Baptism of the Lord
This Sunday, January 10th, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord.
St. John the Baptist tells us, “For this I came baptizing with water, that he [Jesus Christ] might be revealed to Israel.” John testifies, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (Jn 1:31-34). The evidence, the proof, John says, that Jesus is the Son of God is the Holy Spirit descending and remaining upon Jesus (Jn 1:32-33; cf., Mt3:16, Mk 1:10, Lk 3:22). This was the first remarkable sign when John baptized the Lord Jesus.
There was a second remarkable sign: “A
voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’”
(Mk 1:11; cf. Lk 3:22, Mt 3:17). This voice from heaven also came at Jesus’
transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to
him” (Mt 17:5; cf. Mk 9:7) and, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Lk9:35).
God the Father’s voice alludes to at least
three important Old Testament themes.
One is the theme of “God’s servant”
occurring throughout the OT but especially in the “Servant Songs” of the
prophet Isaiah. The Hebrew word often translated as “servant” can be in the
sense of one’s child, or a hired servant, or a slave. The Voice speaks of “my
beloved Son,” “my Chosen,” “with whom I am well pleased,” and combined with the
descent of the Holy Spirit –notice the Blessed Trinity here–reflects the first
Servant Song of Isaiah 42:1, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in
whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him” (RSV-CE of the Hebrew);
and “Jacob is my servant [“my child”]; I will help Him. Israel is my chosen; my
soul accepts him. I put my Spirit upon him.” (Greek Septuagint). So the New
Testament (Mt 12:18) and early Church, particularly in prayers and liturgy,
refer to Jesus as the Servant of God, the Child of God.
The second theme has to do with kingship
by the parallel to Psalm 2:7, “You are my son, today I have begotten you.” The
context of the Psalm is God’s anointing of his chosen king, fulfilling his
promise to King David (2 Sam 7:12-16, especially v. 14, “I will be his father,
and he shall be my son”). So the Father’s voice saying “This is my Son” is effectively
saying, “I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain” (Ps 2:6), and “Ask of me
and I will make the nations your heritage” (Ps 2:8). In Jesus, the Kingdom of
God is at hand.
The third theme has to do with Isaac, the
son of Abraham. Two weeks ago at Sunday Mass we read the Scriptures of God’s
promise to Abraham of a son (Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3) and of Abraham’s faith even
when tested by God’s asking for the sacrifice of his son, Isaac (Heb 11:8, 11-12,17-19). Now when God tested Abraham’s faith, he referred to Isaac as “your
only-begotten son Isaac, whom you love” (Gen 22:2). And after Abraham had
passed the test, “the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven” not to lay a
hand on the child, “your son, your only-begotten son” (Gen 22:11-12, repeated
in v. 15-16). There are several parallels here with Abraham and Isaac, and God
the Father and Jesus: the voice from heaven, the only-begotten son, the beloved
son. It is as if God is saying at Jesus’ baptism: This is my Isaac. Implying
that Jesus will be the obedient and faithful son, as was Isaac, and that Jesus
will be called upon to be sacrificed, as was Isaac. But while Isaac and his
father were relieved from having to make the physical sacrifice, Jesus and God
the Father were not.
So Jesus already knows he is the only begotten Son of God, the prophesied Servant of God, God’s appointed King, and he knows his baptism by St. John inaugurates his journey towards the Cross. It is God the Father’s voice from heaven that tells the rest of us these implications – implications because “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” (Jn 3:16), and because “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (Jn 1:18).
J. Jeremias, “παÃς
θεοØ,”
in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), Vol. V, G.
Friedrich, Ed., G. W. Bromiley, Tr. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1967, repr. 1999), p. 700 ff.
Leroy A. Huizenga, The New Isaac, Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew (Liden, Boston: Brill, 2012) p. 153-156, 174-175, 180.
Kraus, Hans-Joachim, Psalms 1-59, A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1988), p. 123-135 (Ps. 2).