{"id":1804,"date":"2021-12-31T23:55:56","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T05:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2024-05-05T23:13:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T04:13:25","slug":"december-31-2021-january-7-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/2021\/12\/31\/december-31-2021-january-7-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"December 31, 2021 – January 7, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Friday, December 31<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revelation 22.1-20: The biblical story begins and ends in paradise. Thus, in\nJohn\u2019s vision of the river of paradise we remember the four-branched river of\nparadise in Genesis 2. Both here and in Ezekiel 47:1-12 there are monthly\nfruits growing on the banks of the river, twelve in number, obviously. Just as\nAdam\u2019s curse drove the whole human race out of paradise, so the leaves of the\nparadisiacal tree of life are for the healing of all the nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theme of\nthe living waters is very much central to the Johannine corpus (cf. John\n4:7-15; 7:38; 19:34; 1 John 5:6-8). \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heaven,\nportrayed here as vision and worship with the angels (verses 8-9), is for all\nthose whose foreheads are sealed with the mark of the living God. This sealing,\nof course, stands in contrast to the mark of beast. The literary background of\nJohn\u2019s sealing is apparently Ezekiel 9:1-4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The urgency of\nJohn\u2019s message is indicated by the command that he not seal it up for future\ngenerations. The Lord\u2019s coming, in fact, will be soon, and it is imperative for\nJohn\u2019s readers to \u201cget out\u201d the message. John\u2019s visions are not sealed,\nconcealed, esoteric codes to be deciphered by future generations. John clearly\nexpects his own contemporaries to understand what he is writing. These things\n\u201cmust shortly take place\u201d (verse 6); it will all happen \u201csoon\u201d (1:1,3). John is\nwarning his contemporaries that a special moment of judgment and grace is upon\nthem and that they had better prepare themselves for it, because it is later\nthan they think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This final\nchapter of Revelation resembles in several particulars the first chapter of the\nbook, one of which is that in both places Jesus speaks to John directly. In\nboth chapters He is called the Alpha and the Omega (verse 12; 1:8). As in that\nfirst chapter, likewise, the references to Jesus\u2019 swift return (verse 7, for\ninstance) do not pertain solely to His coming at the end of time; He is saying,\nrather, that in the hour of their trial those who belong to Jesus will find\nthat He is there waiting for them. The blessing in verse 7, therefore,\nresembles the blessing in 1:3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this book a\ngreat deal has been said about the worship in the heavenly sanctuary. Now we\nlearn that Christians already share in the worship that the angels give to God\n(verses 8-9). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verse 11\nindicates a definite cut-off point in history, which is the final coming of\nChrist. Verse 12, which quotes Isaiah 40:10, promises the reward, which is\naccess to the Holy City, eternal beatitude—the fullness of communion with\nGod. In preparation for that reward, verses 14-16 are something of an altar\ncall, an appeal for repentance, based on all that this book has said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In referring to\nthose \u201coutside\u201d the City, John is relying on an ancient Eucharistic discipline\nof the Church, called \u201cexcommunication,\u201d which literally excluded the person\nfrom receiving Holy Communion (cf. <i>Didache<\/em><\/i>9.5; Justin Martyr, <i>First\nApology<\/em><\/i>66.1). One of the major problems of the\nChristian Church, in any age, is that of distinguishing itself from the world,\nand the Christian Church, like any institution in history, finds its identity\nthreatened if it does not maintain \u201clines\u201d that separate it from the world. In\nearly Christian literature, beginning with the New Testament, we find the\nChurch insistent on making those lines sharp and clear. This preoccupation is\nwhat accounts for the rather pronounced \u201cthem and us\u201d mentality that we find in\nthe New Testament. It is an emphasis essential to maintain if the Church is to\npreserve her own identity down through history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Saturday,\nJanuary 1, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Year\u2019s Day: As we pass\nfrom one year to the next, it seems an opportune occasion to think on the\nmeaning of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may begin by reflecting\nthat for St. Augustine and others that studied the question carefully, there is\nno such thing as time unless there is a human mind to recognize it. Without a\nhuman mind, there is no present, no \u201cnow,\u201d and without a \u201cnow\u201d there is no past\nor future. Without the reflective consciousness, there is a certain sequence in\nthings, but it does not rise to the level of time. Time, then, is a completely\nhuman construct, the human being\u2019s awareness of the indivisible moment between\nmemory and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time, likewise, goes in\nonly one direction, and it cannot be reversed, much less repeated. According to\nKierkegaard, \u201cWe live forwards, but we can only understand backwards.