Session 2

Luke 1:34-35

Christ, Himself, was not exempt from this water and spirit tendency of God to facilitate something new in creation by way of Water or Spirit. Do we see any correlation to Israel, Noah, and the initial creation of existence?

• Much like Israel, Noah, and the initial creation of existence, Jesus is born into a desolate place, a place only suited to animals and certainly not for God made-man

• Job 1:21 - He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

• When it comes to creation, we rely on what God provides us and only what God allows us as far as His gifts are concerned

Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22; John 1:29–34

This is the moment we have all been waiting for when Jesus gets baptized. 

CCC 536 The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death. Already he is coming to "fulfill all righteousness", that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on him". Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened" - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.

1. No matter which Gospel we look at the Baptism of Christ is preceded by the Baptism of John the Baptist. It also clearly takes place in the Jordan signifying an entrance of Christ into the narrative of Israel and Man into the final promised land i.e. the Kingdom of God

2. After this, John (although not describing the Baptism of Christ directly, but alluding to it) begins recounting Christ's mission and the significance of what John said "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world". It is striking that the following are mentioned " take away sins of the world" and "the descent of the spirit" and "baptism with water" in just a few sentences.

   1. John the Baptist's baptism is decisively the first of baptisms and a symbolic one. Acts of the Apostles testifies to this several times.

3. Luke waits to discuss the context of Christ's ancestry until after the birth and Baptism, as though first demonstrating the supernatural aspects. Elena Bosetti points out in her commentary on the Gospel that John the Baptist is understood by the disciples as being the beginning of Christ's earthly mission.

4. Mark

   1. The Expositors commentary is intrigued by the "to fulfill all righteous", they say it is referring to God's plan i.e. to fulfill God's plan

      1. CCC 1224 Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying. The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his "beloved Son."

   2. If only symbolic, the Expositor's would be right, that it was only a gesture of solidarity. However, the Catholic understanding is that this gesture was sacramental, "God became man that man might become God". Christ's entrance into solidarity is ontological not only symbolic. 

      1. CCC 1225 In his Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had already spoken of his Passion, which he was about to suffer in Jerusalem, as a "Baptism" with which he had to be baptized. The blood and water that flowed from the pierced side of the crucified Jesus are types of Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments of new life. From then on, it is possible "to be born of water and the Spirit" in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

         1. See where you are baptized, see where Baptism comes from, if not from the cross of Christ, from his death. There is the whole mystery: he died for you. In him you are redeemed, in him you are saved.

5. Matthew begins His Gospel with Christ's ancestry, and like Luke, the Baptism is not described until the third chapter. Luke waits until the Baptism narrative to write about the ancestry because the "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased" statement demonstrates what was foretold of Christ in the birth and conception narratives, i.e. He was indeed the Divine, Son of God.

6. All three synoptic ("seen together") Gospels, describe Christ's suffering in the desert. Ever since the fall, birth into this life is birth into a spiritual wasteland and desert. The only life we find is from God. "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God".

   1. He did this for forty days

   2. It seems He is not only in solidarity with man abstractly and lovingly, but actually and concretely; and therefore, literally and spiritually, pulling those that hold to Him up out of the spiritual wasteland that was once a great garden into Heaven (both partially now and fully after death), the life that should have been and is thence the complete proper context for man's flourishing.

-This is the essential content of this session but lets continue looking at other mentions.-

"Baptism" which is used primarily as a concept to reference (not "Baptist" mentioned 23 times, "baptize" mentioned 54 times, or even more generically "bapti" which would include all such uses 98 times) is mentioned 26 times (only) in the New Testaments, of those exactly half are in the Gospels:

1. Matthew (3)

   1. 3:7 - John the Baptist condemns the Pharisees and calls them a "brood of vipers" especially for thinking that they are God's chosen only because they are descendants of Abraham - clearly comfort at the idea of salvation is not the point. Moreover, outward signs from the law John seems to say is not enough either, but something internal is important.

   2. 3:13 - The Baptism of Christ: Here we have heard it said by God the Father(and also the first time we know that He is the Son of God with exception to the angel Gabriel, etc.): “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” There is something commissioning about this moment. All members of the Most Holy Trinity are present.

   3. Many of the "Bapti" verses are of  or referencing John and His death.

   4. 21:25 - This is when Jesus posits a question, which in a way confirms the truth of the sacramental power of Christian Baptism, in response to "the chief priests and the elders of the people" concerning Christ's authority.

