BAPTISM OF OUR LORD – YEAR B
HE WANTED TO RISE FROM THE ABYSS
Introduction
The biblical sites are often tied to a theological significance. The sea, the mountain, the desert, the Galilee of the Gentiles, Samaria, the Jordan River, the land beyond the lake of Genezareth are much more than simple geographical indications (often not entirely accurate).
Luke does not specify the place where the baptism of Jesus took place, but John alludes to it: “It happened in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing” (Jn 1:28). The tradition has correctly located the episode in Bethabara, the ford where the people of Israel, guided by Joshua, crossed the river and entered the Promised Land.
The gestures of Jesus present explicit references to the passage from slavery to freedom and the beginning of a new exodus to the actual Promised Land. Bethabara also has another recall, less obvious but equally significant: the geologists ensure that this is the lowest point on earth (400m below sea level).
The decision to start from there the public life cannot be random. Jesus came from the heights of heaven to free people. He went down into a more profound abyss to show that he desires the salvation of every person. He wants to save even the most derelict, the one dragged by guilt and sin in an abyss no one imagines the possibility of getting out. God does not forget and does not abandon any of his children.
“And the grace of God appears, bringing salvation to all people.”
First reading: Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7
In the second part of the book of Isaiah, a mysterious character enters the scene. The author calls him: the ‘servant of the Lord.’ His story is told in four passages (Is 42:1-7; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13–53:12).
Who is he? Is he a concrete individual or a symbolic figure representing the whole people of Israel? Biblical scholars have not been able to give a definite answer, and it’s not even so important to have it. What interests us is that in this Servant of the Lord, the first Christians immediately recognized the image of Jesus (Acts 8:30-35). How did this identification happen?
It all starts on that tragic Friday, April 7 in the year A.D. 30, the day on which Jesus was executed. The upset disciples wonder why the life of a good and just man has concluded in failure. They seek a solution to the riddle in the scriptures. In the book of Isaiah, they find the story of this Servant who, after an unfair trial, is taken away by the very same people he wanted to liberate. They understand that God does not save by conceding victory, success, domination, the humiliation of enemies, but by defeat and the gift of life. What the prophet had said about the ‘servant of the Lord’ was fully realized in Jesus of Nazareth. The reading today gives us the beginning of the story of this Servant.
His election is described first (v. 1). This word has not always had a positive resonance in us: It refers to the preference towards someone and the exclusion of others. We do not like to hear others speak about ‘the chosen people or chosen lineage’ because these expressions awaken memories of the tragic madness caused by the illusion of belonging to a ‘chosen race.’ The election of God has nothing to do with exclusivism, particularism, or separatism. When God chooses a person or a people, it is only to give a mission (always difficult, burdensome, unrewarding) and ask a favor in the service of others.
Sadly, for one chosen by the Lord, it is easy to interpret the election according to human categories and advance rights to honors and privileges. The reading speaks of a character that, from the outset, is identified not as a gentleman but as a ‘servant,’ in charge of completing a challenging job. Who will give him the strength?
The human is ‘flesh,’ that is, beset with weakness. When the Lord asks someone to perform a task, he also gives them the ability to fulfill it. To his ‘servant,’ the Lord communicates his Spirit, his irresistible force, as support. It immediately also mentions the mission entrusted to this ‘chosen servant.’ He is destined to bring justice to the nations (v. 1), to let ‘justice’ triumph in the world. This is the ‘justice of God’, which consists of his benevolence, his salvation.
The following verses (vv. 2-5) describe how the Servant will fulfill his mission. He will behave unexpectedly. He shall not impose himself by force, with legal pressure, with threats of sanctions against those who oppose his provisions. He will not shout, or raise his voice like the kings when they proclaim their programs or boast about their businesses in the squares. He will not be intolerant and intransigent with the weak. He will not convict anyone. He will bring back one who did wrong instead of annihilating or destroying him. He will rebuild with patience and respect one which was ruined. For him, there will be no lost cases, or irrecoverable situations.
He will also be tempted by discouragement in the face of so much hard work. However, he will be firm and decisive in carrying it forward and will not withdraw in the face of any obstacle. Using images, the last part of the reading (vv. 6-7) develops the Servant's mission. He will be light to the nations, open the eyes of the blind, and free the captives and the slaves who walk in darkness.
An anonymous author composed the story about the Servant of the Lord. Then he placed it in the book of Isaiah about 500 years before the birth of Jesus. We do not know whom the prophet refers to. What is sure is the fact that Jesus fulfilled all that was written in the book of Isaiah. He was the faithful servant of God. Almost all the verses of this reading are given and applied to Jesus in the gospels (cf. Mt 3:17; 12:18-21; 17:5).
