When Jesus was baptized by his cousin on the banks of the Jordan River
Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos
WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BY HIS COUSIN ON THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN RIVER
That baptism is not the sacramental one we received. That of the Baptist was a ritual purification bath still in use today in the Jewish tradition.
Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.
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Dear brothers and sisters,
in our lives we are all looking for justice. Justice for a wrong suffered, for a person we love who was affected by an injustice, for various social situations and so on. Seeking justice involves seeking that everyone gets what is due to them, according to the classic definition of justice offered by the jurist Ulpian in Digest. The feast of the baptism of the Lord is the feast of the justice of the man who receives the love of God. Once you receive this love, he brings it to others.
In the song the Today's Gospel Jesus approaches the Baptist to be baptized. Giovanni refuses. Jesus then responds with what is the center of this solemnity:
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""Leave it for now, for it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness". Then he let him do it.".
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Fulfill all justice it means for Jesus to be baptized. Let's clarify: that baptism is not the sacramental one that we received. That of the Baptist, brother of the Lord (that is, his cousin, but in Hebrew cousins are referred to as brothers), it was a ritual purification bath, the so-called מקווה (mikveh) still in use today in Jewish tradition. Jesus does not have original sin to wash away through that Sacrament of Baptism which he himself instituted [cf.. Mt 28,19-20]. That mikveh he asks it precisely to do justice to the will of God the Father. So that the mission of man's salvation for which the Father sent him is the center of everything.
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By being baptized, Jesus carries out an act of justice: gives the Father what is due to him. So immediately afterwards the heavens open wide. And behold the voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit become visible. The whole Trinity is present. The Father says that Jesus is his Son and he is pleased with that Son. From that moment Jesus' three years of preaching and his healing miracles began.
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From the justice of the Father Jesus draws grace and strength to express God's truth in words and signs. All this will also lead him to welcome the terrible days of the Passion and the glorious resurrection. God the Father and the whole Trinity offer this possibility to us too.
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The Baptism of the Lord it is a good opportunity to also remember our sacramental Baptism, when the Lord washed away original sin and our bond with evil. From that moment we were also adopted by the Trinity. We have become children of the Eternal Father in Jesus Christ. We have become Sons in the Son. Therefore, if we responsibly and freely respond to the call to be children and accept his grace, God also places his pleasure on us.
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What does this mean in concrete terms? First of all, since we were conceived, God began to love us with a visceral and profound love. This love has accompanied us throughout our lives until today. A love that is, at the same time, maternal and paternal. Because God is Father, and as a father he gives us the Son and from the beginning he gives us the desire to know and seek the truth, because Jesus is the truth. And at the same time he gives us the Holy Spirit Love. Which is the maternal part of God. Hence the expression of the Blessed Pontiff John Paul I who, leaving some a little perplexed, during one of his catechesis he said "God is father and mother" [cf.. Angelus, 10.09.1978] thus implying that both fatherhood and motherhood are contained in the whole.
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Let us bring this knowledge of the truth to the whole world through tenderness and kindness. In this way we will transform our baptism from a sacramental act to an act of concrete love for our neighbor. The historian Cesare Cantù wrote: «Charity is the only treasure that increases by sharing it». We ask the Lord, today, to remember our baptism, to rediscover that they have always been loved unconditionally and for
always.
Amen.
Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 6 January 2023
Epiphany of the Lord
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It is good to clearly differentiate the two baptisms: the Johannine one of purification and the Christian one of incorporation. However, I get lost when we talk about Jesus and original sin. It almost seems as if they want to say that John's baptism also takes away original sin, but I don't agree with this. The baptism of John is only a baptism of penance and purification to prepare for the arrival of Christ. It is only the baptism of Christ that erases original sin and incorporates it into Him, that is, in the Church. This is why John says "it is I who must be baptized by you". Among other things, it emerges from the NT that the vast majority of early Christians had received John's baptism previously.. Fulfilling all justice means for Christ fulfilling according to his human nature as a member of the Jewish people to prepare for the advent of the Messiah and the imminent Kingdom of God through the Johannine baptism. Even Jesus as a son of Israel does what the members of the people to which he belongs do.
We also have an echo of this Johannine baptism which is a moment of preparation for the encounter with Christ in the Holy Mass, which for me is not just the reactualization of sacrifice, but also a recapitulation of the History of Salvation. This echo is in the introductory rites which purify us and prepare us for the meeting. Every liturgy of the Word and Eucharist is in some way still preceded today by the Baptist. Once upon a time there was even singing (but look a little) “asperges me”. Oh yes, now they have removed it...
«It almost seems as if they want to say that John's baptism also takes away original sin, but I don't agree with this».
I really fear that you have not read well the text of Father Gabriele's homily which explains and clarifies:
«For Jesus, fulfilling all justice means being baptized. Let's clarify: that baptism is not the sacramental one that we received. That of the Baptist, brother of the Lord (that is, his cousin, but in Hebrew cousins are referred to as brothers), it was a ritual purification bath, the so-called מקווה (mikveh) still in use today in Jewish tradition. Jesus does not have original sin to wash away through that Sacrament of Baptism which he himself instituted [cf.. Mt 28,19-20]. He asks for that mikveh precisely to do justice to the will of God the Father. So that the mission of man's salvation for which the Father sent him is the center of everything».
So you don't agree with what Father Gabriele didn't say and didn't write.
In fact, the passage in which I underline the difference between the Baptism of John and the Sacramental Baptism which clarifies these passages has not been read..
Incidentally, I read here and there that it is said that Christians received baptism from the Baptist, but this is absurd because the Sacrament of Baptism is instituted by Christ, that is, chronologically after the death of the Forerunner.