Today we celebrate the baptism of the Lord Jesus. It is the last day of the holiday season. Ordinary time begins tomorrow. The readings are all about Jesus. What can we learn about him from them?

We believe that the prophet Isaiah is speaking of the Messiah, the one who came to us on Christmas morning. How is he described? He is a servant. The Father has chosen him. The Father is pleased with him, places his spirit on him, and chooses to send him to us. What does he bring with him? I think now of the nativity scenes that appeared all over our neighborhood and in front of our parish church. In this scene he comes as a baby. When I think of babies, the words that come to my mind are warm, cuddly, and sweet. Isaiah says that this warm, cuddly, and sweet baby will grow up to bring forth justice to the nations, something that is repeated two additional times. Not a justice from way off somewhere for he will be a covenant of the people. Covenants require personal involvement. The Word became flesh. He didn’t send justice; he brought it. What kind of justice will he bring? Enlightenment for the nations, sight for the blind, freedom for those in confinement, and light for those who dwell in darkness. When I think of someone bringing justice, I tend to think of someone wielding power and authority, crushing the wicked, and setting things right. Isaiah says that God’s servant will not come that way. He won’t be crying out and shouting. His voice won’t be heard in the street. In fact, he is so gentle that he is like a person who won’t break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick. That would be too violent for him. His justice will come to those who wait for and embrace his teaching. The scriptures make it clear that Jesus will come again in glory. He is the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah. We just celebrated the Lamb. One day we will celebrate the Lion.

Matthew tells us that Jesus came to the Jordan River and asked John the Baptist to baptize him. John didn’t want to do it. His baptism was for the remission of sins. People who came for his baptism confessed their sins before their baptism. John obviously knew Jesus. He had no sins to confess. But Jesus insists. Being baptized is the right thing to do. The righteous identify with John and his baptism. Jesus identifies with sinners. A friend of mine used to say that Jesus’ feet stood in the same mud in that river as did everyone else who humbled themselves and turned to God. The result? The heavens were opened. Mark says that the heavens were torn open. God comes to earth, identifies with sinners, and opens the heavens for them.

We see the dove descend, we hear the voice from the heavens, and with the psalmist we proclaim, “The Lord will bless his people with peace.”