Before embarking on His mission, Jesus presented himself to John the Baptist for baptism. Now, John’s baptism was a summons to repentance and therefore was for sinners. But Jesus was no sinner, so why did He submit Himself to it? It seems that He wanted to identify Himself publicly with the kind of people He came to save, namely sinners. So he began by joining them where they were. He was identifying not only with sinners but with the poor and the downtrodden, who at that time constituted the majority of the population of Palestine. He would become their servant and their hope.
What He did that day at the Jordan was to serve as a model for His public ministry. He would not wait for sinners to come to Him. He would seek them out. He would befriend them. He wanted them to know that He had not come to judge them, but to save them.
This set Him at odds with John. John was a prophet of doom. Jesus was a preacher of good news. For John, the Messiah would be an uncompromising judge. For Jesus, the Messiah would be a saviour. John prophesied the judgement of God; Jesus prophesied the salvation of God.
Their approaches were radically different. John was an ascetic who lived apart from the people. Jesus mixed with the people, eating and drinking with sinners. John was severe, Jesus was radiantly friendly.
But, the baptismal experience was very important for Jesus Himself. The words ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’ deepened His awareness of His divine Sonship and set the seal of approval on His future mission.
At His baptism the Spirit descended on Him. In this way, He received power for the mission He was about to begin. The Spirit was not given to Him for a moment, the spirit remained with Him throughout His public ministry.
Jesus was continually guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
John and Jesus left the Jordan to carry out their mission for the salvation of humanity, each in their combined yet different ways.
From the Gospel Acclamation we hear: Prepare a way for the Lord, make His paths straight and all humanity shall see the salvation of God.
We look inside ourselves for the simplicity of the Holy Spirit,
with love and prayers Fr Michael