\u201d This is\nanother way of saying, as Augustine said, that the existence of time requires a\nreflecting mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time is entirely\nexistential. It has no essence. It has no being; it is closer to non-being than\nto being, because it exists only in the human experience of reflective freedom.\nAnd this reflective freedom is constantly faced with the dissolution that time\ncarries in its wake. Time is essentially destructive; it tends irreversibly to\nthe dissolution of everything within it. Time, as such, is not our friend,\nexcept as we make it our friend moment by moment, in the responsible exercise\nof reflective freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In itself, however, and\nunless we do something to redeem it, time is essentially chaotic and\nmeaningless. The chaos and destruction of time are disguised to us most of the\ntime, because we have devised artificial ways of measuring it. We observe\nnights and days, for instance, by recourse to the spinning of the earth on its\naxis. We observe seasons by recourse to the tilting that accompanies that\nrotation. We observe years by recourse to the larger rotation of the earth\naround the sun. We observe hours and minutes by measuring the shadows that fall\nfrom a sundial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of  these things have to do with time,\nhowever. They are all contingent movements of bodies in space. That is to say,\ndays and nights, and seasons and years, and moments and seconds tell us nothing\nabout time. Time itself does not know about these things. Time is too busy\nmaking existence pass into non-existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are those who believe\nthat time is redemptive—that it will bring about a golden age by reason of\nsome natural process within it. This they call Progress, but it is an illusion.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others want to help\nProgress along toward the Golden Age by harnessing the dynamics of time through\nrevolution. Entire civilizations have been nearly destroyed during the past\ncentury by revolutionaries that had in mind to hasten the arrival of that\nGolden Age. These are the false messiahs and false prophets against whom our\nLord so clearly warned us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is illusory.\nTime, because it is chaotic and has no essence, represents death. That is to\nsay, it serves as a symbol of the curse which entered this world by one man\u2019s\ndisobedience. As an icon of death, time is redeemed only through the reflective\nfreedom in which the new Adam was obedient unto death and took formal charge of\nhistory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This night, as most of the\nworld deliriously pretends that something significant is happening by the\npassage of one year to another, we believers rededicate our lives to this new\nAdam. We lay the irreversible past before Him as the only One who can redeem\nthose years that the locust hath already consumed, and the canker worm hath\ndevoured. We lay before Him whatever is left of our future, confident that He\nwho has been our help in ages past, will be our hope for years to come, our\nshelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Sunday, January 2,\n2022<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew 2.19-23: We now\ntake up, and for several months will be reading, the Gospel of Matthew. It is\ninstructive that to observe that this gospel begins and ends with Jesus\u2019\nrelationship to someone named \u201cJoseph.\u201d In today\u2019s reading, we learn of the\nlast of Joseph\u2019s revelatory \u201cdreams.\u201d This trait apparently goes with the name;\nit was through another dreamer named \u201cJoseph,\u201d we recall, that the People of\nGod were brought into Egypt in the first place. Now a second Joseph brings them\nback from Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1.19-28: The Evangelist continues with a double interrogation of\nJohn the Baptist by the religious leaders from Jerusalem (verses 19-27). It\nappears that John has conflated stories of two delegations, one from the\nSadducees (priests and Levites), the other from the Pharisees.  John found it easy to conflate the two\ninterrogations, since both groups apparently asked very much the same\nquestions—all of them about John\u2019s identity. We should presume that John the\nBaptist was questioned on this point several times  (cf. Luke 3:7-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both groups are\nsaid to represent \u201cthe Jews,\u201d an expression that now appears for the first time\nin John\u2019s Gospel. In most of the instances of this word in John, it designates\nJesus\u2019 enemies\u2014the \u201cJews\u201d as distinct from the Christians. That is to say,\nJohn\u2019s use of this word appears to come from a period in which the Church was\nbecoming an entity readily distinguished from the Synagogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time\nJohn wrote his gospel, this form of expression hds become consistent. The\n\u201cJews\u201d represent a religion that has set itself against Jesus the Messiah. In\nthat context, the Church became \u201cof age,\u201d as it were; indeed, She has been\nexpelled from Judaism and has begun to think of herself as a separate quid<\/em>. In John\u2019s Gospel Jesus prophesies,\nin fact, \u201cThey will put you out of the synagogues\u201d (16:2). The Greek\nexpression here is <i>aposynag\u00f3gous poiesousin hymas<\/i>, literally\n\u201cthey will <i>unsynagogue<\/i> you.