This Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of The Lord.  Last Sunday the Advent/Christmas season ended with The Epiphany, when the prophesied Savior, Jesus, was revealed to the wise men from the east.  We are making a giant leap forward (~30 years) to the Baptism of The Lord, when Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in final preparation of His ministry which will ultimately lead to His death on the cross.

Baptism is the sacrament that calls or dedicates us to a life of service in the Lord.  It is our initiation into the faith and with our initiation we are dedicating ourselves to the Lord’s service.  When Jesus was with us in the flesh, it was normal for baptism to be performed on adults and it was an act of conversion and an initiation to service to the Lord.  Most of us were baptized when we were infants.  Our parents and God parents made the promise to God, on our behalf, that we would be raised in the knowledge of our faith and love of God and would be presented at a later date (when we could make that promise from our heart with our own lips with understanding) to confirm our dedication to the Lord, to confirm our baptismal promise, and be sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Our baptisms were performed just like Jesus’ baptism.  We were immersed in water to wash away our sin (for infants, original sin) and were sealed with the Holy Spirit.  At the time of our baptism we were also adopted into the family of God as brothers and sisters with Christ Jesus, and co-heirs to the promises of God through Christ Jesus concerning our salvation and our sanctification.

Isaiah foretold the coming of a servant who would be the chosen one of God, who would bring justice to all the people, open the eyes of the blind, free those in prison and give light to those who live in darkness.  At his baptism, Jesus was revealed to be that servant, the beloved Son of God.  His baptism was the beginning of his life of service and his service brought to life the words of Isaiah.

The sidebar commentary in our books offers good discussion points that compare our baptism to that of Jesus, and asks us how we can bring justice, heal people and free people (to free someone, or heal their blindness, most often means freeing them from sin, or darkness which implies that they are without the light of Christ, or separated from God) and how we can heal blindness, free people from sin and be a light to people.  That is our life of service which began at our baptism and the covenant with God that was sealed at our confirmation. 

A special revelation of the Gospel reading occurs when the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came to Jesus at his baptism:  A voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son with whom I am very pleased.”  This happens when we are baptized, too, and God recognizes us as a son or a daughter and he is very pleased with each one of us.  Think about that the next time you suffer from doubt or fear that God is not pleased with you.  If you do not believe that God is pleased with you, you should pray for and ask God for whatever you need to restore the baptismal flow of love, insight, healing and spirit of repentance.

The Psalm this week is Psalm 29:  The Lord Will Bless His People

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Peace,

Elaine