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From: Mark 1:7-11

The Ministry of John the Baptist

[7] And he (John the Baptist) preached, saying, “After me comes he who is
mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and
untie. [8] I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit.”

Jesus Is Baptized

[9] In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by
John in the Jordan. [10] And when he came up out of the water, immediately he
saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; [11]
and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well
pleased.”

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Commentary:

8. “Baptizing with the Holy Spirit” refers to the Baptism Jesus will institute and
shows how it differs from the baptism of John. In John’s baptism, as in the other
rites of the Old Testament, grace was only signified, symbolized. “By the bap-
tism of the New Law, men are baptized inwardly by the Holy Spirit, and this is
accomplished by God alone. But by the baptism of John the body alone was
cleansed by the water” (St. Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologiae, III, q. 38, art.
2 ad 1). In Christian Baptism, instituted by our Lord, the baptismal rite not only
signifies grace but is the effective cause of grace, i.e. it confers grace. “Baptism
confers the first sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues, taking away Origi-
nal Sin and also personal sins if there are any, together with the entire debt of
punishment which the baptized person owes for sin. In addition, Baptism impres-
ses the Christian character in the soul and makes it able to receive the other sa-
craments” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 295). The effects of Christian Baptism, like
everything to do with the sanctification of souls, are attributed to the Holy Spirit,
the “Sanctifier”. It should be pointed out, however, that like all the “ad extra”
actions of God (i.e. actions external to the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity),
the sanctification of souls is the work of all three Divine Persons.

9. Our Lord’s hidden life takes place (apart form his birth at Bethlehem and the
time he was in Egypt) in Nazareth of Galilee from where he comes to receive
John’s baptism.

Jesus has no need to receive this baptism of conversion. However, it was ap-
propriate that he who was going to establish the New Alliance should recognize
and accept the mission of his Precursor by being baptized with his baptism:
this would encourage people to prepare to receive the Baptism which was ne-
cessary. The Fathers comment that our Lord went to receive John’s baptism in
order to fulfill all righteousness (cf. Mt 3:15), to give us an example of humility,
to become widely known, to have people believe in Him and to give life-giving
strength to the waters of Baptism.

“Ever since the Baptism of Christ in the water, Baptism removes the sins of all”
(St Augustine, “Sermon” 135).

“There are two different periods of time which relate to Baptism—one the period
of its institution by the Redeemer; the other the establishment of the law regar-
ding its reception. [...] The second period to be distinguished, that is, the time
when the law of Baptism was made, also admits of no doubt. Holy writers are
unanimous in saying that after the Resurrection of our Lord, when he gave to his
Apostles the command to go and ‘make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’ (Mt 28:19) the
law of Baptism became obligatory on all who were to be saved” (”St. Pius V
Catechism”, Part II).

10. The visible presence of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove marks the begin-
ning of Christ’s public ministry. The Holy Spirit will also appear, in the form of
tongues of fire, on the occasion when the Church begins its mission to all the
world on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:3-21).

The Fathers usually interpret the dove as a symbol of peace and reconciliation
between God and men. It first appears in the account of the flood (Gen 8:10-11)
as a sign that God’s punishment of mankind has come to an end. Its presence
at the beginning of Christ’s public ministry symbolizes the peace and reconci-
liation he will bring.

11. At the very beginning of his public life the mystery of the Holy Trinity is made
manifest: “The Son is baptized, the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove
and the voice of the Father is heard” (St Bede, “In Marci Evangelium expositio,
in loc.”). “The Holy Spirit dwells in him,” the same author goes on, “but not from
the moment of his Baptism, but from the moment he became man.” In other
words, Jesus did not become God’s son at his Baptism; he is the Son of God
from all eternity. Nor did he become the Messiah at this point; he was the Mes-
siah from the moment he became man.

Baptism is the public manifestation of Jesus as Son of God and as Messiah,
ratified by the presence of the Blessed Trinity.

