Learn Your Faith: The Baptism of The Lord

“Later Jesus, coming from Galilee, appeared before John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to refuse him with the protest, ‘I should be baptized by you, yet you come to me!’ Jesus answered: ‘Give in for now. We must do this if we would fulfill all of God’s demands.’ So John gave in.”
(Mt 3:13-15).

We know that the primary effect of Baptism is to cleanse us from Original Sin. At the same time we remember that Jesus Christ was born without the stain of Original Sin as a result of the fact that he received His humanity from His mother. Mary had been preserved free from the stain of Original Sin by a special favor from God, which we call her “Immaculate Conception”. This made it possible for Christ to receive an unstained humanity from her. Therefore, we may ask, if the primary effect of Baptism is to remove the stain of Original Sin, and Jesus was not stained by Original Sin, why did He insist that St. John the Baptist baptize Him?

St. Thomas Aquinas addresses this question in his monumental Summa Theologiae (The “Summit” or “Summary of Theology”) by asking the question, “Whether it was fitting that Christ be baptized?” Basing his answer on the writings of such authorities as St. Ambrose and St. Augustine St. Thomas answers that, indeed, it was fitting that Christ be baptized for three reasons: First, Our Lord was baptized not because He needed to be sanctified by the waters of baptism, but because he need to sanctify those waters for us. Second, the baptism of John (the last prophet) represents the end of the Old Covenant, while Christ Himself is the New Covenant. By allowing Himself to be baptized by John, Christ takes the “matter” of John’s baptism (water) and gives it a new meaning and a new reality. The same happens with the Passover meal of the Old Law. At the first “Eucharist” (the Last Supper) Christ uses the “matter” of the Passover meal (bread and wine) but gives them an entirely new meaning and reality. Third, Our Lord wished to be baptized that He might leave us an example, as He did with the Eucharist. His humanity did not need to be cleansed from sin anymore than He needed to receive the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He is the Eucharist. By allowing His humanity to be baptized He demonstrated to us that our humanity should be baptized as well.

“Después, Jesús viniendo de Galilea se apareció frente a John en el Jordán para que lo bautizara. Juan trató de rehusarse respondiendo: “tu debes bautizarme a mi, y sin embargo, tu vienes a mi! Jesús le contestó: “Accede por ahora”. “Debemos hacerlo para cumplir con el mandato de Dios.” Así que John accedió.” (Mt. 3:13-15).

Sabemos que el efecto primordial del Bautismo es limpiarnos del pecado original. Al mismo tiempo, recordamos que Jesús nació sin la mancha del pecado original por haber recibido su humanidad de Su madre. María había sido preservada de la mancha del pecado original como favor especial de Dios, “La Inmaculada Concepción.” Esto hizo posible que Jesús recibiera humanidad sin mancha de María. Por lo tanto, nos podemos preguntar que si el primordial efecto del bautismo es remover el pecado original, y Jesús no lo tenía, ¿porque insistió en ser bautizado por San Juan Bautista?

Santo Tomas de Aquino al aborda este tema en su monumental Summa Theologiae (Resumen de Teologia), se hizo esta pregunta: ¿Era correcto que Cristo fuera bautizado? Santo Tomas basó su respuesta en los escritos de autoridades como San Ambrosio y San Agustín, y concluyó diciendo que en verdad era correcto que Jesús fuera bautizado por tres razones: Primera, que Nuestro Señor fue bautizado no porque necesitara ser santificado por las aguas del bautismo, sino que necesitaba santificar las aguas para nosotros. Segundo, el bautizo de Juan (el ultimo profeta) representa el final de la Antigua Alianza, ya que Jesús mismo es la Nueva Alianza. Al permitir ser bautizado por Juan, Cristo toma “la materia” de Juan (el agua), y le da un nuevo significado y una nueva realidad. Lo mismo pasa con la Cena de Pascua de la Antigua Ley. Durante la Primera Eucaristía (la Ultima Cena), Cristo usa “la materia” (el pan y el vino), y les da un nuevo significado y realidad. Tercero, Nuestro Señor desea ser bautizado, para dejarnos un ejemplo como con la Eucaristía. Su humanidad no necesitaba ser purificada, de la misma manera que no necesitaba recibir la Eucaristía en la Ultima Cena. Cristo es la Eucaristía, al permitir ser bautizado nos demostró que nuestra humanidad debe ser bautizada.