Recall my words of yesterday: John the Baptist was calling everyone who heard him to repentance, to beginning a new way of life, a changed life.
Baptism ritual symbolizes this. One aspect of this symbol of a changed life is being immersed in waters. For the ancients and even in our times when tsunami waves crash ashore, immersion into waters "recalls the death symbolism of the ... destructive power of the ocean flood" (p 15). Ancients considered the ocean as an enemy because it was a threat, ever present, to the earth. Even the Jordan River could take on this symbolism.
On the other hand, however, the waters of a river stand as a symbol of life. The Pope points out that the Nile, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers are thought about as the great givers of life.
So, immersion is about purification. When we are immersed in the waters of baptism there is a freeing from the evil of an earlier life. It is about beginning. So, as the words of the funeral rites state so well: "In the waters of baptism [we] died with Christ and rose with him to a new life." This theology had not been developed fully at this time but would as time passed.
So, as John was preaching and baptizing, something not expected occurs. As Mark writes, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan" (1:9). And in this sentence there are at least two points to be noted. First, nothing in the scriptures had said that pilgrims were coming from Galilee. Most seem to have been coming the region of Judea. Secondly, what is most unusual is that Jesus wants to be baptized. Strange, though, because he know that John was calling for repentance from one’s sinful past. Baptism was an admission of one’s sinful past, the desire to shed that shell and to take on a new life, a new shell, as it were.
The question then: How could Jesus ask for baptism if he had to confess sins? John’s response to Jesus’ request to be baptized, recorded in Mt. 3:14, expresses what many in essence said to Jesus: "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" And we have, again from Matthew, Jesus’ response to John’s statement: "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (3:15). Hearing this, John agreed to baptize Jesus.
The Pope’s understanding of the key word in John’s response: righteousness." During Jesus’ time righteousness was understood as humankind’s answer to the Torah, accepting God’s will. For Jesus this request to be baptized is his way of accepting fully God’s will for him ... whatever that might be in the years ahead.
Baptism ritual symbolizes this. One aspect of this symbol of a changed life is being immersed in waters. For the ancients and even in our times when tsunami waves crash ashore, immersion into waters "recalls the death symbolism of the ... destructive power of the ocean flood" (p 15). Ancients considered the ocean as an enemy because it was a threat, ever present, to the earth. Even the Jordan River could take on this symbolism.
On the other hand, however, the waters of a river stand as a symbol of life. The Pope points out that the Nile, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers are thought about as the great givers of life.
So, immersion is about purification. When we are immersed in the waters of baptism there is a freeing from the evil of an earlier life. It is about beginning. So, as the words of the funeral rites state so well: "In the waters of baptism [we] died with Christ and rose with him to a new life." This theology had not been developed fully at this time but would as time passed.
So, as John was preaching and baptizing, something not expected occurs. As Mark writes, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan" (1:9). And in this sentence there are at least two points to be noted. First, nothing in the scriptures had said that pilgrims were coming from Galilee. Most seem to have been coming the region of Judea. Secondly, what is most unusual is that Jesus wants to be baptized. Strange, though, because he know that John was calling for repentance from one’s sinful past. Baptism was an admission of one’s sinful past, the desire to shed that shell and to take on a new life, a new shell, as it were.
The question then: How could Jesus ask for baptism if he had to confess sins? John’s response to Jesus’ request to be baptized, recorded in Mt. 3:14, expresses what many in essence said to Jesus: "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" And we have, again from Matthew, Jesus’ response to John’s statement: "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (3:15). Hearing this, John agreed to baptize Jesus.
The Pope’s understanding of the key word in John’s response: righteousness." During Jesus’ time righteousness was understood as humankind’s answer to the Torah, accepting God’s will. For Jesus this request to be baptized is his way of accepting fully God’s will for him ... whatever that might be in the years ahead.
