Baptism of the Lord, Yr A

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, who, when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan and as the Holy Spirit descended upon him, solemnly declared him your beloved Son, grant that your children by adoption, reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, may always be well pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflection

John would not allow him … John allowed him to be baptised

John was a prophet. He had within him a strong sense of what God desired; he had the ability to see deeply into the heart and into situations, and to speak clearly about them according to what he felt God was showing him. So he saw Jesus. He recognised who he was according to God’s plan: the chosen one, the anointed one, the Messiah. He therefore thought that Jesus should not be regarded as a sinner like the others, and he did not want to allow him to be baptised. But what Jesus says to him changes the way he understands this event of Jesus’ baptism. This means that John accepted Jesus as his Lord, as one greater than himself before God, one who could speak with authority into his life—and he allowed him to be baptised.

Is there someone in your life who speaks with authority, in God’s name, into your life and into your conduct?

“And when Jesus was baptised, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him.

As a man, for thirty years, Jesus lived like any other Jew. He followed all the religious traditions, learned to read the Torah, the Law of God, and obeyed the Commandments. He lived in Nazareth with his mother Mary and his father Joseph and learned the trade of a carpenter. Everything was ordinary. He went to John to be baptised like hundreds of other Jews. And here the ordinary ends. For the wonders foretold by the prophets began to be fulfilled in him: the Messiah of the living God, the Servant of the Lord. This happened as soon as the Spirit of God descended upon him—that is, anointed him, consecrated him, filled him. Nothing remained the same. From this point on, Jesus began to accomplish the salvation of humanity.

“And behold, a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

The Father publicly declares that this man from Nazareth is his beloved Son, his delight. For those who believe in God, such a declaration should stir them to make their own public declaration: “This is my Lord and my Saviour: in him I am well pleased.

Do you recognise that, as a disciple of Jesus, you have a mandate to proclaim who your Lord is through your words, your actions, and your life? Do you show in your life that this Jesus is the Messiah, the One sent by God?

Prayer

Holy Father, because we are created in the image of your Son and redeemed by him, you too delight in us as your children. Sanctify our ordinary lives, so

that we may allow you to sanctify us through them and to accomplish your will through us. Amen.