      1. He responds by saying: I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?

      2. They cannot answer him

      3. However, the difference Christ makes is one of Catholic or Protestant theology i.e. whether the outward sign actually comes from and is accomplished through divine action, namely grace

         1. Protestants say no, but Catholics say yes

         2. It seems the evidence is on the Catholic side and we will hopefully see that by the end of this study

         3. The Gospel writers insist upon the baptism of John as a "baptism of repentance" and quote John as saying: "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

            1. Moreover, Jesus claims "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father." This gives us license to believe that what is affected through Christian Baptism is far greater than repentance i.e. a turning back to God.

   5. The last is the great commission - "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

2. Mark (5)

   1. 1:4 & 1:9 - Describing John the Baptist and the Baptism of Christ as previously read above

   2. 10:38-39 - Jesus seems to develop our understanding of the sacrament a little further while answering a question from the Zebedee:

      1. Jesus questions James and John saying/asking: You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

         1. This again differentiates between baptism of Human origin and Divine i.e. "the baptism that" Christ was "baptized with".

   3. 11:30 - correlates to Matthew 21:25 mention

3. Luke (5)

   1. 3:3 - Describes John the Baptist

   2. 3:21 - was visited above concerning the Baptism of Christ

   3. 7:29 - describes Jesus giving clarity to the nature of John's mission which "the Pharisees and the lawyers" rejected because it would seem they did not understand a need for repentance not understanding the context those that received John's Baptism understood.

   4. 12:50 - Here Jesus speaks of a "Baptism with which to be baptized" thus implying more are to be included in His baptism. The purification alluded to in the commentary below, it seems safe to say, is tied to the stress Christ feels. Namely, we are baptized into Christ's death, mission, and resurrection. This fact it would seem is why there is divisions brought to households concerning him.

      1. "The Lord's teaching about preparation for his return and impending judgment (v.35, 48) leads to this paragraph about the personal crises Christ precipitates. It is difficult to determine the precise meaning of "fire" (v. 49) because the word can signify either judgment or purification, to say nothing of other less probable meanings. The verses that follow v. 49 may, consistently with the preceding paragraphs, connote judgment. While Jesus came to bring salvation rather than judgment (Luke 4:19; John 3:17), his coming also meant judgment John 9:39). A comparison with earlier teaching in Luke, however, suggests that "fire" means purification as well as judgment. The ministry of John the Baptist included not only judgment (3:9, 17) but also the promise that Jesus would "baptize . .. with the Holv Spirit and fire" (see commentary and OT references at 3:16). Luke 9:51-56 shows that Jesus did not intend to bring an immediate fire of judgment on those who rejected him. Since 3:16 links fire with the Holy Spirit, it is possible that this fire was to be "kindled" by the baptism of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). This could only occur after Jesus' own "baptism" of death, to which he referred here (v.50). Mark 10:38 mentions baptism as a symbol of Jesus' death, along with the "cup" Jesus spoke of at Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). He felt "distressed" (synechomai) in anticipation of that. "The prospect of his sufferings was a perpetual Gethsemane" (Plummer, p. 334)" Expositors Commentary Volume 8

   5. 20:4 - corresponds to the question Jesus brought to the Pharisees as in Mathew above

Jesus and Nicodemus John 3:1-10

Notice anything significant?

1. Water & Spirit

The Cross and Death of Christ

• In the Old Testament, there was a seraph serpent statue made to heal the people of Israel from illness when they were in the desert. How might this be related?

• Hebrews 9:22

  • What does blood represent to a Jew? The life of the creature, they were forbidden to drink it.

    • How might this relate to the bread of life Discourse in John?

• Christ surrendered His spirit when He bowed His head and died after which blood and water flowed from His side. Does this connect with the water and spirit imagery?

Meaning and Takeaways

• Christ being subject to water and spirit enters decisively into man's spiritual experience (the consequences of sin although not sinning Himself) as well through a Baptism of repentance.

• Christ describes his Baptism as one of suffering, this would be consistent with the spiritual landscape He entered into through His Baptism which commissioned Him for His divine mission which the Whole Trinity witnesses to in the scene of Christ's Baptism, and John foretold.

• Thus, the nature of Christ's Baptism is not symbolic as John's was, it is deeper and more efficacious. Even as far as John was concerned a heart of repentance was necessary and those that lack it cannot understand Christ. It is thus that Christ "fulfilled all righteousness".

• We can also see a connection to the number of days Noah was in the ark and the years after Israel was delivered from Egypt and in the desert, and Christ's desert experience. It is clear, that he does so as He suffers in the desert for 40 days, fulfilling and validating the time that all those being purified have suffered.