Baptism Of The Lord (Ages 6-9): What Is John the Baptist's Problem?
- thebetterpart
- Jan 7
- 3 min read
We are coming to the end of the Christmas season. Most people think Christmas ends on December 26th, or that maybe the season lasts for twelve days, but the Church celebrates God becoming human like us for three Sundays. The Baptism of the Lord is the last of the three Sundays of the feast of Christmas. After hearing about Jesus as a baby for two Sundays, now we hear about Jesus as a grown man. He comes to get baptized in the river Jordan.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.
John the Baptist does not baptize in a church the way we see it done today. He stands in the Jordan river and people wade out to him. They get plunged under the water and then stand up again, baptized!
When Jesus wades into the river, John the Baptist sees him coming and feels concerned.
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
What is the matter here? What troubles John the Baptist? John the Baptist realizes who Jesus is. He has told the people,
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
John the Baptist knows that Jesus is greater than he is. John wants for himself the kind of baptism that only Jesus can give.
John the Baptist wants to stop this. It feels wrong to him. Jesus is greater than he is. How can John baptize someone who is greater? He does not feel that this is right. He does not feel good enough.
Many times we feel this way—not good enough to do something. The teacher asks who would like to read the Word of God at a school Mass, and we start to raise our hand, but remember that we are not a very good reader so we do not volunteer. We have an idea how to raise money to help the poor, but we decide not to share it because it probably would not work anyway. It can seem like there is always someone better for the job. This kind of thinking can happen a lot and we do not even notice.
But Jesus insists.
“Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
Jesus wants John the Baptist to do this for him. It is the right thing to do. Jesus makes it right.
So what happens when John the Baptist agrees to baptize Jesus?
just as Jesus came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
The crowd hears the voice of God the Father speaking about God the Son who stands dripping in the river. The voice of God the Father loves him, anoints him, covers him with God the Holy Spirit. For a moment we can see God three ways. We call this the Trinity.
God is One. God is always in motion, and we find it difficult to catch sight of God-three-ways. Like a hummingbird's wings that move so fast they are almost invisible, so is our God. Like running water, individual drops cannot be seen.
But, if someone uses a camera that can take photos fast enough, it is like time freezes:
Now we can see the source, the flow, and the drop.
At Jesus's baptism we can hear the Lover (the Father) pouring out Love (the Holy Spirit) upon the Beloved (Jesus).
Because John the Baptist does what he does not feel good enough to do, because he chooses to participate in the Plan of God, because he says yes to Jesus—time stops for a moment. The whole world, anyone who chooses, can see God who is Love.
What glorious things happen when someone says yes to God!
What about us? What if we just do not feel good enough?
Seems like Jesus' goodness—his righteousness—is enough to make up for whatever John the Baptist does not have.
Jesus has more than enough goodness for all of us. (Abundance 😉)
Jesus makes it right.
If we say yes to God, if we choose to help build the kingdom, what glorious things will happen through us?
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