The Baptism: A Mission Plan
Scripture:
Mark 1:7-11,
1 John 5:1-9,
Isaiah 55:1-11.
Reflection
My dear sisters and brothers,
We have a text from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 1:7-11) for our reflection today.
“This is what John the Baptist proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptised you with water;
he will baptise you with the holy Spirit.”
It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptised in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.””
Today, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We have a perennial question to ask regarding the baptism of Jesus Christ.
That is:
Why was Jesus Christ baptised before taking up his mission?
And
What do we learn from it?
Baptism is a ritual or ceremony or sacrament.
It requires three essential aspects.
They are:
1. The individual, who is to be baptised,
2. The baptiser, who acts in the name of the community of faith, and
3. God, whose name the individual is baptised in.
Traditionally, we focused mainly on the first two essential aspects: 1. The individual, and 2. the baptiser.
The individual from the aspect of cleaning from the original sin or sins and the baptiser from the aspect of initiating the entrance into a community of faith.
We have conveniently forgotten the third aspect: 3. God.
The third is the divine aspect.
It is mainly focused on in the story of baptism of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
It was a decisive moment for Jesus Christ, who was about to establish the Kingdom of God as his mission mandate.
Why?
Because, in Baptism, Jesus was united himself with God, the Father.
In other words, the baptism united the purpose of Jesus with God’s purpose.
How do we know it?
a. The Voice from heaven:
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).
This was God’s approval of Jesus’ plans for his mission.
Jesus offered himself to God through the baptism as a way showing his readiness and willingness for God’s purpose.
The voice from heaven was God’s way of saying: “You are most welcome My Son. You are accepted to the fullest extent. You are My only beloved Son.
b. A Dove:
“The Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him” (Mark 1:10).
We read in the Gospel according to Saint Luke:
“The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35).
It means that ‘the holy Spirit’ is ‘the power of the Most High’.
In other words, we can understand that it is the power of God that comes down upon Jesus Christ.
This is the power that will work in Jesus in all he does during his mission.
The voice of God has approved of Jesus and the Spirit of God has empowered him.
With this confidence, Jesus can now venture into implementing his mission plans for the future knowing that he is working in union with God.
And what can we learn from this on how to proceed with our own lives’ mission and purpose after knowing that these two extraordinary aspects, determined at Jesus’ baptism go to show us the meaning and purpose of the event in the Gospel of today?
What do all these tell us about our baptism, our mission and our purpose?
Probably, we have to make a conscious effort to connect between our baptism and our mission purpose.
But, today’s Gospel text shows us that if we are to live out our baptism, the first thing we should do is to lay down all our mission and purpose at God’s feet.
Yes, dear sisters and brothers,
Like John the Baptist, who said:
“I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals” (Mark 1:7).
1. The Sandals:
We all know that the sandals are worn under our feet to safe guard from thorn and sharp stones.
Likewise, when we surrender to our Lord, Jesus Christ our entire mission and purpose, He takes care of us from all dangers and guards us from every evil that we are tempted in our lives too.
We need not remove the sandals…to surrender at his feet.
We just need to remove our pride, ego and jealousy.
We need to do this for two reasons:
The first reason is,
(a) To make sure that our plans and designs fit into God’s plans for us.
2. The Water:
The water is a symbol of life.
We have studied or read that all civilisations arose and flourished near water or beside water.
The water was an essential commodity for human plan and designs.
In the same way, the baptism of water in the story of Jesus’ baptism or in the words of John the Baptist:
‘I have baptised you with water;
he will baptise you with the holy Spirit.’
Or
Further, we read in the Gospel text:
‘On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.’
Remember that the best dream we may have for ourselves and our future is only a shadow of God’s plan for us.
We do not shy away from our dreams that which God has planted in us according to His purpose.
But, we confirm to make sure that our plans and designs fit into God’s plans for us.
The second reason is,
(b) to receive divine empowerment in the working out of our plans.
3. The Dove:
Dove symbolism dates back as far as the book of Genesis:
“In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the water had diminished on the earth” (Genesis 8:11).
After God flooded the Earth to cleanse it of the sins of human, Noah, and his family drifted across the flooded planet in search of signs of land.
Noah had many ideas but there was no strength, likewise we are often hindered not by a lack of idea of what we should be doing but a lack of strength to put it into practice.
A dove, led Noah to the land.
Living out our baptism, means allowing the Holy Spirit whom we received during our baptism to lead us to His mission and empower us to put into action the noble dreams that God Himself has inspired in us.
Yes, dear sisters and brothers,
Let us start to receive the divine empowerment in the working out of our mission plans.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
