808/01/2006 - BAPTISM OF OUR LORD - Year B
First Reading Isaiah 55:1-11 Psalm Isaiah 12:2; 4-6
Second Reading 1 John: 1-9 Gospel Mark 1:7-11
The list of the Ten Commandments begins with an introductory phrase: "I
am the Lord, your God, who freed you from the land of Egypt; from slavery".
We usually say only the first part of that phrase, and it would be enough! Before
offering His Commandments; better yet, His words of wisdom (this is how we should
translate the Hebrew term used in the holy text), God presents Himself to His
people. He is God, a God whose love we have already experienced. He freed His
people from slavery and gave them the greatest gift - freedom! The desire and
the will of God, then, move in this direction. So that the people can continue
to benefit from freedom, and so that their joy will always grow deeper, He guides
them with His wisdom.
The Commandments, then, come from a true God, a God who loves, a God who is
above all those who wish to be obeyed as divinity, only for their own advantage,
as the pharaoh from Egypt. I am the Lord, Your God: I am the one who cares for
you, I am the one who loves you and truly wants what is good for you, I have
no interest for myself, my only interest is to care for you and to give you
the fullness of life. I have already put you in a place of freedom and I want
to respect that freedom to the end. But I also offer you the rules so that you
will not be deceived and will fall into slavery again, a slavery worse than
that of Egypt. The ten words which you speak will come from me, from my heart
and my wisdom. Do not undervalue them, do not ignore them and do not hide them.
Live them always, when no one is looking, as well as when you hold a place of
authority in society. In so doing, it can only be enriched and improved upon
by your obedience to my teachings.
Today we stand by John the Baptist to receive his testimony and to be helped
in contemplating Jesus. After having cleared his own indignity, John compares
himself to Jesus: "I have baptized you with water; He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit"! The work of the forerunner is exterior, in preparation.
He washes with water; he can only purify the life of those who, humbly declare
that they are sinners and wish to be reconciled to God. It is not all to be
purified and reconciled! What Jesus does, is so much more. He will fill the
purified man with new life - that of the Holy Spirit. Thanks to Him, man will
be made divine!
Jesus, too, came to the water and let John baptize Him. Did He, too, need to
be baptized? Of course not, but He wants to be in agreement with all the sinners
and takes on the weight of their sins. This is how He shows each of them His
love, a love so complete and perfect, and not asked for. He does this because
the Holy Scriptures already established that the Servant of God will carry their
iniquities. In the Jordan, Jesus already begins the way to Calvary. He then,
comes to the water, weighted down by our sins, and is not ashamed of carrying
them. He calls us friends and brothers!
This is the moment in which, on earth, in the midst of sinful men, divine love
is shown; free love, love that loves even onto taking the punishment for others.
Who of us, unjustly accused, would not justify our actions? Jesus, though, offers
Himself voluntarily to free us of any accusation by taking the punishment Himself.
This is new love - divine! This gesture of His, which could go by unobserved
by men, is not unobserved by God. He cannot do other than to ensure that the
world knows it. The whole world must know what true love is, and to know who
it is that brings it to us!
It is here that the Father visibly sends the Holy Spirit to descend upon Him,
and with his voice manifests the identity of the humble and silent man. John's
word is not enough; this is the sign and here is the voice from above!
You are my son, the chosen One! Jesus is the Son; the Son of God! With His own
voice, the Father shows His divinity. Because He is the Son of God, Jesus reveals
the true face of God, the face of the Father. God begins to be seen on earth.
The veil, which is in the way of man seeing the invisible, is lifted. Jesus
is God made flesh, the God of love. True love begins to be present on earth.
The Apostle John confirms it, as well, in the Second Reading. Actually, John
says that those who believe in Jesus are born of Him. Therefore, divinity is
visible even in the face and in the life of those who believe in Jesus. And
those who believe in Him have, within them, the strength to win over the world
with their thoughts, which cannot be deceived. Isaiah said that God's thoughts,
His way of seeing man, His philosophy, is different from that of men. Thanks
to Jesus, we are able to recognize them and go beyond our thoughts in order
to assimilate those of the Father, and therefore, have complete harmony in living
and understanding life!