THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: Feast-Year-B

I.                  Reading: Isaiah 55:1-11: Come to the water. Listen and your soul will live.

II.               Reading: 1John 5:1-9: The Spirit and water and blood.

Gospel: Mark 1:7-11:You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.

The first reading encourages God’s people who are still in exile in Babylon. The prophet Isaiah issues the invitation to the Messiah’s banquet, admission free. Through the basics of water, grain, wine and milk the needs of the spirit will be met. There is a promise of a new covenant and with it a command to return to God. The conclusions asserts the effectiveness of God’s Word working and promoting the sustaining powers of life.

The second reading gives three signs of Sonship and three witnesses of Christ’s Divinity. First the signs: we become God’s children when we recognise Jesus as Christ; love of him means love of God and obedience to him. So we love one another and through our faith can over the world. The three witnesses are spirit, water and blood. It is suggested that the spirit is the Spirit that descended at his Baptism, the water is the Water of Baptism and the blood is his Blood shed on Calvary.

In the Gospel, John the Baptist again acknowledging himself a lesser role than Jesus, baptises him in the Jordan. In Mark’s brief account  we observe that heavens “were being torn apart”-a more dramatic description than in the other Gospels-revealing the world Our Lord had left and to which he would return; that the Spirit descended like a dove, the symbol of peace and reconciliation (Genesis 8:11) and the Church’s representation of the Holy Spirit; and that this voice was heard again at the Transfiguration and again when prayed “The hour is come” (Jn 12:23). So began his ministry with a baptism that had every mark of divine approval.

Jesus Christ and His Baptism: A Decision for God (Mark 1: 9-11)

Jesus’ baptism pictures what happens when a person makes a decision for God.

1.     There is a decision and submission to God (v.9): great sacrifice of Jesus

2.     There is a beginning and an identification with God and his people (v.9):

a.     His baptism was beginning of a new life, new direction in his life.

b.    He was identifying with John’s ministry who was proclaiming the Good News of Christ, the Messiah and the Lamb of God.

3.     There is a commissioning and empowering (v.10): the word “open” (schizamenous) means to rend asunder or to tear apart. This could mean two things:

i.                   It could mean a moment like the rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds ever so brilliantly after a thunder storm.

ii.                 It could mean a moment when God miraculously tore apart the barrier between heaven and earth, allowing Jesus to see into the glory of heaven from where he had come.

4.     There is the approval and encouragement of God (v.11): As man, Jesus needed the perfect assurance of God. He needed special strength and encouragement from God. So he listened “and a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love you; with you I am well pleased (cf. Mt 3:16-17).

Thought: God meets the needs of His servants for assurance. He sees to it that we know His Will and gives assurance that we are doing His Will. He speaks to our hearts and gives signs of approval and encouragement. Every true believer is commissioned and empowered by God’s Spirit to do the work of God.

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