Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
15Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. 16John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.” 21After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened 22and 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.”
Set To Proclaim the Good News
EPIPHANY, which means “manifestation,” is not restricted to the “feast of the Magi,” although the celebration focuses on the revelation of the Lord Jesus to the Gentiles represented by the Magi from the east. An ancient antiphon sung in the Roman Liturgy of the Hours on the evening of the Epiphany speaks of “three mysteries”: “Today, the star leads the magi to the infant Christ. Today, water is changed into wine for the wedding feast. Today, Christ wills to be baptized by John in the Jordan River to bring us salvation.” Our present liturgy has retained the wider scope of the mystery by celebrating the other two manifestations in the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Cycle C where the Gospel reading is about the Wedding at Cana).
Luke underlines not the actual baptism but what happens when “Jesus also had been baptized and was praying”: heaven is opened and the Holy Spirit descends upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice comes from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
What prompted Jesus to go to John in the Jordan River? It could not be the need to repent because of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew presents the Baptist as trying to refuse Jesus with the protest, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” (Mt 3:14). In all probability Jesus, who had so far lived a “private life” in Nazareth, saw in the activities of John in the desert and in the Jordan River also the signal of his own “day of manifestation to Israel” (see Lk 1:80). He then joined the people summoned by the Baptist to prepare for their encounter with the Lord, recalling the time of the exodus: from Egypt and from the Babylonian exile.
For Luke, the baptism of Jesus is a theophany, a revelation of who he is. This theophany is not tied to Jesus’ baptism, but to his prayer, reminding us of the biblical tradition that prayer precedes revelation. The first revelation is that of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus “in bodily form.” At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus is “anointed” by the Spirit so that he can truly embody the oracle of Isaiah which he will proclaim in the synagogue of Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor” (Lk 4:18). We could also speak here of a “Pentecost for Jesus” which takes place “at prayer.” In fact, it is also when the disciples are at prayer that the Spirit comes upon them in the form of tongues as of fire (Acts 1:14).
The second revelation is that of a voice from heaven, the voice of God: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” In the conception of Jesus, the angel Gabriel proclaims that the Child whom Mary will conceive in her womb will be holy, the Son of God (Lk 1:35). Here, we have God himself confirming the fact, and he addresses this to Jesus himself. Jesus’ pronouncement as a boy of twelve is likewise confirmed: God, who dwells in the temple, is his “Father” (Lk 2:49).
And so, as Jesus begins his public ministry by receiving baptism, his dignity is solidly confirmed. His baptism is not a sign of repentance; it is his anointing and investiture as the divine Messiah. Now, he is set to proclaim the good news of salvation!
With Pope John Paul II’s promulgation of “The Mysteries of Light” of the Holy Rosary, the Lord’s Baptism has become not just an annual feast but a part of our Thursday contemplation of the life of the Savior. May our prayer and contemplation of this second luminous mystery keep us faithful to our baptismal calling as children of God, just as Jesus was faithful to his mission which started at his baptism at the Jordan River.