SUNDAY 1st (A) Baptism
Mt 3,13-17
We begin the ordinary time of the liturgical year. This year we will journey through the Gospel of Matthew. It is logical that we begin with the first important account of that journey, the baptism of Jesus. Baptism is the first piece of data about Jesus’ life that we can consider historically with great probability. It was undoubtedly very important for Jesus.
Today, in the three readings, we speak of the Spirit (of God) as the determinant of God’s saving presence. God’s presence in history always takes place through his Spirit. God cannot be a secondary cause. He always acts from the depths of being and without violating it. That is why we say that he acts as Spirit.
Although it were a historical fact, the way it is told takes us beyond a chronicle of events. It is narrated by the three synoptics. Acts alludes to him several times, and John refers to him as a known fact. If, despite the difficulties of fitting it in, it is narrated in all the Gospels, it is because it was a very ancient tradition.
The account attempts to concentrate in a moment what was a process that lasted all of Jesus’ life. At no specific moment was his trajectory definitively clear. It doesn’t make logical sense that a simple baptism would mark the turning point in his life. Accepting John’s baptism was accepting his doctrine and his vital attitude.
The brief dialogue between Jesus and John breaks all the schemes of Jewish messianism. It is not baptizing Jesus that it costs him to accept John the Baptist, but the meaning of his baptism. It is very likely that Jesus was a disciple of John and that he was not only attracted by his doctrine, but that he was part of the group of followers.
With his constant references to the AT, Matthew wants to make it clear that all possible understanding of the figure of Jesus must start from the AT. The way of speaking is symbolic. Everything happened within Jesus. Luke tells us: “and while he was praying…”
Jesus was not an alien, exempt from the trajectory that every human being has to follow to reach their fullness. The first Christians took Jesus’ humanity very seriously. Jesus needed to clarify his ideas about God and about himself.
God always comes from within, not from outside. The center of Jesus’ message consists of inviting all men to have the same experience of God that he had. After that experience, Jesus sees with all clarity that this is the goal of any human being and can say to Nicodemus: “you must be born again.”
The heavens that open are the hope of all the AT. (Is 63,16) “Ah, if the heavens were to tear open and you would descend!” Communication between the divine and the human had been interrupted by the infidelity of the people. Now it is possible thanks to Jesus’ faithfulness. The distance between God and Man is overcome forever.
We are celebrating the true birth of Jesus. And this one has indeed taken place through the work of the Holy Spirit. Letting himself be led by the Spirit, he himself heads towards human fullness, marking the path of our own fullness. But we must be very aware that, only by being born again, being born of the Spirit, will we be able to develop all our human possibilities.
The presence of God in man must occur in that which is specifically human; it cannot be an unconscious mechanical presence. God is in all creatures as the basis and foundation of their being, but only human beings can become aware of that reality and live it. This is their ultimate goal and objective. Jesus achieved that goal and tried to help us all achieve it too.
Fray Marcos
English version translated with AI