\u201d The Church has become\n\u201cunsynagogued.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first\ndelegation comes to John from a delegation sent by the priestly family. This\nline of questioning has to do with John\u2019s identity: Is he the Messiah, or\nElijah, or the Prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 19? John answers \u201cno\u201d\nto each question. John\u2019s reiterated denial may be contrasted with Jesus\u2019 own\nuse of the words \u201cI AM\u201d all through this Gospel. This continues the contrast\nbetween Jesus and John, begun with the assertion regarding John, \u201cHe was not\nthat light, but in order to bear witness to that light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these three\nnegations by John the Baptist, the first is the most important: \u201cI am not the\nMessiah.\u201d He also denies being Elijah, the prophet expected to return in\nimmediate preparation for the coming of the Messiah (cf. Malachi 3:23; Sirach\n48:4-12; Luke 1:17). Although John the Baptist did not regard himself as the\nProphet Elijah, Jesus regarded in the light of those prophecies of Elijah\u2019s\nreturn (cf. Matthew 11:14; 17:12). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John also\ndenies being the Prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15,18 (cf. Acts\n7:37). According tp this Gospel, there were those who suspected that Jesus\nHimself was that Prophet foretold by Moses (6:14; 7:40). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, when\nJohn is asked point-blank, \u201cWho are you?\u201d he responds by quoting Isaiah\n40:3—\u201cThe voice of someone crying in the wilderness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Make straight\nthe way of the Lord.\u2019\u201d John\u2019s understanding of himself in the light of this\nIsaian text is found in the Synoptic Traditions as well (cf. Matthew 3:3). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Monday,\nJanuary 3, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1.29-34: Jesus\nis identified with \u201cthe Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.\u201d For\nJohn the Baptist, who preached a baptism of repentance of sins, this was the\nmost fundamental fact about Jesus of Nazareth\u2014He is the sacrificial victim, the\ndefinitive sin-offering, by whose oblation the sin of the world is removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus is\ncalled the \u201cLamb\u201d in the New Testament, two OT images come particularly to\nmind: the Paschal Lamb and the Lamb offered for sin on the Day of Atonement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus as the\nPaschal Lamb will later appear in John in the story of the Passion: \u201cBut when\nthey came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His\nlegs. . . . <\/strong>For these things were done that the Scripture should be\nfulfilled, \u2018Not one of His bones shall be broken\u2019\u201d (19:36; Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20). This also appears in\nPaul: \u201cFor indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us\u201d (1 Corinthians\n5:7). Both Paul and John, then, regard Jesus as the true Paschal Lamb, who\ndelivers the Chosen People on the night of the Exodus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church\u2019s Latin Fathers tend to understand the present text as\nreferring to the Paschal Lamb. Among the Greek Fathers, on the other hand,\nJohn\u2019s reference here has more to do with the Suffering Servant, who is likened\nto a lamb in Isaiah 53. Because the\nPaschal Lamb was not, in fact, sacrificed for sins, the sense in the present\ntext seems to be that of the sin offering of Yom Kippur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In identifying\nJesus in this way, John sees Him as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah\n53: \u201cYou make His soul an offering for sin.