One grows up quickly in the gospel! Last Sunday with the Magi we were worshipping a small Child-in-a-manger and today we see coming to us an adult Jesus, willing to mix with humanity. How many steps of life during this week? Important steps for a long maturation, unfolding into a “Yes” to his vocation. These two scenes: Epiphany / Baptism involve heaven and earth which play together to tell us that we are at the beginning of something new: water and spirit remind us of the beginning of Creation, of the first verses of Genesis. The Spirit flies above the abyss, like a dove. The dove descends in the scene of Jesus’ Baptism. After the star, the dove. The story of the Creation in Genesis tells us that earth and sky were created separately. Today they are still separated but they are put in communication. Today the sky opens up, hearing the cry of the anawin: “ Ah, if you could open the sky and come down!” (Is 63: 15).
The Jordan is the new abyss. We can imagine that it was rough, running, scary, messy, symbolizing our distress, our torments, our sins. Jesus does not hesitate to go deeper in the rough water of the human condition and affirms it before John the Baptist: “Let it be for now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, all justice.” What does it mean?
Pope Benedict wrote that to be a just was to answer to the Law, to the Torah, to fully accept the will of God. John’s baptism was not foreseen by the Torah; in answering to him, Jesus acknowledges his baptism of repentance which expresses the consent to God’s will. (Jesus of Nazareth, Vol 2)
Jesus consents to this rite that is the sign of his passion and Resurrection: going deeper in the waters of death and springing forth to the Resurrection. The proclamation of the Father “Today I have begotten you” is found at Jesus’ birth, at his baptism and at his Resurrection (Act 13: 33. Heb 1: 5). Jesus enters in the waters of the Jordan as an offering, anticipating the giving of himself in the Eucharist. He tells us that he needs us to let humankind go forward towards the fulfillment of the kingdom. He gives us an example of letting go, of offering. He will be in us, the Son, the One the Father proclaims as the Beloved.
What is new at the Baptism is to see, to hear, to understand the love of God, being proclaimed in this man Jesus, and so in us, Jesus taking all our humanity in him.
Brother Christoph of Atlas wrote:
“God’s affirmation comes through humankind,
and humankind finds its truest affirmation in God.”
There are some proclamations in this Gospel passage: by John the Baptist, Jesus, the Father. So, let us become also a proclamation of God the Father, a proclamation of God’s love in our lives.
Sr. Claire Bouttin, Superior
Sunday, January 11, 2026, Baptism of Christ Mt 3: 13-17
