Baptism
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The Liturgy and the Sacraments make
· the saving events of the Life of Jesus present
· So that what took place in Him
· can take place in us
Two events from the life of Jesus are made present in our own Baptism?
1. His own Baptism at the Jordan River
2. His suffering, death and Resurrection
Therefore, to understand our baptism we need to understand the Baptism of Jesus
John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan River. The act of descending into the waters of John’s baptism implies
1. A confession of guilt and
2. A plea for forgiveness,
3. A resolution to change one’s life
But then something new happened, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.” Mt 3:13
The real novelty is that he – Jesus – wants to be baptized, that he blends into the gray mass of sinners waiting on the banks of the Jordan. And we just heard that they were confessing their sins, that Baptism itself was an admittance of sin, an attempt to put off the old, failed life and put on a new one. Is this something that Jesus could do?
John wanted to prevent him, “Behold, you are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
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John the Baptist is confused when Jesus approached him for Baptism, but Jesus answered, “Let it be so for now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill God’s will.”
Jesus came to take on the consequences for man’s sin – DEATH
· And when does He do this?
Right here at the Jordan River - by stepping into the place of sinners he loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon his shoulders and bore it down into the depths of the Jordan.
By His Incarnation Jesus takes on our life; by His Baptism he takes on the consequences of our sin which is death.
See - Jesus came to save us through a great exchange: He takes on our death, so that we may take on His life
· He is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
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Jesus saves us through a great exchange: At His Baptism He takes on our death. At our Baptism we get take on His Life.
CCC 537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery (into this event from the life of Jesus)…go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, born of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved son in the Son and walk in newness of life.
CCC 1227 According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ’s death, is buried with him and rises with him:
Romans 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
At His Baptism Jesus takes on our sin and death. At our Baptism we are set free from our sins and take on his Life. That is a great exchange rate.
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What are the benefits of Baptism
By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God…
Through Baptism, the Most Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit begin to dwell in the soul of the baptized. For the very first time God now lives in our soul, therefore, we become an entirely new creation, we have not just a human nature. Through Baptism we are given a second nature, a real share in God’s divine nature, making us adopted sons and daughters of God - giving us the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
My baptismal day was June 12. The day I became and adopted son of God and gained heaven. Do you know your baptismal day?
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Even though baptism cleanses us of original sin and all personal sins and gives us a real share in God’s life – Yet, as the CCC explains, certain consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that we call concupiscence.
Even after Baptism we still have a fallen human nature that is inclined to sin in the form of pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony and lust and so on…
And if left unchecked this inclination to sin will cause us to turn away from God toward self-destructive tendencies. But we have free will and God’s life dwelling within us, therefore we have everything we need through grace and effort to overcome vice and take on virtue. But it will take effort and perseverance.
And if we will do just this one thing every day – then we will have the infallible means to progress forward rather than slide backward: That is daily meditation and a resolution.
By daily meditation we read or listen to the Word of God – all that Jesus wants us to know; then we think about it or reflect on His Word and our life. We see the things that need to change and we form firm convictions. If we turn those convictions into simple and concrete resolutions, then we have a way to make progress each day out of vice and into virtue.
This is why the Rosary must be a meditation combined with a daily resolution.
If we just do this every day – meditation with a resolution – we have the infallible means to overcome sin, take on virtue and be transformed.