Deacon Cornell’s Homily

Last Sunday on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we heard the account of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan from the Gospel according to Matthew. Today we hear quite a different account of Jesus' baptism from the Gospel according to John, which was written some 10-15 years after Matthew's gospel. That the accounts are different should not be a surprise because we know that each of four gospels was written to a different community with a different need at a different time and place from the others. In fact, looking at those differences can sometimes help us to better understand some aspect of Jesus or why he was sent by the Father.

The biggest differnce that stood out to me is that John's Gospel does not describe the actual baptism as the other 3 Gospels do but rather focuses on what that baptism means for us and for the world. John's account does something explicitly that the other 3 Gospel accounts do not. In it, John the Baptist explicitly refers to Jesus using language that only applies to God. He refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Only God can take a away sins and the people listening to John would have understood that. Another reference that could only apply to God is when John says that Jesus existed before him, even though as a human Jesus was born after John. And lastly John says that Jesus is the one that will baptize with the Holy Spirit, again something that only God can do. One commentator I read said that it as almost as if John the Evangelist was writing this account prophetically for the many people 2,000 years later that would consider Jesus to be simply a human prophet and teacher but would deny that Jesus is God. John the Evangelist really gives us two clear opposing choices: either we believe that John's Gospel is true and that Jesus is God, or we have to dismiss that whole Gospel as a lie or the ravings of a madman.

So what does this account of the Baptism of the Lord mean for those of us who have been baptized? To understand this, I suggest we have to answer the question that Fr. Jeff raised last week in his homily. If Jesus is God and obviously without the stain of original sin, why was Jesus baptized? While one of the effects of Baptism for us is the removal of sin, our baptism can't be only, or I would argue, even primarily, about removing the stain of original sin from us. I think there are two very clear clues in today's Gospel as to why Jesus submitted to baptism and what the primary effect of our baptism is, and those are the anointing with the Holy Spirit and when Jesus' baptism occurs in his public ministry.

In all four Gospels, Jesus' baptism happens at the start of his public ministry. In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus immediately goes out into the desert to fast and prepare himself. Then in all four Gospels, he starts gathering his disciples and preaching and working signs as his public ministry begins.

From very ancient time, anointing with oil was used to commission people who had hard jobs, such as priests, kings, warriors. In our Catholic rituals, anointing with oil is used as a sign of anointing with the Holy Spirit. As part of the Rite of Baptism, the person being baptized is anointed with Sacred Chrism as the priest or deacon prays, "God now anoints you with the Chrism of salvation so that you may remain as a member of Christ, Priest, Prophet, and King, unto eternal life." Just as Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at the beginning of his public ministry, each one of us who has been baptized in the Catholic Church has been anointed with the Holy Spirit for our public ministry. From that moment on, each of us is called to become more deeply and more effectively, a member of Christ, the same Jesus Christ who was sent by the father to give the world knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sin. We too are called to be members of the Lamb of God.

Baptism is not just a one time event, any more than say, the sacrament of marriage. We are to strengthen our baptismal commissioning by receiving the Holy Spirit in Confirmation and then by constantly receiving Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist.

So my prayer today is that this wonderful feast of the Baptism of the Lord announced to us by last week's gospel and this week's gospel is something that we all will spend time reflecting on and understanding what it means for those of use who are baptized. I pray that we continue to come together week after week after week to make even more real the commissioning we received at baptism, becoming individually and as a community, more fully the body of Christ the savior, and that we leave here with the words of today's psalm in our hearts and on our lips: Here am I Lord, I come to do your will!

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