Christian, be aware of your nobility!
Baptism of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17
The first reading introduces us to a mysterious servant of the Lord who will establish "justice on the earth" (Is. 42:3). The universe is beautiful but the world is full of injustice and so Jeremiah asks God: "Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?" (Jer. 12:1). Behind those questions is the premise of the Bible that "the Lord is a God of justice" (Is 30:18) and "He loves righteousness" (Ps. 11:7). Israel longs to see justice establish upon the earth and the nations await the just decrees of God's servant (Is. 42:4). And so, the servant of the Lord comes and we see Him approaching John the Baptist in order to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15).
Jesus Himself did not need baptism but we do, and so Jesus unites Himself with humanity in need of purification. Jesus' baptism prefigures his death on the cross for our salvation (Mark 10:38). “He comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters” (St. Gregory of Nazianzus) and He nailed our sins to the cross (Col. 2:14). But, neither the waters of the Jordan nor the tomb could get hold of Him. He emerges victorious from them both and becomes "a covenant of the people" and "a light for the nations (Is. 42:6). We are witnessing the dawn of a new creation.
The moment Jesus went up from the water three things happened. The opened heavens signify the restoration of our relationship with God destroyed by sin (Gen. 3:1-24). The Spirit of God descending like a dove reminds us about another dove hovering over the waters of the flood announcing that God's wrath had ceased (Gen. 8:8-11). Finally, there is the voice of the Father who had spoken through the prophets and now speaks to us through His beloved Son (Heb. 1:1-2). In this intimate scene, God reveals Himself to us as the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the name of the Triune God, all who believe in Jesus shall be baptized (Matt. 28:19). But, before that could happen, Jesus had to go about "doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38).
Saint Peter stands in the house of a Roman centurion known for his piety, generosity, and prayer (Acts 10:2). That meeting was arranged by God. Cornelius was instructed by an angel of God to invite Peter to his house, and the Holy Spirit told Peter not to hesitate to go to Cornelius' home. Moreover, before the meeting, Peter had a vision illustrating the truth that "God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34-35).
Peter's sermon in the house of Cornelius was extremely simple. He mentioned Jesus' ministry, His death on the cross, His resurrection, and the commission to preach that Jesus was "appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:38-42). And yet, that simple sermon had a powerful effect: "the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word" (Acts 10:44) and the entire family of Cornelius was baptized (Acts 10:48).
The words of the Father proclaimed at the baptism of the Lord, "this is [you are] my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17; Mk 1:11) are constantly uttered to every Christian at the baptismal font. They define our identity as beloved children of God. And so: "Christian, be aware of your nobility - it is God's own nature that you share: do not then, by an ignoble life, fall back into your former baseness. Recall that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and have been transferred to the light of the kingdom of God” (Saint Leo the Great). Our eyes have been opened to the light of truth, we have been brought out of the prison of sin and rescued from the power of darkness (Is. 42:7). Through the sacrament of baptism, we have become a temple of the Holy Spirit.