By placing a Gospel about the Baptism of our Lord (St. Mark 1:4-11) on this first Sunday in the Epiphany season, the framers of the lectionary paid homage to ancient associations of Epiphany. When the feast of Epiphany began among the eastern churches during the third century, the chief epiphany or manifestation of Christ that they had in mind was His Baptism which marked the beginning of His public ministry. A secondary association of the day was Christ's Birth, but associations with His infancy became central as Epiphany spread among the western churches during the fourth century.
Commemorating our Lord's Baptism on this particular Sunday is certainly appropriate. We should reflect upon this important Gospel event. Although Jesus of Nazareth did not need to be cleansed from any sin, He underwent this ritual of cleansing to express solidarity with humanity, to give His followers an example, and to dedicate Himself publicly to His mission. And as He did so, the Holy Spirit blessed Christ's human nature while the heavenly Father proclaimed His approval of His only Son (notice the Trinitarian symbolism). This Baptism is distinctive because Jesus Christ is unique, but it pointed ahead to a new use of washing among His followers (Matthew 28).
Every Christian Baptism is an outpouring of divine grace. It is a uniting with Christ, a blessing by the Holy Spirit, and an adoption as a child of God the Father. May we always remain aware that we have been baptized, and thus we have been claimed by God and offered His saving grace.
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