Why Jesus was baptized

John's baptism of Jesus created problems for the early Christian community, and it still generates questions for us today.

Our evangelists addressed the event very carefully. On one hand, they knew it had actually happened. It was so much a part of the oral tradition which the early Christian preachers passed on about Jesus' ministry that we even hear hints of it in Peter's appeal to Cornelius in the second reading (Acts 19: 34-38).

"I take it," Peter says, "you know what has been reported all over Judea about Jesus of Nazareth, beginning in Galilee with the baptism John preached; of the way God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power." Jesus' road to death and resurrection -- the saving event in which Peter is inviting Cornelius to believe -- began with John's baptism of Jesus in the Jordan.

Who's first?

But, on the other hand, recalling Jesus' baptism by John opened the door to difficulties. At the time the Gospels were composed, disciples of John the Baptizer still existed, disciples who believed that John, not Jesus, had been the long-awaited Messiah. Since a superior usually baptizes an inferior, Jesus' baptism added weight to their argument.

Our evangelists seem to have been familiar with their position. Mark, the first evangelist, and Matthew, the second, describe Jesus' baptism, but both accompany it with disclaimers by John about Jesus' superiority: "One who is more powerful than I is coming after me" and "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

In Sunday's Gospel (Lk 3: 15-16, 21-22), Luke, the third evangelist, never describes the actual baptism. Instead, he ingeniously employs a participial phrase, a literary device which enables him to separate Jesus' messianic experiences (the skies opening, the Holy Spirit descending, the voice proclaiming "You are my beloved Son...") from the baptism itself: "When...Jesus was at prayer after likewise being baptized, the skies opened...."

John, the fourth evangelist, has nothing about Jesus' baptism in his Gospel. The early Christian community eventually handled the problem of John's disciples by completely distancing Jesus from John's baptism.

Today, with all four Gospels in front of us, we see not only the early Christian community's difficulty, but also bring up a different one: Why would Jesus, God from all eternity, the Second Person of the trinity, have any need to undergo a ritual baptism?

Perhaps it's possible to find the reason in the first reading (Is 42: 1-4, 6-7). In this first song of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh, the prophet reflects on something all prophets must have mulled over, but only a few ever spoke of: their call by God. Along with his prophetic predecessors, Isaiah knows he's different from those around him. He's Yahweh's servant, Yahweh's chosen, someone who conveys Yahweh's spirit to Yahweh's People. Yet he also knows he's different from those called to prophetic ministry before him. Unlike them, he doesn't cry out or shout, never makes his voice heard in the street, and always is known for his consoling oracles. Only a deep conviction that God has actually called him makes such uniqueness bearable.

Insight

Can Isaiah's reflection on his call give us a deeper insight into Jesus? Remember His disciples' initial response when He asks, "Who do people say I am?" They first proclaim that he's different from themselves. "You're a prophet: someone sent by God to tell us what God wants," they answer. But then they quickly add their belief that He's also different from other prophets. He's more than a prophet. He's the Messiah, (in Matthew, "God's Son.") Like Deutero-Isaiah, Jesus is set aside to carry out God's plan, but He has a mission and personality unlike any prophet before Him.

Most Scripture scholars believe that it was at His baptism that the historical Jesus first began to understand His uniqueness. Only when He resolves to give Himself completely to God -- a surrender symbolized in John's baptism -- did Jesus perceive His unparalleled call.

It's too bad John's persistent disciples and our advanced theology have stopped us from looking at this event as Jesus would have looked at it. Otherwise, it could help us better understand our own call by God.

(01-08-98)

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