Baptism of Jesus

[stovebolts]

Baptism of Jesus

I'd like to have a theological discussion on this perspective. Any thoughts?

 

[Catholic Crusader]

The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his "beloved Son." Jesus calls himself the "only Son of God," and by this title affirms his eternal preexistence. He asks for faith in "the name of the only Son of God." In the centurion's exclamation before the crucified Christ, "Truly this man was the Son of God," that Christian confession is already heard. Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title "Son of God" its full meaning.

SOURCE:
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1 ... t2.htm#444

 

[Devekut]

The Baptism of Jesus is initially perplexing to us, as we know that John has called out for baptism for the sake "of remission of sins". Knowing Jesus to be sinless, the act can seem awkward in the Gospel. John himself notes this when he baptized Jesus and says to him "it is you who should be baptizing me!" and Jesus replies, "let it be, to fulfill all righteousness".

So Jesus is baptized to fulfill all righteousness. What does this possibly mean?

Of course in Judaism, righteousness means obedience to the Torah. By fulfillfing righteousness, Jesus is indicating his complete oneness with the will of the Father.

Benedict XVI writes that

"on the one hand, immersion into the waters is a symbol of death, which recalls the death symbolism of the annhilating, destructive power of the ocean flood. The ancient mind percieved the ocean as a permanent threat to the cosmos and the earth. It was the primeveal flood that might submerge all life."

This can be seen, of course, in Genesis where the Spirit of God subdues the powers of the great deep, and the fear of the ocean is accented in the account of the Flood. The great cosmic enemy in Jewish mythology was always the "water serpent" , which God destroys in the Pslams. This also sheds significance on Jesus' acts of walking on water because in doing so he subdues it.

Yet the flowing waters of the river are, above all, the symbol of life.

So we can see that there is a death/life theme inherent in the act of baptism, the sumbergence into the waters and the rising up again.

Pope Benedict writes that the significance of this event [Baptism] could not fully be comprehended until it was done so in the light of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

Now if we consider that the baptism of John was for the remission of sins and take note of Christ's atoning death, the baptism falls into place. The baptism of Jesus was the inaugurating event of his public ministry, and Benedict writes that

"He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. His inaugural gesture is an anticipation of the Cross. He is, as it were, the true Jonah who said to the crew of the ship, "Take me and throw me into the sea". The Baptism is an acceptance of death for the sins of humanity

The imagery that we arrive to in the gospel is one of the sinless Son of God, stepping into the place of sinners in the waters, stepping before us and leading us, acting as a sign to us, in the way of repentence.

Submerged under water, we are all familiar with that moment our head goes under and the sounds of the world around us, the sounds of life, are cut off. Our eyes go closed, the light dims and, with the water all around us, we can not help but feel alone. That is until we swim to the top again, break the surface and the busy sounds and sights of life are there just as we left them.

Thus baptism becomes a profound anticipation of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

 

[stovebolts]

That was good Devekut, really good.
Thank you for taking the time to post such a fine, well articulated response.

 

[Devekut]

Thanks :D

The spirit of that post, and the quotes specifically, come from Pope Benediect's excellent book "Jesus of Nazareth" published last year.

Some non-Catholics are wary of reading things by the Popes because they think they will be argumentative. Certainly this book is not an apology for Catholicism and is the Pope's attempt to recover the image of Jesus from the likes of liberal movements like the "Jesus Seminar" and those who try to separate the "Christ of faith" from the "Christ of history" as though they were distinct things.

I believe that most traditional Protestants could find this to be very nurturing to their spirituality. It was certainly so for me.

 

[stovebolts]

Sounds good, maybe I'll check it out after I get through the other books that are sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. : (My eyes are bigger than the time I think I have lol)

I've read some of John Paul's writings, like his Theology of the Body. A most excellent read!

 

[Catholic Crusader]

A quote:

III. The Mysteries of Jesus' Public Life

The baptism of Jesus

535 - Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan. John preaches "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." A crowd of sinnersâ€â€tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutesâ€â€come to be baptized by him. "Then Jesus appears." The Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beloved Son." This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.

536 - The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death. Already he is coming to "fulfill all righteousness," that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on him." Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened"  the heavens that Adam's sin had closed  and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.

537 - Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and "walk in newness of life":

Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him.

Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of God.

What do you think?
For links to all the referrences, go to the source:
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1 ... p3.htm#iii

 

[francisdesales]

Baptism of Jesus

I'd like to have a theological discussion on this perspective. Any thoughts?

Jeff,

To me, the Baptism of Jesus is representative of what WOULD happen, unseen, in Christian water baptism...

Jesus said He would baptize in water and the Spirit. In His own baptism, the Jews readily understood the concept of a "baptism of repentance", where God led them to undergo a ritual of conversion and a turning away from sin. The baptism of John (and others) was a precursor to what would shortly follow - a baptism with water AND the holy Spirit. And thus, as Jesus was baptized, Christians would later become baptized, knowing that their pioneer was washed with water and the Spirit visibly came upon Him, as seen by John the Baptist.

We, too, are baptized as Jesus was. But He didn't need to - He showed us what we need to do. Just as in prayer (as Jesus spoke to the crowd when about to raise Lazarus, for example). Jesus didn't need to pray to God out loud, nor did He need to be baptized. He did so as an example of what we would do under the New Covenant. Pray to God, esp. with the Lord's Prayer, be baptized with water, knowing that the promised invisible Spirit would come, and so forth...

Brother in Christ