By lowering Himself to be baptized along with sinners, Jesus shows his followers what they must do to be saved. His Baptism also reveals the gifts of sonship and kingship given to Christians by God through Baptism.
Not needing to be baptized for his own benefit, Jesus humbled Himself and was baptized out of love for man and obedience to God the Father, the same reasons that would lead him to willingly die on the Cross.
Jesus’ Baptism prefigured his Death and Resurrection. Allowing Himself to go under the water signified that He would allow Himself to die, and his coming back out of the water anticipates his Resurrection.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John, his relative. This baptism by John had been a baptism of repentance but Jesus had no sins to repent of.
The water of Jesus’ Baptism did not cleanse Him. Instead, He cleansed the water so that Christian disciples could be baptized in this water after Him, so that their sin could be removed.
After being manifested to the people when He was baptized by John, the one who had announced the Lord’s coming, and with God the Father declaring Jesus’ divinity by calling Him his beloved Son, Jesus then began his public ministry.
All three Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are present at this event, emphasizing its significance in the life of Jesus Christ.
Catholics meditate on the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River in the First Luminous Mystery of the Rosary.
Connecting the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Ordinary Time, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany.
Jesus had no sin to be removed:
Jesus did not need to be baptized:
Paving the way for the Sacrament of Baptism:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. After Jesus was baptized, He came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3: 13-17
John hesitated to baptize Jesus:
Jesus’ Baptism is linked to his Crucifixion:
Jesus’ Baptism foreshadows his death on the Cross:
Jesus’ public life begins with his Baptism by John in the Jordan. John preaches “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. A crowd of sinners – tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes- come to be baptized by him. “Then Jesus appears.” The Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives Baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from Heaven proclaims, “This is my beloved Son.” This is the manifestation (“Epiphany”) of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 535
A clear declaration that God was there:
Revealing his identity and restoring ours:
The Baptism of the Lord is a precious mystery of the Church:
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” With these words, repeated in today’s liturgy, the Father shows his Son to men and reveals his mission as one consecrated to God, as the Messiah. At Christmas we contemplated with wonder and interior joy the appearance of “the grace of God … for the salvation of all men”, a grace that took the physical features of the Child Jesus, the Son of God born as man of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then we discovered the first manifestations of Christ, “the true light that enlightens every man”, which first shone for the shepherds on the holy night and then for the Magi, the first of the peoples called to faith, who set out by the light of the star that they had seen in the sky and who came to Bethlehem to adore the newborn Child. At the Jordan, together with the manifestation of Jesus we also see the first manifestation of the Trinitarian nature of God: Jesus, indicated by the Father as his beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit who descends and remains over Him.
Pope John Paul II, Homily, 11 January 1998
The Jordan River is significant in the history of salvation:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Understanding the depths of his mercy:
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