Second reading: Acts 10:34-38
The reading shows a part of the speech given by Peter in the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. In the early church, a much-debated issue divided the community. Could baptism be granted to pagans? Peter, at first, was quite reluctant, influenced as he was by the deep-rooted prejudice in Israel that other people were unclean. One day, while he was praying in Jaffa, the Lord revealed to him that no creature of God is impure and profane. In front of God, all are equally pure and privileged. All are equally called to salvation because he is the Lord of all (Rom 10:12).
The expression ‘God shows no partiality’—employed in this passage—is repeated many times in the New Testament (Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; 1 Pet 1:17) to denounce the temptation of dangerously projecting in God our discriminations and to warn against the illusion that the Lord treats people differently, according to the religious denomination they belong to. Peter’s speech presents a summary of the life of Jesus (vv. 37-38). The expression “he went about doing good and healing all who were under the devil’s power” sums up his mission. He is committed against every form of evil, against everything that obstructs human life.
The work to be performed was complex and challenging, but Jesus was able to finish it because He was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and because God was with him. The time and the place when salvation started to manifest are also noted. It began in Galilee when John began to baptize along the Jordan.
With these words, Peter defines the new period of Jesus’ life, which the faith of the believers must refer to the public life “from the baptism of John until the day Jesus was taken away from us to heaven” (Acts 1:22).
Gospel: Mark 1:7-11
We have already meditated on the second Sunday of Advent the first verses of this passage (vv. 7-8). They have, in short, the difference between the baptism of John and that of Jesus. The two rituals are apparently the same but completely different in meaning. The first is an external ablution. It indicates the cleansing from sin, the breaking up with a way of life contrary to God's law. It presupposes the decision not to stain oneself with other transgressions. The second, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, is not an exterior cleansing but a miracle worked by the Lord in a person. It is the infusion of gushing water, the bearer of fertility and life. It replaces the old heart with a new heart, able to answer ‘yes’ to the proposal of love made by God. The baptism of John was the end of a long and troubled engagement. That of Jesus was the beginning of the wedding feast.
After disclosing the distinct values of the two baptisms, Mark, unlike Matthew and Luke, makes no mention of the childhood of Jesus. For the first time, he depicts the protagonist of his gospel and does so with a solemn formula, often used by the prophets in their oracles: "In those days ..." (Joel 3:2); then he records the name of the village from where he comes, Nazareth in Galilee (v. 9).
He does not say how old he was or to what family he belonged. He is interested only to indicate how, when and where the manifestation of the gospel of God in the world began. It all started at the Jordan, a river that flows peacefully in the plains of Jericho, scoring the boundary between the eastern desert and the promised land, where brought the people out of Egypt. There, all the inhabitants of Judea flocked to be baptized(Mk 1:5-6). One day, Jesus also appeared among the sinners. He came from Galilee, the region inhabited by Israelites believed to be semi-pagans by the religious aristocracy of Jerusalem. He went down into the water along with the sinners to show his desire to share their condition. He was beside them, accompanying them in their exodus from slavery to freedom.
In this scene, the novelty of the Christian God can be already understood. He is not a distant God, in the sky, who gives instructions and control, who observes who violates them. He becomes one of us, in solidarity with humanity not in sin but in bearing its consequences that always involve, as we all know, also one who did not sin.
We are attached to evil. However, in our prayer, rather than asking the Lord to let us avoid it, we implore that he saves us with some miraculous intervention from its tragic consequences: disease, hunger, misery, anguish, family disagreements, wars... God, who is not resigned to palliative solutions, sent his son to destroy the evil at its roots and create a new world without sin, a world in which all his promises will be fulfilled. "May our barns be full, with every kind of provision" (Ps 144:13), "may grain abound throughout the land" (Ps 72:16), "the lowly will eat and be satisfied" (Ps 22:27), “the humble will inherit the land and enjoy peace in abundance" (Ps 37:11). These are not images but concrete realities that can be seen if one trusts Christ and his word.
All the evangelists give importance to the baptism of Jesus because it marked the beginning of his public life. But it is not the incident itself that they want to attract attention to, as the revelation of the sky. In this event, one can capture it. The Synoptic Gospels present it to us with three images well understood by their readers: the opening of the heavens, the dove, and the voice from heaven (vv. 10-11).
In Matthew and Luke, it seems that all those present have contemplated the heavens open wide; they have seen the Spirit descending as a dove, and they have heard the voice from heaven. In Mark, however, Jesus is the only recipient of the vision and revelation: "He came out of the water and he saw…" (v. 10). It was the moment of his vocation, one in which the Father has manifested the mission for which he called him.
First of all, He saw the heavens open. The picture is now clear for one who knows the Scriptures: the evangelist refers to a famous text from the prophet Isaiah.
