The Baptism Of Jesus, The Humility Of John And A Reflection On Our Baptism
By Fr Dexter Brereton, CSSp ThM STL
Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
Today’s Gospel story allows us to do a number of things: to take an admiring glance at the character of John the Baptist, to reflect on the meaning of baptism as John describes it, and to enter into a reflection on Jesus’ very personal experience of his own baptism.
First John: who could fail to admire John’s lack of self-deception, his realism as he proclaims to the people: I baptize you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire.
There is a word which has its origins in ancient Greek – “hubris”. Hubris means the personal quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous over-confidence. This is often mixed in with arrogance. Hubris is generated by fame and celebrity, by brown nosing and sycophancy. It is hubris which prompts musical artistes, movie stars, sports stars, politicians and holders of high office in the church to think and act as if they are above the law, as if they are immune from prosecution. These qualities were completely absent in John. He is that rarest of creatures – a public figure who knows his own weakness and also knows when to leave the stage.
Trinidad’s first native-born archbishop, Gordon Anthony Pantin, was well-known for his humility. Early in his episcopal ministry, realizing that he did not have sufficient experience in parish ministry, took on a parish for himself. He did so however, for the bare minimum of three years. Needless to say, many were disappointed that he left and asked why he did not stay longer. To this, Pantin characteristically replied: “Better that people ask ‘why didn’t he stay?’ than ‘O when will he go?’” Here then is the mark of a free man, a man who does not take himself too seriously. For Pantin, it was the church itself, that was the centre of attention. Not the man, not the Archbishop. She was the one ‘more powerful than he was, and he was not fit to undo the strap of her sandals.’
Today we also have a chance to say something about baptism itself. Ritual washings or ablutions were a fairly common practice in the Mediterranean world of 1st century Palestine. Ritual baptisms (from the Greek verb ‘bapto’ meaning ‘dip’ or baptizo meaning ‘I wash’) were practiced for example, by the monastic community of Qumran who lived out in the Judaean desert and were contemporaneous with Jesus and John the Baptist. The spiritual meaning of these gestures was one of sorrow for sin and could be repeated as often as necessary. Jesus’ baptism was far more radical in its effects, bringing about a fundamental change in the one baptized, to the point of being unrepeatable. We get some sense of the greater and deeper reach of Jesus’ baptism in John’s proclamation: I baptize you with water, but someone is coming…he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. Jesus’ baptism brings “grace/salvation” (Holy Spirit) and “Judgement” (fire) – which means the exposure of all that is sinful and a burning away of all evil. We can summarize all this by saying that baptism is nothing less than the beginning of a new life and existence as she/she is made a member of the family of God.
