ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET

Baptism of the Lord, Year B, High Mass

Fr Ivan Aquilina

In the twelfth century, S Anselm of Canterbury wrote a book entitled: Cur Deus Homo, Why is God made man. In that book Anselm enters into dialogue with the fictitious Boso and whilst addressing the topic he takes time to understand who this God-made-man is. One can not appreciate the Incarnation if one does not have knowledge of the Incarnate one. This is what the liturgy is doing at this point in the Christian year. On Christmas Day we marvelled at God becoming man, since Friday the day of Epiphany we entered deeper into this mystery. This week-end is the week-end of the Theophany: God is shown to us, He reveals Himself.

The God made man in Bethlehem is worshipped by the Shepherds who without knowing represent Israel; on Friday he was worshipped by gentiles from the East, who without knowing represent all the gentiles, that is all of us. Today the manifestation of God goes even further. The time was right for God to reveal Himself fully, to show that salvation will be granted to the whole of the universe and that the blocking wall built by sinful humanity was to be destroyed giving us access to God as children to their Father. Today God is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the basic Mystery of our Faith.

Let us look closely at the Gospel that the Church sets before us today.

The first eleven verses of the Gospel of Mark are a curtain-raiser in which the reader is made aware of the true situation so that when one starts reading from verse 14 onwards, unlike most of the actors, the reader knows who the principal character really is. Mark wants to show that Jesus is the fulfilment of all Jewish hope, that Jesus is the eternal Word of God made flesh – the promised Messiah.

Out of these first eleven verses eight speak about John the Baptist. In fact Mark does this to portray John as continuity with the Old Testament. John points to the credentials of Jesus. The national repentance brought about by John is nothing less than the national repentance expected of old before the coming of the Messiah. Mark also shows that the Baptist is the exact echo of Elijah, a prophet expected to return to pave the way for the Chosen One. So after the passage about John the stage is set for the entry of the Messiah. John seems to say that Jesus is not an innovation in the Faith of Abraham but an organic development of it: Tradition is maintained.

The Messiah enters the scene and he is confirmed now not by the Baptist but by God Himself. To appreciate this more fully let us see the context. What was the Hebrew theological reflection in the hundred years or so before the birth of Jesus?

The theological reflection started from a problem (there we go again). Theologians were aware that the voice of God through the prophets had dried up, God seemed remote. The Holy Spirit had been silent, even the holiest of rabbis could only hear an echo of it and not the voice itself- it was called bath qol the daughter of the voice. It was held that in the old days God was in the habit of piercing the heavens to come to human assistance, but now despite the grave need the heavens became fixed like a barrier. The Hebrews lived in the hope that the day will come when the heavens will be rent asunder and the voice of God will be heard again.

So Mark shows that the baptism of Jesus is the fulfilment of this expectation. Jesus is the one who opens the heavens and re establishes the communication between God and His people. However great the sin that blocked the heavens, Jesus is the one who makes it right again. He is the one who unites once and for all men with God. He is our Hope. God is with us once more in spite of our sinful condition.

Our last consideration must be the voice of the Father: a declaration that Jesus is the messianic Son of God. This echoes many Old Testament passages in which the Messiah is declared as Son of God, it is an adoption formula. Now, Jesus went down in the waters of the Jordan not because of any sin, because he had none. He went as representative of the whole of humanity, therefore the word of adoption by the Father: “Thou art my son” applies also for every one of us. We are adopted by God as His own therefore Jesus was more than right when he taught us to call God Father opening our way for a share in the loving relationship of the Trinitarian life. This is who Jesus is, God the Son who gives us access to full life in the Divine life of the Trinity: he restores fallen humanity.

Today God looks down on Jesus and says: "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." When God looks at us today can He say: “with thee I am well pleased?” If not what needs to be done for this to happen. There is no excuse; however sinful we are Jesus heals all sin as he has opened the heavens once and for all. Maybe it is a question of our faith in Jesus. Are we ready to really believe the claims of Jesus and accept their implications?

We started with St Anselm; let us end with one of his prayers: “Lord, I do not attempt to comprehend your greatness because my intellect is not at all equal to such a task. But I yearn to understand some measure of your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand. For I believe even this: that I shall not understand unless I believe”. Amen.