Comforting waters

The Gospels weren't written in a vacuum. The evangelists composed their words with one eye on what Jesus said and did, and one eye on what was going on in their communities.

One of the "going-ons" revolved around the disciples of John the Baptizer. Jesus' appearance and ministry didn't convince all of John's followers that He, not John, was the Messiah.

Jesus Himself had once been one of John's disciples. After the Baptizer's death, many (but not all) of his fellow disciples cast their lot with Him, believing the carpenter was heir to the dreams they had originally discovered in John.

John and Jesus

Those whose messianic hopes still were focused on the martyred prophet don't seem to have gotten along too well with Jesus' followers, especially since the latter insisted that Jesus accomplished something their master had not: He rose from the dead.

One of the arguments John's followers used to defend their belief that he was superior to Jesus was an event none denied: John's baptism of Jesus. "Inferiors don't baptize superiors," they contended. "If John weren't more important than Jesus, then why did he baptize Him?

The early Christian communities had to deal with these disciples of John. (Some still existed several centuries into the Christian era.) They did so in two ways.

First, they created speeches for John that demonstrated Jesus' superiority. In Sunday's Gospel, for instance (Luke 3:15-16,21-22), John proclaims, "I am baptizing you in water, but there is one to come who is mightier than I. I am not fit to loosen His sandal strap. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire."

Second, Gospel to Gospel, the evangelists gave lessening emphasis to Jesus' baptism. Luke never describes it; he simply uses a participial phrase when referring to it: "When all the people were baptized, and Jesus was at prayer after likewise being baptized." John, the last evangelist, never even mentions the event.

Jesus' baptism seems to have a turning point in His life. No wonder this ritual, transformed by the new meaning He added, also became a turning point in His followers' lives.

We glimpse its impact in the second reading (Titus 2:11-14;3:4-7): "God saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, which He richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior."

'Comfort my people'

I presume Jesus often reflected on the words found in the first reading (Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11), the first oracle of someone who did so much to change our faith. Like this prophet, Jesus revolved His ministry around announcing good news -- the good news He experienced in His own baptismal commitment to God.

Jesus consistently echoes Isaiah's message: "Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end; her guilt is expiated."

No matter what's going on in our Christians communities today, if we're not preaching a parallel message of comfort, then we're understanding neither the importance of Jesus' baptism, nor the importance of Jesus in our lives.

(1/11/07)