“The Holy Spirit descended visibly in bodily form upon Christ when he was bap-
tized so that we may believe him to descend invisibly upon all those who are
baptized afterwards” (St Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologiae”, III, q. 39, a.
6 and 3).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

This Is My Beloved Son

This is My Beloved Son

January 10th, 2009 by Fr. Jack Peterson

Beginnings are important. The start of Jesus’ public ministry, which we joyfully celebrate today, was well planned by God the Father. Mary had been masterfully prepared, most notably in the Immaculate Conception, to be a worthy vessel through which God’s only-begotten Son would embrace our human condition. John the Baptist’s entrance into the world was prophesied and carefully brought about so that he could fittingly herald the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus Himself spent 30 years in the home at Nazareth preparing for the three years of public ministry that would change the world forever. The time was now for Our Lord to reveal His true identity and prepare His followers to embrace Him and His mission. So, we come to the river Jordan for an historic baptism.

In an instant, the identity and mission of Our Lord are revealed to the world. The Jewish people anxiously await the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one. The Messiah, according to the prophets, would be known because he would be anointed by the Spirit of God. When the Spirit is seen coming down upon Jesus at His baptism, it is a clear sign that God has finally sent the Messiah. But, God is always more generous than we can imagine, so He has a surprise to offer.

The Messiah is no ordinary human raised up by the hand of the Father to fulfill this role; rather, the Messiah is also God’s own beloved Son. This is a reality, a mystery that goes way beyond the wildest hopes of the people of God. Jesus is more precious than any of the prophets had foretold. God held this card close to His chest, but today He reveals to the world the treasure that He bestows upon us.

There is another very important revelation made this day. God wants the world to know from the start of Jesus’ public life that His saving work is a united effort on the part of the Holy Trinity. Because God is one, the three Persons always work in unison. The Father sends the Son to do His work in the power of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the baptism of Jesus is an occasion where the one God clearly reveals Himself as a Trinity of Persons: the Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father proclaims to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son.” In addition to revealing the mission and identity of Jesus Christ, the Father crystallizes the mystery that He had slowly been revealing throughout the Old Testament: The one God consists of three divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The event at the river Jordan also reveals a new and deeper dimension to the mystery of the Incarnation. At His birth in Bethlehem, Jesus proclaims the humility and love of God who stoops down to untie our sandal strap. God crashes through the barrier of time and space and, in His infinite wisdom, takes on our humanity. He becomes a man like us in all things but sin to save us from sin and restore us to the fullness of life. This truth is almost too good to be true; it is impossible to comprehend without the gift of faith.

But at His baptism, Jesus reveals a deeper dimension to His mission. He makes it clear that there is nothing superficial about His embrace of our human condition. In fact, He dives deeply into it. Although sinless Himself, Jesus takes on the pain and brokenness that result from our sin. His baptism represents His desire to fully embrace our sinful human condition in order to redeem it. St. Paul describes this reality when he says, “For our sake he (the Father) made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

While this event at the river Jordan was rich in revealed truths, it was also a promise and a prophecy. All that happens on this day points to the cross and to Easter morn. It is on the cross that the self-emptying of Christ would reach a crescendo, and it is on the “third day” that Jesus’ mission as Messiah and Savior would be fulfilled. The shadow of the cross was present throughout Jesus’ life on this earth.

While John carries out the monumental task of heralding the coming of God’s chosen One, God the Father does the heavy lifting at Jesus’ baptism. The Father reveals that Jesus is not only the Messiah but also His own beloved Son. The Father swiftly yet deftly manifests the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The Father makes clear from the start that His Son came to fully embrace our human condition in order to set us free from sin and death.

Heavenly Father, stir up the gift of your Holy Spirit given to us at our baptism so that we may believe with deep faith that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

Fr. Peterson is Campus Minister at Marymount University in Arlington and interim director of the Youth Apostles Institute. (This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)