\u201d This image of the biblical\nsin-offering became the earliest of the categories of Christology. Before we\nfind it in Epistles of St. Paul, even before we find it in the Lord\u2019s own words\nat the Last Supper, we find this thematic image already in the preaching of\nJohn the Baptist. John is the first to proclaim the message of the Cross. He is\nthe first determined to know nothing but Christ, and Him crucified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This image\nappears likewise in St Peter: \u201cknowing that you were not redeemed\nwith corruptible things, like silver or\ngold, from your aimless conduct received by\ntradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a\nlamb without blemish and without spot\u201d (1 Peter 1:18-19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, this image appears in the earliest preaching of the\nChristian Church, as we see in Acts 8:32, where Isaiah 53 is quoted (by Philip\nto the eunuch) and explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both images\u2014the Paschal Lamb and the lamb offered for sins\u2014seem to\nbe present in the Book of Revelation, which most refers to Jesus as the Lamb (27\ntimes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\u2019s\nproclamation of the Cross pertains not only to the doctrine of Redemption; it\npertains also to his own vocation. Because the One greater than he is the Lamb\noffered in sacrifice, John himself must accept in his own life and vocation the\nstandard of the Cross. He too must taste the bitterness and the gall. He too\nmust be mutilated in his flesh and bear the darkness of abandonment. Even\nbefore Jesus, John would die in testimony to the truth. Even with respect to\nthe Cross, John would be the forerunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Tuesday,\nJanuary 4, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1.35-42: Only in this Gospel do we learn that Jesus\u2019\nfirst disciples had been disciples of John the Baptist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Gospel reading presents us with the two quite\ndifferent brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew. Even though Peter often served as a\nspokesman for the other Apostles, one has the impression that he sometimes went\nout of his way to distinguish himself, to set himself apart, from the rest of\nthe apostles \u2014 \u201cEven if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be\u201d (Mark\n1:29). A consummate alpha personality, Peter simply cannot be overlooked; like\nthe very sun, a boisterous giant rejoicing to run his course, there is nothing\nhidden from his heat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew, on the contrary, appears not to draw attention to\nhimself but serves entirely as a conduit for others to come to the Lord. Even\nin this scene that prompts the Church to remember him as the first-called, he\nimmediately went to share his blessing with his sibling. It is no wonder that\nhe was known among the first Christians simply as \u201cAndrew, Simon Peter\u2019s\nbrother.\u201d There is more attention given to Andrew in this Gospel than in the\nother three. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In verse 35 we arrive at the \u201cthird day\u201d of the week of the\nNew Creation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We observe that John translates the word \u201crabbi,\u201d something\nhe would not do if he had only Jewish readers in mind (verse 38). The same is\ntrue for the names \u201cMessiah\u201d (verse \n41) and \u201cKephas\u201d (verse 42).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These things happened \u201cabout the tenth hour,\u201d which would\nbe bout 4 o\u2019clock in the afternoon. The events in the next chapter took place\nthe following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalms 8: By the\nIncarnation, this psalm says to God, \u201cYou have made Him a little lower than the\nangels, and You have crowned Him with honor and glory,\u201d in explanation of which\nHebrews replies that \u201cwe see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the\nangels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor\u201d (2:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nGod gave our forefather Adam dominion over the earth and its fullness, that act\nwas a prophecy of the universal subjection of creation to the reign of Christ.\nSuch is the true meaning of Psalm 8: \u201cYou have made Him to have dominion over\nthe works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\nis no afterthought; He is the original meaning of humanity. Christ is what God\nhad in mind when He reached down and formed that first lump of mud into a man.\nAgain in the words of St Nicholas Kavasilas: \u201cIt was towards Christ that man\u2019s\nmind and desire were oriented. We were given a mind that we might know Christ,\nand desire, that we might run to Him; and memory, that we might remember Him,\nbecause even at the time of creation it was He who was the archetype.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmystery of the Incarnation is the theme of Psalm 8. Christ is the reason for\nour singing out: \u201cO Lord, our Lord, how sublime is Your name in all the earth,\nfor You have set Your glory above the heavens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Wednesday,\nJanuary 5<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1:43-51: We arrive at \u201cthe next day\u201d in our progress\nthrough this new week of a new Creation. At this point it may be useful to stop\nand reflect on the characters that the evangelist has introduced so far. We can\ndivide these into New Testament and Old Testament characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Testament characters are, first, John the Baptist,\nthen Andrew and Simon Peter. In this present reading he will introduce Philip\nand Nathanael. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only Old Testament character introduced so far has been\nMoses. Moses appears again  in the\npresent reading, and the character of Jacob will also be introduced. We will\nsay something about each of these. