One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
After having said all this it is understandable why John hesitated to baptize Jesus with water. Jesus had no need of repentance and yet he allowed himself to be numbered among those who did. Later he would have no sin deserving of death but he would again allow himself to be numbered among sinners and share their lot. In both cases, because of his presence, Jesus transformed that which he experienced. It was as though the waters were previously the formless and void reality before God began his creative work. After Jesus was baptized the Spirit, who hovered over the waters at the dawn of the water, transformed them and made them the lifegiving font of salvation. Jesus' contact with the waters did not sanctify Jesus, rather Jesus sanctified the waters, making them an efficacious sign of grace. Similarly, by dying Jesus transformed death, making it a gateway to eternal life. There is actually a close connection between the two in the thought of Saint Paul.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (see Romans 6:3-4).
John was initially reluctant to baptize Jesus but Jesus reassured him that "it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (see Matthew 3:15), or, in other words, that it was a part of the plan of God, to fulfill the promises made in Scripture. And indeed, this is just what we see.
It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
The allusion to the act of creation we have already mentioned. But there are many others. In particular, the descent of the Spirit, like a dove, brings to mind the ark of Noah and the dove that returned with the olive branch signifying that the world had been renewed and that new life was possible on the surface (see Genesis 8:6-12). There are still more references we could make, including the parting of the waters of the Red Sea, signifying freedom from sin just as Israel was once freed from slavery in Egypt, or the parting of the waters of the Jordan (where, in fact, John baptized), signifying the arrival, at last, in the Promised Land. Those literal and historical realities, though true, are actually less powerful than the spiritual reality of baptism.
And a voice came from the heavens,
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
The reality of baptism unites us with Jesus himself, making us daughters and sons of the Father and filling us with the same Spirit that descended on him. Paul's use of the language of pouring in Romans is not coincidental when he tells us that, "hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (see Romans 5:5). It is as though we hear the same words of the Father spoken over Jesus now spoken over us as well. And it is his gift of the Spirit that gives us the grace of adoption, and it is by this Spirit that we cry, "Abba! Father!" (see Romans 8:15).
There are many points in Scripture which we might mark as the beginning of our salvation. But there is a real way in which the baptism of the Lord was an initial unlocking of the grace that those who believed in him would one day receive. This feast is therefore not a mere point of historical interest. It ought to be a celebration of what Jesus has done for us. But not only that. It is an invitation to open ourselves more fully to the grace of our baptism. The grace of baptism contains the power of limitless transformation, making us more truly completely the sons and daughters of the Father we are meant to be. Many of us were baptized at birth. But to fully avail ourselves of all of the grace of the sacrament we must eventually consciously open our hearts to receive it. There is no better time to do so than as we celebrate this feast.
Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
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