BAPTISM OF THE LORD

Christmastide Concludes

Christ stepped into the Jordan River, through which the Israelites had come into the Promised Land and was baptized by St John, cleansing the waters for all time, and taking on himself, that which he commanded to others. This baptism began his testament and swung slowly shut the gates of the Old Testament. It was the last gesture of reverence and submission to the giants of the Old Law, the greatest of whom was John the Baptist, his instrument in introducing the New. Jesus’ public life begins with his symbolic baptism. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, “This is my beloved Son.” As John poured the water, Christ, in a vision peculiar to himself, saw the heavens open. For this was the beginning of the battering down of the doo locked since the sin of Adam. He, the Son, stood in the Jordan; the Father’s voice declared that this was his beloved Son; and the Holy Spirit hovered over him in the form of a dove. He himself later instructed his apostles to baptize all men in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.