Subject:  SJ: Mark 1:9-11 |
Author:
Eugene
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Date Posted: 21:31:39 01/19/03 Sun
Mark 1:9-11
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Why did Jesus have to be baptized? The problem is confusing to not a few believers. Some went on to say that Jesus did not turn into Christ, our Savior, until this baptism. Other came up with different explanations of how this act may "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15), of which each explanation seems to be as good as the other. So what? We have to at least understand what is obviously happening here at the occasion of Jesus' baptism, since as a community of faith, we have invested major significance to the event of each of our baptism.
Yet again, love and grace are obvious present here. For John, who faithfully proclaimed the futility of false piety and the coming of a superior (God's) love, this was his special reward: He was one of the few people who actually got to love and to minister to God himself. How would we be overwhelmed if we are allowed to hold God close to our chests and cleanse His body? And in this act, when the beloved gets to reciprocate love to the lover, all God's righteousness is fulfilled.
We also see that love and grace are eternally parts of God's nature. God is one, but in one there are the distinct persons of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit because love and grace only exist in communion of more than one. On the occasion of Christ's baptism, we are allowed to witness the baked truth about God -- that He is love.
With each of our own baptism, we also proclaim that, through the Spirit of One, we have become one with Him. In correctly understand the meaning of baptism, we subject ourselves to no longer standing alone, but submit to God and all that is in God. We longer run away from God, because His will towards us is not wrath, but oneness in love.
Mysteriously, I believe this oneness is also how God had intended the union of a husband and a wife. Man, woman and God himself become one, but each retain his/her own person. We are to love each other as we love ourselves. We are to allow ourselves to be loved as a loving act to our beloved one. However, in this oneness we are still not allowed to disrespect the other's personhood. No matter how badly we want to, we may not run the other's life -- even with the best of intention. No matter how desperate, we may not leach onto others for our own meaning of life. Between these two extremes, we are to find the secret of God's love -- His elation and His agony because of His love.
When we celebrate a baptism today, do we recognize the intimacy that is permeating in the body? Do we allow ourselves to listen to the Spirit's whisper within us: "This is my son/daughter. With him/her I am, and therefore you are, well pleased"? Will we be willing to allow ourselves to give to and to be given to by these Christians? And, in so doing, will we still be willing to respect their personhood?
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