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Jesus grew up in a tiny obscure village of Nazareth with no more than 200 people in the hills south of the Sea of Galilee.  It is estimated he was around age 30 when his public ministry would have started.  It started by the Jordan River near the Dead Sea.

The Judean wilderness is a desert with deep ravines and tall peaks.  It recalls the prophet Isaiah – “A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Is 40:3 – 5).

Around 28 AD a figure appears on the banks of the Jordan River.  He is a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”  John comes clothed like the very important prophet Elijah from the Old Testament (2 Kings 1:8), dressed in camel hair with a leather belt around his waist.  Jews were aware of the promise at the end of Malachi (4:5) that the Lord would send Elijah back before the arrival of the Messiah.  John draws our minds to this prophecy. 

John was ritually baptizing with water pleading with Jews to recognize their sinful hearts and repent in preparation for the promised Messiah.  It was a baptism of repentance.  He tells them they need to make a break with their past lives, begin anew, and dedicate their lives to God.  He was baptizing merely with water, but the one to come would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16).  

Here we hear mention of two groups of leaders of the Jews – the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  The Sadducees was a group known as the chief priests, full time clergy, in charge of running the Temple.  They were the official leaders of the Jews in Palestine with great power.  The Pharisees was a group of lay people, meaning they were not priests, who sought to uphold strict observance of the Jewish religion and called all Israel to greater holiness.  They were popular among the people.  The leaders show neither a desire for a true change of heart nor a willingness to change their life.  However, the tax collectors and other sinners do! The Pharisees and the Sadducees disagree on much, however, when they both arrived at the river Jordan to inquire about John the Baptist, he calls them a “brood of vipers” (Mt 3:7).  John warns them that they cannot go on assuming they are a part of God’s people based on their heritage alone when their hearts are far from God.  John would not baptize them because they were not repentant.

John was preparing the way for someone else, a person whose sandal strap he was not worthy to untie (Mark 1:7).  John’s humility comes out when he protests that he should baptize Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? (Mt 3:14) How come Jesus, Son of God, needs to be baptized?

Jesus, the divine Word lowered himself to be born in our messy world.  He now lowers himself further, to the lowest spot-on earth, and submerges himself under the Jordan waters in sign of repentance.  We have seen that the Incarnation does not simply mean that the divine Word assumes a human body, but that he completely enters our life experience.   Jesus was not sanctified by the waters of baptism, instead, he sanctified the waters of what would become a new kind of baptism, baptism not only with water but with the Holy Spirit.  God speaks and says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus’ sonship goes beyond the adopted sonship of David the king of Israel.  It is a manifestation of the Trinity – Son, Father, and Spirit.  Here he inaugurates the sacrament of Baptism.  The opening of the heavens and the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus tells us He is more than a prophet – more than a holy man – He is God’s son.  

Baptism is the sacrament which dedicates to God and incorporates us into the Church.  A sacrament is a sign and means by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ, the head, through the Church, His Body.  A sacrament contains and communicates the invisible grace it signifies.  Therefore, Baptism as a sacrament communicates invisible grace by washing us in holy water using the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  It is as if we have died to our old selves and have been reborn – original sin is erased, and we become a new creation!   

After Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Israel had once been led into the desert and there faced temptations for 40 years.  Israel repeatedly failed to obey and trust God.  Jesus’ entrance into the desert and fasting for 40 days is a sign of humility.  God allows him to be subjected to temptation.  

Three times Jesus is tempted by the devil, and three times Jesus responds with scripture.  He doesn’t use His powers as the Son of God to wrestle with the devil; He doesn’t use his omniscience to outsmart him.  Jesus models for us how we need to respond when we face those moments when we feel life making the less-than-wise-choice.  With the grace we receive from sacraments, we are better able to fight off temptations when they come our way.

Have a great week!

Joyfully, Christina