【Spiritual Talk】Baptism of the Lord – Fr. Anthony Ho

This Sunday, the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord, which commemorates Jesus’ revelation to the Jews, as opposed to His revelation to the Gentile Magi at the Epiphany and to His apostles at the Marriage at Cana. Jesus’ baptism appears in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but only Matthew records the dialogue between John the Baptist and Jesus before the baptism. Originally, John was not willing to baptize Jesus and said Jesus ought to baptize him since he knew his lowliness before Jesus. But Jesus permitted it anyways to fulfill all things. Matthew’s Gospel mentions the word “fulfill” many times, meaning to fulfill the Old Testament. He describes angels, magi, John, even God the Father testifying to Jesus’ identity and mission. The Holy Spirit descends as a dove on Jesus’ head, while God the Father says, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” The descent of the Holy Spirit reminds us of the Spirit of God moving above the waters in Genesis and of the dove sent above the floods by Noah – both times representing the new beginning of the world. Jesus’ baptism is a new beginning and the end of the Christmas season. Our baptism is also a new beginning and gives us a new birth.