In the last centuries before Christ, the people of Israel had the feeling that the sky was closed. Outraged by the sins and unfaithfulness of his people, God had withdrawn into his world. He had stopped sending prophets and seemed to have broken all dialogue with people. The pious Israelites were wondering: when will this uncomfortable silence end? Will the Lord not speak to us again? Will he no longer show his serene face, as in ancient times? They called upon him: "O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are our potter; we are the work of your hands. Do not let your anger go too far or think of our sins forever; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down" (Is 64:7-8; 63:19).
In the baptism of Jesus, the heavens are rent. The rapports between God and man were forever restored. The borders fell, and all the fears of God’s punishment were over. It is clear how absurd the concerns of those who still imagine him are angry, vengeful, and violent. There’s no more need to be anxious to placate him because he does not reject anyone, and does not act as a judge, but he is always on the side of people.
The second object of the ‘vision’ is the Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove. When God assigns someone to a great mission, he always gives him the strength to carry it out. He infused his spirit on the kings, prophets, and judges. The moment he sends his ‘faithful servant,’ he says: "I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations... A broken reed he will not crush, nor will he snuff out the light of the wavering wick" (Is 42:1-4). The sent ‘servant’ becomes conscious of the power of God entering him, and says: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearts, freedom to those languishing in prison" (Is 61:1).
At the beginning of his public life, Jesus also was filled with the power of the Spirit. To help us understand the theological message present in this event, the evangelist uses the image of a dove. There are many biblical references related to this figure. The first could be the creation, at the time when "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Gen1:2), as a dove on her nest, some rabbis explained.
The primordial ocean, a symbol of chaos and hostile elements, was then dominated by the ‘divine wind,’ and on earth, life sprang forth. Alighting on Jesus, the Spirit of God came into the world and, with its presence, initiates the new creation. The second, most immediate recall is the dove of the deluge, let out by Noah in the ark. It returned in the evening with an olive branch (Gen 8:8-12). That was the sign of restored peace between the heavens and the earth after destroying all forms of sin.
For centuries, since the sky closed itself, the spirit of the Lord seemed not to find a place on which to set itself. Like the dove of the deluge, it crossed the sky only to return later to God. Now it descends on Jesus, making his permanent dwelling in him. He is the force that will let him bring to completion the work of salvation. The dove also recalls tenderness and love. Moved by the Spirit, Jesus will always draw himself closer to sinners with the gentleness and kindness of the dove.
Finally, a voice from heaven was heard. The expression is well known: the rabbis employed it to attribute a statement to God. Our passage is intended to define, in the name of the Lord, Jesus' identity. Mark wrote after Easter. He must respond to the questions that the disciples ask. Their Master was condemned as a blasphemer by the guarantors of the purity of Israel’s faith. He is apparently a loser, an outcast, and abandoned by the Lord.
The troubling question is: has God shared this judgment? To the Christians of his community, Mark refers to the Lord's judgment with a phrase that alludes to three texts of the Old Testament. “You are my son”: the quote is from Ps 2:7. The royal coronation day constituted, for the Davidic king who reigns in Jerusalem, a new birth. It was the moment in which God declared him his son. He conferred on him, his power and his strength. He presented him as his lieutenant to the world.
Jesus’ investiture by the Father took place in the Jordan. There, he was shown to all as the savior, as the human face of God who exists from all eternity. "To what angel did God say—asks the author of the Letter to the Hebrews—You are my son; I have begotten you today? And to what angel did he promise: I shall be a father, and he shall be a son to me?" (Heb 1:5). On the day of his baptism, the Son who, from all eternity, exists "is with the Father" (Jn 1:18); he is ‘born’ as Messiah.
In the Semitic culture, the word child does not mean only the biological generation. It also implies the affirmation of a similarity. Addressing Jesus as his son, God guarantees to identify with him, in his words, works, and especially in his supreme act of love, the gift of life. Those who want to know the Father have only to contemplate this son.
Significantly, God recognizes him as his son at the very moment when Jesus places himself at the side of sinners. He is the only authentic face of the Father. The other faces, above all that of the judge who sentences, are only the masks that people have applied to him.
The beloved. It refers to the account of the test Abraham underwent. He was asked to offer his son, Isaac, the only one, the beloved (Gen 22:2,12,16). By applying this title to Jesus, God invites us not to consider him a king or a prophet like the others. He is, like Isaac, the only one, the beloved.
In whom I am well pleased. We already know this expression because it is in the first verse of today's reading (Is 42:1). God declares that Jesus is the servant the prophet spoke about. He is the one sent to ‘establish law and justice’ in the world. To fulfill this mission, he will offer his life.
The voice from heaven reverses the judgment made by the people. It denies the messianic expectations of the people of Israel who could not conceive of a humiliated, beaten, and executed Messiah. The way God has fulfilled his promises was for everyone, including the Baptist, a surprise.