Baptisms

by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

v13At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. v14But John tried to make him change his mind. “I ought to be baptized by you,” John said, “and yet you have come to me!”
v15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” So John agreed.
v16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on him. v17Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)

The first day of every year the church celebrates the feast of the Holy Name or the Circumcision of our Lord. Eight days after the birth of Jesus his earthly parents brought him to the temple to be circumcised. v21A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived (Luke 2:21). In the Bible, circumcision is the ritual act of removing a male’s child or adult’s foreskin. In the Jewish culture this took place eight days after birth. God first instituted circumcision in Genesis 17:11-12 when he made an everlasting covenant with Abraham.
Jesus’ upbringing was faithful to God’s instructions as given to Israel in the Old Testament. That included circumcision (Leviticus 12:3). At this ceremony, it was traditional for male children to be “officially” given their name. The prior chapter depicted the controversy when John the Baptist was named (Luke 1:59–63). Jesus’ designation is no surprise to anyone. When an angel announced His impending birth, the news included a name (Luke 1:31). That moment is recalled in this verse. The Messiah’s given name is represented in English as Jesus. This is transliterated from the Greek I sous. That, in turn, is the Greek version of Yeshua or Yehashua, the same Hebrew name from which we derive Joshua. In Hebrew, the word literally means “Yahweh is salvation.” When Joseph had his own angelic encounter (Matthew 1:21), it was explained that this was a reference to Jesus’ role as Savior.
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I am reminded of the Igorot’s practice of gubbaw. This is one kind of tradition that makes some of the Igorot people unique. When a child is born, they will wait until the umbilical cord is detached from the child as a sign the baby can be named or “Maigubbawan”. The ritual is called gubbaw. This is the igorots’ traditional way of giving the child a name. It is like baptizing in Christianity. In the church a priest does the ceremony of baptism, while the igorot’s tradition, the elders do it. The priest directs its prayer in heaven, the Igorots call to Kabunyan, and to the spirits of the dead relatives of the family. The priest use a holy water, the Igorot use a “native” chicken (not cull or broiler). The chicken is killed through “killing me softly way” or a stick is used to whip the wings and neck of the chicken so that the blood accumulate under the skin – until it dies. (Gubbaw ni Gawanni by Bilza Sagada Lodge and Resto).
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The first eight days of this year recall three important events of our Lord Jesus Christ from the scripture readings. As already mentioned, January 1 is the Feast of the Circumcision or Holy Name where we read the naming of Jesus as instructed by the angel prior to his birth. The 6th of January is the Feast of the Epiphany (popularly known as Three Kings day) wherein three wise men from the east paid tribute to the newly born Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12). The story of the Epiphany captures the imagination with its rich mixture of mystery and intrigue. At the center of it all is the innocence of the new-born child, surrounded by adoration, wonder and mystery, who is able to stir the emotions, imagination and will of all those drawn into his presence. The story is always relevant because God sees to it that people who really search will find him. He will shed light into our darkness and make us new.
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This first Sunday after Epiphany fast forward to the baptism of the adult Jesus at the Jordan river by his cousin, John the Baptist. What is the meaning of this event? Narrated in each of the four Gospels, the baptism of Jesus marks the inauguration of His public ministry — His emergence from a life of seeming obscurity into a life of growing popularity on account of His preaching, miracles, healings and proclamation of mercy and forgiveness.
Jesus steps into the Jordan River and into His mission of redemption through this public religious act. The descent of the dove symbolizes the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus receives as the Christ, Greek for “the Anointed One.”
This mark of divine blessing is accompanied by the voice of the Father in heaven who proclaims, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). This mysterious utterance reveals Jesus as the Son of God, the One sent from the Father to accomplish the salvation of the human race. In this dramatic scene we already grasp the identity and function of the Most Blessed Trinity — we see the Father as the One who begets and sends the Son to redeem the human race, the Son as the obedient servant who accomplishes the will of the Father, and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier who empowers the mission of redemption.
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In the early Church, the visit of the Magi, the baptism of the Lord and the miracle at Cana together constituted the meaning of Epiphany, for each of these three events reveals, manifests and unveils who Jesus is. Drawing profound parallels between Jesus’ baptism and our own, we can see that, just as Jesus is revealed as the beloved Son at the Jordan, so, too, we receive a new identity in baptism as adopted children of the Father. The fruit of Christ’s victory over the power of sin and death is the divine invitation for us to share in the very life of the Trinity. Jesus Christ — namely, the Son — freely shares His very nature with us through the transforming waters of baptism. At the moment of our spiritual rebirth in the font, the Father beholds us with delight, exclaiming, “This is my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter with whom I am well pleased.” Christianity first and foremost is about whom we have become in Christ before it is about what we do or how we act. This saving act of spiritual adoption draws us into the very life of God and His merciful grace. (Bishop Donald J Hying).
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The baptism of our Lord is a powerful reminder of the vocation to which we are called. It recalls our own baptism in consecrated water which cleansed our souls from the state of sin and was the beginning of our relationship with God. The seeds of the Christian life are sown in baptism which means we belong to God’s family, are able to call God, ‘Father’ and Jesus our ‘brother’. Like Christ we have been chosen for a mission in the world of our time. The carrying out of that mission will only be possible if we are prepared to live in accordance with God’s will. The truth is, baptism is not over and done with when the priest pours water over our head and the sacred ceremony is completed. The sacrament is the planting of the seed of Christian life which grows and bears fruit as we develop our relationship with God.
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The start of the new year provides us with an opportunity to review our commitment to Christ and reflect on our calling as a member of God’s family. Our special role is to announce Jesus to the world. The ways of doing this are many and varied. We are all called to witness to Christ in our own sphere of living and to make the world better place by our presence. The candles lighted during the baptism ceremony means we are to show forth Christ by word and deed wherever we go. Do we think of this promise when we are challenged to be honest or to refrain from taking away our neighbor’s character? We reflect the glory of God when we refuse to compromise with evil in any of its forms. Our baptism is ‘the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.’ (Book of Common Prayer).
Let us pray.
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Collect, Epiphany 1:Baptism of Our Lord, ECP-BCP).**