Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

The Shocking Baptism of Jesus

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, January 11, 2026

The baptism of Jesus is both significant and embarrassing. How come? The first Christians believed and maintained that Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God, the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. If Jesus were all of those, why would he seek the baptism of repentance? John the Baptist, the last and greatest of the prophets, was baptizing people in the River Jordan. He was offering them the baptism of repentance. He was inviting sinners to come to him, repent of their sins, enter the water, and be baptized so their sins would be washed away. And Jesus too came to him. So Jesus began his public ministry by seeking the baptism of repentance. What’s going on? By the way, Jesus’ baptism is described in all four canonical Gospels, so there is no doubt about its occurrence. Why did the authors of the Gospels include this story?

Indeed, the Gospel writers insist that Jesus is the sinless Son of God. They maintain that he is the Word made flesh, the one who takes away the sins of the world. There is no ambiguity about this reality. But they also want to show us how strange God operates. God sets aside his glory and sneaks quietly into the muddy waters of Jordan. More than that, he stands side by side with sinners in that water. Imagine the kind of people who came to John. I believe some came with venial sins, while others came with grave, mortal sins, in search of mercy and peace. That is the space Jesus quietly enters, without fanfare, stands with sinners, and humbly submits himself to John’s baptism. For some of us who like to make a public spectacle of everything we do, look at our Savior. The first move in His public life is to look like a sinner and stand shoulder to shoulder with sinners. This is Christianity in full display. 

In Greek philosophy, God is considered the supreme good who moves the world by attraction from a distance. But no Greek philosopher would think it possible that God would pay attention to the filthy and sinful world or come down and stand with the wicked. In the Jewish context, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others reveal the great holiness of God and the offense of our sin. They speak of how offensive we are to God, who is pure, holy, and good. That this extremely holy, pure, good, and spotless God would come down and enter into our condition, identify with us to the point of appearing as a sinner, was unheard of before. Yet that is how the public life of Jesus begins. The sinless one, at the beginning of his public ministry, identifies with us sinners to bring God’s love and mercy even into that place of sin. 

In the course of his public ministry, John the Baptist spoke in the language of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, “I am baptizing you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I… His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11-12). This is the language of God’s justice, typically found in the Old Testament prophets. John is the last of them. So when Jesus came to him, John, with his prophetic insight, recognized who he was and was shocked: “You should baptize me, and you are coming to me?” (John 3:14). In John’s calculation, that is not how God behaves. But that is how our God behaves. God humbles himself by becoming a human being; he stands with us sinners, even identifying with us in the muddy waters of our sin, just to share his love with us. This is the surprising way God breaks into the scene. 

Sisters and brothers, in Jesus, God has come to forgive our sins. Is he a teacher? Yes! Is he a healer? Yes! But at the heart of the matter, which reaches its height on the cross, is that he has come to forgive our sins. From his own lips, we hear, “I have come not for the righteous, but sinners. I have come not for the healthy, but the sick.” At the Last Supper, he said, “This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant, which will be shed for you and for many.” Why? “So that sins may be forgiven.” That’s why he comes! And it is signaled here in his baptism. He has come to stand humbly and salvifically with us sinners. In the first reading from Isaiah, we hear, “a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench.” A bruised reed is already cracked and broken. The temptation is always to say, “Well, it is cracked; let’s cut it off and throw it away.” But the prophet says that when the Messiah comes, he will repair the cracked and bruised reed rather than cut it off completely. He has not come to cast aside those of us who are offensive to God and not spiritually strong. He has come to heal and repair the broken reed. Isaiah also says, “A smoldering wick he shall not quench.” A smoldering wick is a wick with a flickering flame on a candle. Again, the temptation is to say, “This candle is not good. Its wick is weak. Blow it out and throw it away.” The Messiah, Jesus, has not come to do that; he has instead come to take the time to cultivate even that little flame and bring it to life. We are meant to be on fire with the divine life, but in sin we are like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick. Christ has come to enter into that experience and to nurture that life back. 

When Jesus presents himself for baptism, John the Baptist balks. He hesitates and says, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” But Jesus replies, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The word “righteousness” appears throughout the Bible. What does it mean? It means “setting right.” Sin is a loss of righteousness, which means our relationship with God is broken. It is not primarily our task but God’s. The great revelation of the New Testament is that it is primarily God’s task. It is the grace of God that sets us right. It is done through the gracious humility of Jesus Christ. He comes into our sin to set us right. After his baptism, Jesus emerged from the water. Suddenly, the sky opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and hover over him. Then a voice from heaven resounds, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). This is the first great manifestation of the Blessed Trinity to the human race. In this event, the Trinity is fully displayed. For what purpose? God wants to share his life with us. 

Praise The Lord!