Baptism of the Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n
January 10, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark 1:7-11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baptism of the Lord is one of the defining moments in the life of Jesus. The synoptic gospels [Matthew, Mark and Luke] writes this event, though with their own perspective and emphasis. We are in the liturgical year B, and thus, we are listening from the Gospel of Mark. Mark\u2019s version is noticeably the shortest, but it does not mean it does not deliver powerful message. The Baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan is a turning point in Jesus\u2019 life. After this Jesus will be in the desert for 40 days, tempted by the devil, but he will prevail. Then, from this, Jesus will begin His public ministry, and unreservedly move toward Jerusalem, to Cross, Death and Resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often, we ask, \u201cwhy should John baptize Jesus?\u201d We are well aware that John\u2019s baptism is an outward sign of inner repentance. If a person repents, it means that the person has been living a sinful life. Does it mean that Jesus is a sinful man, therefore He asks for John\u2019s baptism? Surely, Jesus who is God, is perfectly sinless, but the question remains, \u201cwhy should Jesus be baptized?\u201d \u00a0Mark does not give us a straight answer, yet the Church offers us the reason. Catechism of the Catholic Church states, \u201cThe baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners…\u00a0Already he is anticipating the “baptism” of his bloody death\u2026 [CCC 536].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simply put, Jesus\u2019 baptism speaks of this solidarity with us sinners, and this solidarity does not stop in the symbolic baptism of John, but this will find its fulfillment in the cross. As sinners, we deserve to die, but it is God who dies for us. The Church\u2019s answer is beautiful, but is it truly in the mind of the evangelists, especially Mark?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus is baptized, Mark describes the sky is \u2018torn apart\u2019 and a voice came, \u201cYou are my Son, the Beloved\u2026\u201d The Greek word for \u2018tearing apart\u2019 is \u2018schizo,\u2019 and the same word is employed again by Mark when he recounts the happening in the Temple when Jesus died on the cross: the giant curtain that separates the holy place and the holiest place inside the Jerusalem temple [see 15:38]. Meanwhile, Mark also recounts a Roman centurion proclaims that Jesus is truly the Son of God, after witnessing remarkable events during Jesus\u2019 death. From here, we can draw an interesting insight. With this basic pattern between what happens in baptism and in the cross, Mark is telling us that these two events are indeed related. The Baptism points to the Cross, and the Cross is the fulfillment of the Baptism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It reveals the reason why the Father is so \u2018so well pleased with His Son.\u2019 The reason is through baptism, Jesus signals to all of us His eagerness to do His Father\u2019s will. Though Jesus is sinless, He takes up our burden of sin and dies for us as proof of the Father\u2019s love for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If in His baptism, Jesus accepts the cross, we, as the baptized Christians, are also called to carry our crosses. As we share Christ\u2019s cross and carry it faithfully, we can hope to love radically. As we love deeply, we may hope for our salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Baptism of the Lord
\nJanuary 10, 2021
\nMark 1:7-11<\/p>\n
Baptism of the Lord is one of the defining moments in the life of Jesus. The synoptic gospels [Matthew, Mark and Luke] writes this event, though with their own perspective and emphasis. We are in the liturgical year B, and thus, we are listening from the Gospel of Mark. Mark\u2019 version is noticeably the shortest, but it does not mean it does not deliver powerful message. The Baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan is a turning point in Jesus\u2019 life. After this Jesus will be in the desert for 40 days, tempted by the devil, but he will prevail. Then, from this, Jesus will begin His public ministry, and unreservedly move toward Jerusalem, to Cross, Death and Resurrection. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58,67],"class_list":["post-10080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection","tag-valentinus-bayuhadi-ruseno"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10081,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080\/revisions\/10081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}