The Baptism of the Lord – Cycle C
Reflecting on Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
Here’s an interesting tidbit. The ancients believed that conception of a child happened this way: the man deposited a miniature, fully formed human being into the woman’s uterus. She served only as the carrier. This connects with this powerful gospel event of the baptism of Jesus by John. Since paternity could never be proven—which is why, traditionally, the mother is the parent who passes on Jewish identity to the child—this event, where the Father opens the heavens and claims Jesus as his beloved son, is treasured by those who were there to hear the Voice, and to those who would hear of it.
A Father claiming his Son as his own had a receptive audience in that day and ours. How many sons today take dangerous risks, or achieve impossible goals, in order to hear their father say, “This is my son! I’m so pleased with him.” Pleasing the father is still an enormous goal (and often an impossible challenge) in many families.
What a joy for Jesus to hear his Father’s voice. We know that he was a man of deep prayer, but it’s only this event and the moment of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor that we know for sure that Jesus heard the Father’s voice.
But WHY did he request the baptism of forgiveness of sins? Recall any friend of yours who excels in everything, including humility. Recall that feeling of relief that poured out of you when that friend laughingly recounted how she can’t put down a bag of potato chips. Oh! She’s human like me! I can be her friend.
Oh! The onlookers must have said. Jesus is human, like me! I can be his friend.
In what ways have you sensed friendship with Jesus because of the stories about him in the gospels?
Kathy McGovern ©2025