Jesus also told
John that his baptism should be allowed, but only for now. John’s baptism was a
statement for the Kingdom. Jesus’ baptism would be infinitely more than that. Jesus’
baptism would not only be a renouncing of sin, but a forgiveness of sin, and an
instilling of the Life of God. That’s
why John said, I am baptizing you with
water, but the One who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit[3].
Jesus goes into
the Jordan River to rise up from that river all of us who are continually doing
battle with sin. Our society denies sin. Couples live together without marrying
and people say, “That’s OK, everyone is doing it.” People routinely steal and
lie, and others say, “This is the way you have to behave to get by.” People
lose control of themselves, get totally drunk, and others say, “It’s OK, as
long as he or she is not driving.” We are living in a society that accepts as
normal that which conscience declares is immoral! We live in a society that
refuses to recognize sin. Actually, there are times when the existence of sin
is acknowledged. Those times of recognition of sin come when the sinner is
caught sinning, usually by his or her spouse.
So here we are,
followers of Jesus Christ, standing in the river of life, and determined to do
battle with sin. But often we fail. Even with our determination to be moral, we
still fail. We say that we are not going to do this or that, but then we let
ourselves go a little and before we realize it, we plunge into the sin we hate.
Then we are devastated by our actions. We are upset that we gave into evil. We
feel very much down on ourselves. But Jesus comes down into the river. He tells
us that He is one with us in fighting sin. And He raises us from the river,
taking us with Him as His disciples, giving us His Life.
When Jesus was
baptized, the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and a
voice resounded from heaven saying, This
is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased[4].
The One who joins us in the fight against evil is the Son of God. He is more powerful than evil. He is
infinitely more powerful that all that is trying to suck life out of us. He conquers all. We need to trust Him to
fight with us against the immorality that seeks to destroy us. We place
ourselves into His hands. We trust in
His power.
Many of the
Fathers of the Church wrote that Jesus sanctified the waters of the Jordan with
His Presence. United with Jesus in the Jordan of our lives, in that place where
we are determined to fight sin, we witness the Lord saving us from the turmoil
of life, giving us peace and happiness.
Sin destroys happiness. Jesus
restores joy. Joy to the world we can
rightly sing on this last Sunday of the Christmas Season. Joy to the world, the Lord has come.
The Baptism of
the Lord is the second of the three epiphanies, the three showings of the Lord.
The first epiphany was the visit of the magi telling the world that Jesus is
the King of Kings. The third epiphany is the Wedding Feast of Cana where the
King of King sets into motion the hour, the events that will lead to Good
Friday and Easter Sunday. The second epiphany is the Baptism of the Lord, where
Jesus is revealed as accepting the mission the Father has sent Him to earth to
accomplish. It is the mission to destroy the grip of evil upon the world. By
allowing John to baptize Him, Jesus is declaring that He is one with all who
are willing to fight evil, willing to fight for His Father’s Kingdom.
The battle
against evil was enjoined at the baptism of the Lord, but the battle continues
on in each of our lives as we make a stand for morality, a stand for goodness,
a stand for truth. Today we ask the Lord to continue to lead us out of the
river of sin. We ask the Lord to give us the courage to join Him in fighting
evil. We ask the Lord to help us live in
a way that we too might be pleasing to the Father ■
