The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord causes us to pause and ask – why – why did Jesus, the Son of God need to be baptised by John? It is a strange inversion of what we would expect. John is offering a baptism of repentance, surely Jesus did not need such a baptism – as the sinless one he does not need to repent.
In today’s Gospel Luke does not tell us why either, however, if we go to Matthew’s account of this event we see Jesus insist that it is fitting that he is baptised by his cousin John so that he can fully identify with all of humanity. So he humbly joins the queue and awaits John’s baptism of repentance in the River Jordan. It is when Jesus’ turn comes and he goes into the water that something different happens for him – the voice from heaven proclaims that he is the beloved Son of God. His identity is confirmed.
This feast invites us to focus on this revelation of Jesus as the Promised One, the humble servant foretold by Isaiah, the beloved Son of God in whom the Father is well pleased.
Karen OSU