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The Baptism of the Lord

For many centuries around the very beginning of the Church’s existence…. mystics, scholars, spiritual gurus, have wondered why Jesus came to the Jordan river to have John the Baptist baptize Him since Jesus, the Messiah, was considered sinless. This is partly due to a cultural reason ….in the mind of practicing Jews at this time there was no need for baptism. Baptism was for Gentiles wanting to become Jewish. These gentiles…. or pagans…. brought with them a lot of sin. They were infidels. They were out-side the possibility of being “saved.” John’s baptism was a baptism “repentance!” Therefore, conversion to Judaism through baptism was their only salvation. Jesus was not only a Jew, but also the Messiah, and therefore in no need of repentance; He came to “save,” not to “be saved.”
This event took place at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Like John, he came to call “sinners,” who were just as many among the “Chosen” people of God as were among the non-Jews, the Gentiles.
There’s an important lesson here that still very much applies to our lives today. It is all too easy, and therefore “common, “ to forget that our Savior came to call “sinners.” He says He came for the “sick,” not the “healthy.” Forgetting this plan of Jesus, it is easy to dismiss the need to go to the Sacrament of the Reconciliation. The thought easily enters our mind, “I don’t need to go to confession.”
By being baptized, Jesus became a “guiding star” for us. He simply showed us a way to deal with sin and temptation. First baptism….and then repentance. Two Sacraments for our salvation. -Msgr. Greg