ritual which took place
long ago, perhaps for most of us when we were babies. It invites us not to take
it for granted and become deeply conscious
of its meaning and implication.
Though we are
baptized only once in our life-time, we are called to live by our baptismal promises
and mission throughout our life. We need to strive daily to be conformed to the
image of Christ and live up to our baptismal commitment till the end of our
life. First of all, this feast draws our attention to our own baptismal consecration
and vocation to live a life of holiness. To be consecrated means to be set apart, or
to be separated, for use by the Lord. It means to belong totally to
God (Ex 13:2) and not to the world. It also means offering of our whole being
to God and separating ourselves from anything that may contaminate
or defile our relationship with a holy God. Ultimately, it connotes our call to
a life of sanctification or holiness, to be holy as God is holy. We
need to renew our baptismal consecration and holiness by deciding daily to
separate ourselves from the worldly contamination. We have to consciously
practice it by making a decision of our mind everyday to offer all our
works, relationships, activities, concerns and in fact our whole life as an offering to
God.
Our daily consecration
leads us to acquire this sort of attitudes: Whatever we have is his gift to us, and
whatever we give is our gift to him. Therefore, we lovingly and willingly
return to him whatever he has given us, without any reserve. Jesus prayed that
his disciples may be consecrated (sanctified or dedicated) in the truth of
God (Jn 17:17), because though they are in the world, they do not belong
to the world (Jn 17:11,1416). Though we live in the world, in order to live a
life worthy of our call, we should not agree with, imitate or
copy all the fashions and fads of the world, nor blindly ape all its
values. That is why we make promises to God to renounce the “pomp” of
Satan during our baptism, such as power-mongering, corrupt practices,
consumerism, name and fame, gaining popularity without practicing any
principles in personal conduct, etc.
Secondly, by baptism like Christ, we too are consecrated for a life of service. We too become God’s beloved
sons and daughters who are entrusted with a mission of service. Hence, this feast invites
us to show forth that we are really God’s beloved children by remaining faithful to our baptismal mission. We must be always attuned
to the inner voice of the Spirit
that moves us to become more and more sensitive to needs of the modern world and look for newer and
newer forms of service. We have to ask ourselves whether God is well pleased now with the type and quality of the service that we
render in our families, communities and workplaces. We should check and see, as
the world of technology advances year by year and the quality of our goods,
machinery and gadgets improves a lot, whether the quality of our service and
commitment to our mission increases. What we notice is more and more people not
finding time for any community service in spite of saving a lot of time due to
the use of modern means of communication and transport (like mobile phones and
vehicles).
What is
service then? It
mainly implies self–giving or giving one’s life for the
welfare of others. In other words, it implies a sharing of time, talents,
goods, knowledge, speech, and energies for the good of others. Jesus tells us that his mission is not to be served
but to serve to the point of giving (= sacrificing) his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10: 45). He
calls his sacrifice on the cross out of service for humankind a ‘baptism’ of
blood (Mk 10:38). For him, service was a sacrificial service which involves sometimes suffering or pain for ourselves. Based on today’s first reading and the interpretation of “Chosen
Servant” given by Luke, ours is a suffering service. If our services do not go
beyond the compulsive services we have to render for our
livelihood and self-maintenance, we can hardly be his disciples. One of the
reasons why our discipleship remains to the minimal level could be our unwillingness to make sacrifices
or take pain for
common good or community service. Even in families, one of the most important services
parents, especially fathers, should render is sacrificing their time for guiding and directing their path in the paths
of God. Further, in our families we have to examine ourselves whether we expect
others to serve us at our beck and call, or equally contribute to the total
welfare of the family. Outside our homes, we have to examine and see whether we
try to escape from occasions to render service to the society if there is no
monitory or prestige reward.
To whom should service be rendered? When we read the gospels, we come to know, though service has to be
rendered to all, it has to be preferably rendered to the needy, the rejected, the suffering, the sick, the underprivileged, the
defenceless and outcasts and sinners, the least of our brethren, etc. Though
jobs are called “service’’ in the secular world, most people consider their
jobs as a means only for earning money,
not for the service of humanity or society or for nation building. Today’s
feast challenges those of us (including me) who have some authority in the
Church and society to see whether we use it for domination, lording it
over, exploitation and profit-making, or for guiding, serving, correcting,
reconciling and for public good. It also challenges us to see whether we waste
a high portion of free time in gossiping, loitering around, playing
cards, surfing internet for fun and watching TV for long hours, instead of using
a part of it for service of society. Let us implore the Creator Spirit who
descended on Jesus at his baptism and on us too at our Baptism and Confirmation
to empower us so that we become creative in our service and radiate the newness/ freshness of life and work for peace and reconciliation prefigured
by Noah’s dove at the time of the Great Flood.
5. Response to God's Word
Do we live up to
our baptismal consecration by living a life different from the ways of the
world and refusing to compromise with the evil ways of the world? Is our baptism
meant only to get our name registered in the parish records and get a social
identity? Do we consider it as a call to a life of service to God and humanity?
What does our baptism and its promises (to renounce Satan and its pomp and to
believe in God) mean to us today? Now, is God well pleased
with the way we use or share our time, talents, knowledge and energy?
Do we render service only where there are personal benefits
such as eating and drinking, honour, prestige, power, money and profit, or do
we also occasionally render service where there are no such benefits?
6. A prayer
Heavenly Father, as we
recall to mind your Son’s baptism at
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