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January 11, 2020
The Readings at Mass
for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
In the Gospel today, Jesus descends into the waters of John the Baptist’s baptism and tells John that it must be so “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus is removing the weight of sin as death. He is paying the debts of all humanity. He is making all things right, ‘fulfilling righteousness.” Signs are given. The baptism occurs where the Exodus ended and Joshua lead the people into the Promised Land. A dove appears, as in the story of Noah seeing the sign that the flood waters were receding. Jesus is anointed with the Holy Spirit, like King David, anointed with oil by Samuel.
At Christmas, Jesus is laid in a manger, a place where animals eat because he would become food for us at the Last Supper. Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes and, after his death, he will be wrapped in a shroud and laid in a tomb, instead of a manger.
At the Epiphany, Jesus is given gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh. Gold is a gift for a king, for the charge above his head, the king of the Jews. Frankincense, used in the temple, because he is the priest and the sacrifice. Myrrh, used to prepare a dead body, because this will all be accomplished when he turns death into a doorway to eternal life.
The Baptism of the Lord, in turn, prepares us for the Paschal Mystery. At his baptism he descends into the water and rises; at his crucifixion, he will descend into death and rise. The prayer of Isaiah is fulfilled when the heavens are opened and, at his death, the veil of the temple is torn in tworevealing the mercy seat of God, Christ on the cross.
The readings of Advent and Christmas come together in the story of the Lord’s baptism. The baptism of the lord links Christmas and the Paschal Mystery. When we participate in liturgy, we participate in these mysteries and so can answer yes to the great spiritual, Were you there when the crucified the lord”
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