The First Sunday after Epiphany, Jan. 11, 2004
Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 89:1-29 or 89:20-29; Acts 10:34-38; Luke 3:15-16; 21-22
The Sunday on which we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus Christ is occasion for us to celebrate our baptismal faith, whether or not there are candidates to be presented to receive the sacrament of new birth. Our faith is a baptism, an immersion of spirit into the life of the Body of Christ, the Church. By his incarnation, Jesus Christ our Lord was likewise fully immersed in the life of humanity. His baptism by St. John the Baptist is an outward sign, a sacrament, of this baptism into human life, and Christ’s life is the unique sign of the gracious love of the Father into whose favor our Savior invites us. The Christian faith, our baptismal faith, is grounded in the uniqueness of this sign.
The passage from the prophecy of Isaiah speaks of such uniqueness. The God whom the prophet proclaims is not one among many deities. God is “the Lord,” the one who “created the heavens,” who “gives breath to the people,” and who has “called you in righteousness.” The identity of this God is specific, particular. “I am the Lord … my glory I give to no other.” Likewise, the servant of the Lord is seen as unique, “my chosen, in whom my soul delights.”
As Christians, we see this uniqueness both of God and of his servant in his only begotten Son. As stated parenthetically in the reading from Acts, “he is Lord of all.” This universal Lordship of Christ is exclusively the sovereignty of God, but it is not disposed toward exclusivity. The writer of the Acts of the Apostles quotes St. Peter declaring, “God shows no partiality.” Jesus’ immersion into the life of humanity is for the sake of the whole of humanity.
The account of the baptism of Jesus as recorded in Luke indicates this universal dimension by setting the event alongside the baptism of others, “when all the people were baptized.” The one who by the heavenly voice is proclaimed to be the well-pleasing Son of God, the mighty One who comes to baptize with Spirit and fire, shares in the baptism of “all the people.” United through baptism with Jesus Christ, we too become God’s beloved ones.
Look It Up
Read St. Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:13-17). How does the event “fulfill all righteousness”?
Think About It
If the baptism of Jesus is a sign of his immersion into humanity, our baptism signifies our immersion into what?
Next Sunday
Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Jan. 18, 2004
Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 96 or 96:1-10; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; John 2:1-11.
