One Like Us

When I was little, I hated when, after the homily, my parish priest would walk over to the baptismal font instead of returning to his seat.

"Oh, no." I thought. A baptism. That means Mass is going to be even longer.
Why couldn't these people be more considerate? Didn't they know that Mass was long enough? Couldn't they wait until after Mass to have their kid baptized?

Thinking back to how annoyed I was about baptism during Mass, I have to laugh. Not only is this pretty selfish, it's actually bad theology. The whole point of baptism, besides the remission of sins, is the entrance rite. Baptism is how we enter into the church. What better way to incorporate a new member into our faith community than during the celebration of the Eucharist, the "source and summit" of the Christian life?

I couldn't help but think about this during today's liturgy, since in the Gospel (Mt. 1:7-11), Jesus gets baptized.

Wait a second.

Baptism is a Christian Sacrament. Why would Jesus ask John the Baptist to be submerged in the Jordan River like all the other Jews who were flocking to John (remember the Gospel from the first week of Advent?) to be cleansed of sin?


This is a short but complex passage. And it's one that gives us rich insight into Jesus' identity and mission.


First of all, because Christ is "like us in all things but sin" (cf. Phil. 2:7) baptism as the remission of original sin is unnecessary for Jesus. But as we just mentioned, baptism -- then and now -- is not only about remission of sin, but also about entrance into community. This epiphany ("This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased") is not only about the divinity of Jesus, but also his humanity: Jesus himself sets the example for his disciples, both in being received into the larger community and also He "became and fulfilled all righteousness" (Mt. 3:15). This humbling and kenotic (self-emptying) gesture also foreshadows the Cross (for more about this, consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1223-1226).


Secondly, it's significant that the baptism of Christ takes place in the Jordan River. In the Old Testament, Joshua leads the Israelites into the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan. This river (like the Red Sea in Exodus) represents the chaos and death that Yahweh delivers His people from. Again, this passage points to the crucifixion (the ultimate experience of chaos and death as God Who is Love gives His life for the salvation of all), in which Jesus enters the waters of the Jordan to lead us to the Promised Land: heaven.

It's no coincidence that Jesus and Joshua come from the same name in Hebrew (which means "God saves"). Joshua is a man who is faithful to God and leads God's chosen people to their destined land; Jesus is the Word of God incarnate who beckons ALL people to their destiny, which is everlasting life in union with God (heaven).

But Jesus does not do this from on high, out of reach of humanity. The Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:5-11 is likely the oldest passage in the New Testament. It is our earliest Christology, reminding us that,

"though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Finally, then, this epiphany is -- as Rahner describes the Incarnation as God's irreversible commitment to all humanity -- a sign of Jesus' solidarity with us. Yes, the appearance of the dove and the voice from heaven speak to the fact that Jesus is God and God saves. But the MAN Jesus saves through self-emptying, through self-gift, through solidarity. Jesus becomes one like us to show us in the clearest way possible how to cross through chaos on death to eternal life.

So what does this mean for us? Yes, we have been saved. But not by some high and mighty God who is too good for us, who cannot relate to us, or who is ultimately apathetic about human destiny. We have been saved by a God who is so desperately in love with us that He takes human form to become one of us and show us the way.

And as the way (and the truth and the life), Jesus' identity and mission shows us that the key here is solidarity. It's about accompanying one another on the journey because faith and salvation are not just personal concerns. My relationship with God is not private, not only vertical; it is also communal and public and horizontal. We need both transepts of the cross: the vertical and the horizontal. And Jesus' baptism in the Jordan is a prelude to his whole life and ministry which will demonstrate exactly that.

The One like us is the first one to remind us that yes, "God saves." What is more, that faith in God begins with solidarity with all.

After all, we're in this together. And that's why now, I love baptisms during Mass.