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is reasonable to surmise that the mention of Peter and\nAndrew in this section indicates they were the ones who introduced Jesus to\nPhilip. In the traditional lists of the Apostles, Philip is normally named\nright after Andrew (cf. Mark 3:18), and we shall find them together later on\n(12:22). Although Philip is named in each of the Synoptic Gospels, these really\nsay nothing specific about him. Not so in the Fourth Gospel. He appears\nsignificantly in both the multiplication of the loaves and the Last Supper,\neach time talking with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nathanael introduced here is clearly Bartholomew. The name\nNathanael, after all, never appears in the Synoptic Gospels, and the name\nBartholomew never appears in John. His full name was \u201cNathanael, son of Tholmai,\u201d\nIndeed, in the Syriac text he is known as <i>Bar Tholmai<\/i>. He is\nnormally named after Philip in the list of the Apostles (Mark 3:18). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip testifies to Nathanael that Jesus is the fulfillment\nof what was written in the Law and the Prophets (verse 45). This is the first\ntime John explicitly speaks of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament\nScriptures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mention of Moses continues the attention given to him\nalready in this chapter: \u201cFor the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has\nseen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,\nHe has explained Him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allusion to Jacob is continued in the Lord\u2019s conversation with\nNathanael: \u201cyou shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and\ndescending upon the Son of Man.\u201d This is a reference, of course, to the story\nof Jacob at Bethel, where he saw the angels of God ascending and descending at\nthat holy place. Jesus thus identifies Himself as the new Bethel, \u201cthe house of\nGod.\u201d This idea will appear in the next chapter, when the Lord identifies His\nown body as the new temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob will appear again in the Lord\u2019s discussion with the woman at\nthe well in chapter 4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Thursday, January 6<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew\n2.1-12: Among\nthe notable features proper to the Gospel according to St. Matthew is the way\nit includes the verb \u201cto adore\u201d (<i>proskyneo<\/i>) in passages\nwhere that verb does not appear in parallel accounts in the other Gospels.\nThus, Matthew describes various people falling in adoration before Christ in\nscenes where they are not said to be doing so in the other Gospel versions of\nthe same stories. These instances include the accounts of the cleansing of the\nleper (8:2), the petition of Jairus (9:18), the walking on the water (14:33),\nthe prayer of the Canaanite woman (15:25), and the request of Zebedee\u2019s wife for\nher two sons (20:20). A pronounced emphasis on Christ-ward adoration, then, is\na distinguishing characteristic of Matthew\u2019s narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is, furthermore, a special parallelism\nbetween the first and last instances of this verb in Matthew\u2019s composition.\nThese are the two scenes of the coming of the Magi, near the beginning of the\nGospel, and the Great Commission to the Church at the very end. In the former\nof these, the verb <i>proskyneo<\/i>, \u201cto adore,\u201d is found three\ntimes (2:2, 8, 11), which is Matthew\u2019s highest concentration of that word in a\nsingle scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas Matthew ends his story with the\nApostles\u2019 being sent forth with the command, \u201cGo therefore and make disciples\nof all the nations\u201d (28:19), he begins his whole account with a kind of\nforeshadowing of that final mission by the arrival of the Magi, those wise\nsearchers from the East who come to adore the newborn King of Israel. These two\npassages, then, thus embrace Matthew\u2019s entire story of Jesus. The very purpose\nof the Great Commission is to transform the whole of humanity as the rightful\nheirs of the Magi. Like the very stars, the Apostles are sent forth to lead all\nnations into that path first followed by the wise men from the East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Magi have come to the Messiah,\nmoreover, precisely because they are star watchers. \u201cFor we have seen His star\nin the East,\u201d they affirm, \u201cand have come to adore Him\u201d (Matthew 2:2). Likewise,\nthe mission of the Apostles is to bring all nations even unto Bethlehem, that\n\u201chouse of the Bread\u201d (for such is the meaning of \u201cBethlehem\u201d), where all who\neat the one loaf are one body in Christ, to join with the Magi in their eternal\nadoration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This adoration takes place within the\n\u201chouse,\u201d which is the Church formed by those who break and share the one Bread:\n\u201cAnd when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His\nmother, and fell down and worshiped [or adored] Him\u201d (Matthew 2:11). