S TRENNA 2010

by Pascual Chávez Villanueva

THE GOSPEL TO THE YOUNG

A RADICAL CHANGE

Baptism is the most powerful change of course by an individual (Adolfo L’Arco).

_Why does the Church the newly born? Jesus was baptised when he was 30! The question which many ask makes us reflect on the real significance of the baptism of Jesus and ours. In the first place it has to be said that we are dealing with two totally different things. Christian baptism is not founded on John the Baptist, nor primarily is it a matter of penitence and purification. Saint Paul reminds us that baptism puts us in a close relationship with the centre of our salvation: Jesus Christ dead and risen (Rm 6,3-11). This enables us to understand why, during his earthly life, he didn’t spend his time baptising: (Jn 4,2 is the only gospel text to refer to this matter). Instead, from the beginnings of the Church, all those who recognised Jesus as Saviour and wanted “to belong to Christ,” had themselves baptised (Acts 8,34-40). It is clear that it was the adults who did this, but also their small sons and daughters: all the family in fact.

☻Nevertheless the baptism of Jesus was not something insignificant, without any impact on his life. All the four evangelists recognise its importance. It was from this experience that his public life and his preaching began; it is one might say, the turning point in the Lord’s life. One of the oldest texts is found in an address by Peter in the Acts of the Apostles: “You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, After John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. …” (Acts 10,37-38). Therefore this event makes a close connection between Jesus and his mission. When the leaders of the people ask him on what authority he is preaching and performing signs in God’s name, He refers back to the experience of John’s baptism (Mk 11,27-33). Therefore the importance of the baptism of Jesus is undeniable. The gospels distinguish between three events: Jesus’ immersion in the water; his being proclaimed the Son of the Father; the outpouring on him of the Holy Spirit (Mk 1,9-11; Mt 3,13-17; Lk 3,21-22; Jn 1,31-34). And this is the first appearance in the New Testament of the trinitarian revelation of God: Father Son and Holy Spirit.

☻Throughout the history of the Church there have been erroneous interpretations. Already in the early centuries, some preachers considered Jesus just an ordinary man whom the Father had ““adopted” in baptism (this is the heresy called “adoptionism”). Others thought that through his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus became aware that he was the Son of God. In fact, Luke’s gospel shows us a Jesus who at twelve years of age in the Temple is already aware of his “messianic” mission: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?” (Lk 2,49). Benedict XVI in his book “Jesus of Nazareth”, commenting on these interpretations and on other more modern ones which would like to make the issue of the psychological significance of this experience central in the life of Jesus, observes that “this reading…has to be seen as more akin to a “Jesus novel” than as an actual interpretation of the texts.” (Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth p.24). He does not want in this way to minimise its importance; in fact he devotes a chapter to it, emphasising the importance that the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan has for us: the solidarity of Jesus with the whole human race and his role as the Lamb/Servant of God who takes upon himself the sin of the world.

☻ Someone may ask: why ever retain the celebration of the baptism of Jesus, given that it has nothing to do with ours? In fact there is a relationship with Christian baptism. Saying farewell to the disciples before the Ascension, Jesus gives them the command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28,19). The Risen Jesus wants those who belong to him to have the same experience as his at the Jordan, that is, each one personally to be able to hear the Father: “You are my son/daughter the beloved, my favour rests on you.” (Mk 1,11) that each may receive the Holy Spirit, the pledge and guarantee that we are children of God (Rm 8,15; Gal 4,6). Not for nothing, John Paul II, introducing into the Rosary the public life of Jesus, put as the “first mystery of the Light” the baptism of Jesus. Don Bosco, in his famous Letter from Rome, presenting Jesus as the source and model of the preventive system, writes “If you want to be loved, you must make it clear that you love. Jesus Christ made himself little with the little ones and bore our weaknesses.” (appendix to the SDB Constitutions), expressions which in some way we find in Benedict XVI. ☻