(Sunday after Epiphany –
1st Sunday in Ordinary time)
Acts 10: 34-38
Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Today, we are celebrating the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism. It is another epiphany wherein Christ unveils himself before the world as the Son of God, the Second Person in the trinity. As a very important event in Christ’s life, the Lord’s baptism is narrated to us by all the gospels especially the Synoptic. This year, our version is taken from St. Luke. Let us try to capture the message of this feast according to the intentions of the evangelist.
1. Luke seems to distinguish the baptism of John from the baptism of Christ. Like his synoptic counterparts, he wants to establish that Christ’s baptism is much nobler than that of John by putting into the Baptist’s very mouth the distinction.
a. “I am baptizing you with water.” John’s baptism is that of water. He himself says it. But what is baptism of water? What is the symbolism of water in the scripture? --- Among others, biblical writers use water to depict different situations where the divine encounters with the human. This encounter is positive and negative, destructive and constructive, damnating and salvific. Thus, if water means death to the sinful and wicked, it also means life to the righteous and faithful. This is the case of Noah and his house. If water means destruction to the enemies, it also means salvation to the elect. This is the case of the Egyptians and the Israelites. In the New Testament, the water of Jordan inaugurate a baptism that certainly beholds a washing from wickedness and a passage from death to life, so likened unto Noah’s flood and the exodus of Moses.
As we see, therefore, the salvific sense of baptism must have always been at the back of Baptist’s head as he performs his baptism at the Jordan. However, he is equally conscious too, that his is not that salvific in the fullest sense of the word. John knows that his is only reformative. Meaning, it is the sinful man’s response to his call to reform, to repent and be converted because the messianic sign is at hand. It is not only a baptism of repentance. It is also a baptism of and for change, i.e., a change of heart, a metanoia. It is that baptism, which prepares one to the messianic baptism of Christ. Thus, it is salvific only as far as it leads man to Christ’s baptism of the Holy Spirit.
b. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” This is the kind of baptism that Jesus brings. This is certainly much nobler than that of John because Christ’s baptism is not only reformative but also redemptive. It is sacramental. When one is baptized into Christ’s baptism, we have at least two important sacramental effects: ontological and ecclesiological. --- By ontological effect, we mean a chhange of being because the baptized is reborn into a new life of grace. Thus, Christ’s baptism not only involves forgiveness of sins, but also and more importantly causes a change of being or a change of status on the one receiving it. It gives a distinguishing indelible character to the baptized and makes him a child of God. That is why it is called the Sacrament of rebirth. --- By ecclesiological effect, we are referring here to Christ’s baptism as a sacrament of incorporation. By the status of the baptized a child of God, he now becomes a member of the mystical body, the church, wherein Christ is the head and we are the parts. Thus, we all become one in the family of the baptized, indeed, sons and daughters of God, calling him “Abba, Father!” (Rom 8:15). We share rights and duties, privileges and obligations as members of the church. We participate in the three-fold office of Christ as priest, prophet and king and one with him in his mission of establishing God’s kingdom here on earth even as we journey towards our promised inheritance.
2. We can discover further the meaning of this distinction as we go deeper into Luke’s gospel. The shortest among all synoptic versions, Luke wants to lead us immediately to his other main theological interest. He wants to establish that Christ’s baptism at the Jordan is the inauguration of his public ministry. Here, Luke wants to stress at least three important points:
a. That Christ’s baptism as the inauguration of his public ministry gets the blessing from his heavenly Father: “…a voice from heaven was heard: ‘you are my beloved Son. On you my favor rests.’” The Father chooses Christ as his favor rests on him because Jesus is his Son, indeed, the Son of the Father, the Son of God. This is a bold proclamation and revelation of the person of Jesus. For the first time, Jesus is revealed to the public as the Son of God. And by this public declaration, his messianic mission starts.
b. That the inauguration of his public ministry finds approval not only of the Father but also of the Holy Spirit: “The Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form of a dove…” Actually, the Jordan baptism is a revelation not only of Jesus but also of the blessed Trinity. For the first time, too, the divinity unveiled himself before humanity and the world discovers that there are indeed Three Divine Persons in One God. The expression “bodily form” is typically Lukan. And by it, Luke tries to enunciate that this is truly a public declaration.
c. That his public ministry is inaugurated by prayer: “As he was praying, the heaven opened…” This is again typically Lukan. Luke is indeed the evangelist of prayer and his theological point is clear. He wants to portray that Jesus always begins and ends his work with prayer. This is something consistent in Luke. He wants to show the human side of Jesus. Although Jesus is indeed the Son of God, his strength is founded on prayer. Jesus, in Luke, obeys the Father through prayer.
3. By this, the significance of the Lord’s baptism becomes even much clearer. We now understand better and more profoundly why that baptism, which Jesus brings about, is baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is called baptism in the Spirit not only to distinguish it from that of water, but more so because it is a divine baptism in its purest sense. And since it is divine, Christ alone can perform it. Christ may use the instrumentality of his church, but it causes an effect independent from the one performing it. It operates by itself (ex opere operatio). It is a sacrament, and thus, causes and effects sacramentally. In this sense, our catholic orthodoxy teaches us that once baptism is validly administered, it can never be done again. That is why amidst this Pentecostal movement, which is gaining influence even within the church, our faith constantly reminds us that we must not expect another sort of “baptism of the Spirit”, which one may get by praying over or impositions of hands or whatsoever by members or group. This may just create confusion within the church. And surely, Christ himself does not want to see such confusion happen to his mystical body.