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, while the Magi were instructed by\nwhat they read in those heavens that declare the glory of God, they did not\npursue their quest among the stars but upon the earth. They found the answer to\ntheir quest, that is to say, in a particular place and at a particular time.\nThey accepted the spatial\/temporal, fleshly limitations that God Himself\nassumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<b>Friday, January 7<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew\n3.13-17: I suggest three points of reflection about the Baptism of our Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, from the perspective\nof theology it was an initial \nmanifestation of the identity of Jesus. This is obvious in the way the\nChurch celebrates the feast, of course, but it appears that the Gospel writers\nthemselves regarded the event of the Lord\u2019s baptism very much as it was regarded\nby the Church Fathers and the traditional liturgical texts, namely, as a\nrevelation, not to Jesus, but to those who were present . . . and to the\nChurch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This interpretation is\nperhaps clearest in Matthew, where the Father’s voice speaks of Jesus in the\nthird person, “This<\/em> is My\nbeloved Son.” In Luke the Holy Spirit’s descent on Jesus was visible-He\ncame down “in bodily form (<i>somatiko\neidei<\/em><\/i>) like a\ndove.” Finally, in the Fourth Gospel John the Baptist confesses, “I\nsaw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I\ndid not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon\nwhom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who\nbaptizes with the Holy Spirit.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, from the perspective\nof history, this was an important event in the life of Jesus. It was the\noccasion of a determined resolve on the part of Jesus Himself. This idea,\nthough it suggests an initial problem, points to a solution that touches on the\nvery mystery of Redemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The supposed problem is\nthis: Jesus came voluntarily to be baptized by John, even though John’s was a\nbaptism of repentance (Acts 19:4). Why would Jesus do this? After all, the\nentire witness of the New Testament declares that He was the “lamb without\nblemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19), “holy, harmless, undefiled,\nseparate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26), “the Holy One and the\nJust” (Acts 3:14), who “knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).\nMoreover, Jesus was conscious of being sinless, for He challenged His enemies,\n“Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46) Why, then, did the\nunoffending Jesus seek a baptism of repentance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer to this question\nhas to do with the very motive of the Incarnation. God’s Son, in the assumption\nof our humanity, took upon Himself a radical solidarity with fallen mankind.\nEven before His saving Passion, in which “He poured out His soul unto\ndeath,” we already find Him “numbered with the transgressors”\n(Isaiah 53:12). The voice from heaven signified God’s acceptance of that\nredemptive resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this, surely, is why\nJesus approached John, seeking his baptism in order “to fulfill all\nrighteousness” (Matthew 3:15). It was not as a private citizen, so to\nspeak, that Jesus came to the waters of the Jordan, but in order to present\nHimself to the Father as the representative of the human race in this great\nsymbolic act of repentance. Jesus thereby expressed His resolve “to be\nmade like His brethren” (Hebrews 2:17). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus declared in the\nbaptism of repentance His determination that no distance should separate Him\nfrom us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, from the perspective\nof our life in Christ, the Baptism of our Lord is the form and pattern of our\nown. The solidarity of Jesus with sinful humanity, manifest and expressed in\nHis Baptism by John, is an invitation to all of humanity to share in His\nBaptism, confessing their sins and receiving the mercy of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, this is perhaps\nclearest in the Gospel of Matthew, which closes with the great commission to\nmake disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the\nSon, and the Holy Spirit. This Trinitarian formula of Baptism, with which the\nGospel of Matthew ends, corresponds to the Baptism of Jesus, with which the\npublic life of Jesus begins. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, December 31 Revelation 22.1-20: The biblical story begins and ends in paradise. Thus, in John\u2019s vision of the river of paradise we remember the four-branched river of paradise in Genesis 2. Both here and in Ezekiel 47:1-12 there are monthly fruits growing on the banks of the river, twelve in number, obviously. Just as … Continue reading December 31, 2021 – January 7, 2022<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1805,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804\/revisions\/1805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}