The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love for every human creature is something we rediscover and begin anew each day. The baptism of Jesus marked the beginning of his public life. And while the scriptures reveal to us his story, they shape it in such a way that it relates to our own lives. So it is appropriate for us to use the narrative of Jesus’ baptism as a way of reflecting upon the endings and beginnings in the lives that we ourselves live.
The Baptism of Jesus was indeed a beginning. It was the beginning of his mission of compassion and justice, as prefigured in the Servant passage of Isaiah and echoed by the heavenly voice.
Matthew's Gospel points out that the voice from heaven was actually directed to the crowd: "This is my beloved Son." But in both Mark and Luke the affirmation is directed to Jesus: "You are my beloved Son." And the voice of the Gospel is one which all of us are entitled to hear: "You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased."
There is a very beautiful image in the Isaiah reading today. God says to the chosen servant, "I have grasped you by the hand." God does not just send us out on our own as we face the obstacles the world throws at us. Instead, like a loving parent with a little child, God takes us chosen ones by the hand. Isaiah's image seems to be what we hear throughout the Gospels. We are anointed by the same Spirit as Jesus was. We are beloved daughters and sons. God takes us by the hand and leads us as we work to establish God's justice and peace in the world.
But all of us are bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. We are far from perfect, and rather consistently plagued by failure and selfishness. We are much too easily hurt, too easily discouraged. We fall short of expectations, we display our frailty like open wounds.
Yet despite this, the Lord has confidently chosen us to complete His work. We need to realize that we are living in a sacred space, populated by a multitude of folks who - like us - desperately want to be faith-filled, who sometimes get defeated, who sometimes get battered by life and bested by trials, and yet somehow, throughout it all, still cling to their faith.
The Christmas season comes to an end today, but we shouldn't wait for the heavens to open and the Spirit to come down to tell us what to do. This is now the time for new beginnings. When we face these new beginnings in our lives, we need to claim our status as God’s beloved daughters and sons. We may not completely know all that will unfold. But we need to know that God is with us and that God is for us. God speaks to us today and the shape of our lives is changing.
He has gently and compassionately grasped us by the hand and has already prepared us for what lies ahead.
