[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
Monday, 09 January, 2012, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR SONSHIP IN CHRIST AND OUR MISSION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ISA 42:1-4, 6-7; ACTS 10:34-38; MK 1:7-11

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This feast is an elaboration of the feast of Christmas when Christ is proclaimed at the Light of the World, and Epiphany when He was manifested as the Saviour, even of the Gentiles. Today’s feast celebrates Christ’s identity as the Son of the Father and His mission to reconcile man with God. Through the celebration of these three feasts, the Church wants to reaffirm our faith in Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of all humanity.

However, this feast celebrates not only the Sonship of Jesus, but also our share in His Sonship. The truth is that all of us are truly the sons and daughters of God. We are all His creatures and we are called to the same destiny. That is what Peter in the first reading realized when he addressed Cornelius. He said, “I have now come to realize that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Christ did not only come to save the Jews, but also all of us. Indeed, all of us are sons and daughters of God in reality, whether or not we are conscious of this fact. Since we are all sons and daughters of God, is it necessary then to be a Christian? If we can be saved without explicitly professing our faith in Christ, why is there a need to be baptized?

St Peter said, “It is true, God sent his word to the people of Israel, and it was to them that the good news of peace was brought by Jesus Christ – but Jesus Christ is Lord of all men.” In other words, Jesus has come to bring us the Good News that we are truly the sons and daughters of God. This task is necessary because in the first place, although all of us are sons and daughters of God, not many of us are aware of this and the reality of our divine status. At times, our actions do not demonstrate an acknowledgement of God as our heavenly Father, reflecting the love of God. Christ’s coming therefore reveals to us our true identity and calling in life. He comes to reveal to us that God is our Father and we are His children.

Secondly, even for those who are conscious of their sonship, many call themselves children of God in name but not in fact, as they have not fully reconciled themselves with their identity as God’s children. This denial of our true identity and consciousness of sonship is seen in the way we practice our faith. Our lives often contradict our proclamation that we are the children of God. It is no wonder that not many people, especially atheists and agnostics, are convinced that we have found God. If our attitude towards life and people are no better than unbelievers, why should they become Christians since we are not happier and more loving? Thus, the purpose of Christ’s coming is primarily to remind us of our divine adoption; and secondly to demonstrate how a true son and daughter of God should live. St Paul acknowledges this when he wrote, “Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Tim 1:8-10) A true Christian is one who is serious about living a life of holiness, love and service.

How does Jesus teach us this truth? Firstly, Jesus reminds us that if we are conscious of our dignified status, we will live our lives in union with God. St Peter in the first reading reiterates this by stating that Jesus went about doing good only because God was with Him, and because God had anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. For this reason, Jesus was totally one with God in Spirit. He was fully aware of His Sonship and continued the work of His Father. Indeed, the baptism of Jesus is Jesus’ explicit consciousness of His divine Sonship. Such consciousness must have been the result of His close intimacy with the Father, as evidenced by the voice from heaven proclaiming, “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you”. These words are addressed to Jesus and not to the crowd. It is God’s affirmation of the Sonship of Jesus. Scholars opined that it was at His baptism that Jesus as man became fully conscious of His identity as the Son of the Father, which He previously knew intuitively. The affirmation of His Sonship is what totally identified Jesus with the Father’s will and plan for humanity.

The consequence of the consciousness of Sonship is a sense of mission. By His public baptism, Jesus is simply identifying Himself with us; a man without sin has taken upon the effects of sin upon Himself. Concretely, Jesus’ mission is to teach us the way to live in this sinful situation so that we might not fall into the snares of the world. Thus, after His baptism, Jesus went about doing good, curing all who were sick and those who were oppressed by the devils of greed, power, and sins in general. This is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, that the servant of God would be the light of the nations, and that He would open the eyes of the blind, free the captives from prison and those who live in darkness. Yes, the primary mission of Jesus is to offer us the truth that we are truly the sons and daughters of God, so that by being conscious of our divine calling, we can then truly become who we already are.

In order to recover our identity as the sons and daughters of God, we must become conscious of our sonship. This consciousness takes place in a dramatic and demonstrative way at our baptism. To be baptized means that we want to share in the Sonship of God in Jesus. This entails that we must first die to ourselves, disowning the devil as our master, of sin and of the world. Baptism as an immersion into the water is a symbol of our death to self and of being cleansed of our sinful contamination and mentality of the world. It is the world’s conditioning that has made us lose our innocence, that is, our true condition as the sons and daughters of God. Indeed, unless we realize our present condition is one of slavery, sin and ignorance, there is no way one can live in the new life of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, in baptism, we too want to carry out the mission that is ours as a result of the consciousness of our sonship. Once we experience the joy and freedom of living as the sons and daughters of God, we want to share this Good News just as Jesus did, so that they too can partake in the same joy we have. This is what St John wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” (1 Jn 1:1-4)

Thus, like Jesus, we too would want to go about doing good, spreading the Good News to all, irrespective of race or religion. We must recognize that even non-Christians are children of God even though they do not know Him. Our task is to enlighten them so that they too will one day come to know Him and in turn, know themselves. And we do this not only by proclaiming explicitly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, but also as witnesses to this fact by our lives of love and humble service for others, especially the unloved, the lonely, and the needy. Unless they see that we are sons and daughters in the Son, they will not be attracted to Jesus. The only reason for coming to Jesus is in order that they too can become the sons and daughters of God in fact and in name, in and through Jesus.

Yes, when that happens, then more and more people in the world will share in the great joy of being conscious members of God’s family, worshipping the same Father and the same Lord. Isn’t this what baptism does for us? Baptism initiates us into the family of God, making us members of God’s family so that we live in union with each other. But that is not all; we also live in union with the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. Baptism therefore unites us with one another because we are all united in God, in name and in fact. In that way, baptism brings true joy and liberation and new life to all of us and the world.