What Baptism of Jesus Says About Us

We are God’s Beloved, first and foremost, before anything else

As we celebrate the feast of the baptism of Our Lord Jesus today, let us reflect on the significance of baptism.

Have you ever found yourself in a moment where someone you love looked deeply into your eyes and said, “I’m so proud of you?” It might have been your parents at your graduation, your spouse after you made a challenging sacrifice, or a mentor after years of hard work. Those powerful words continue to echo in your heart because they speak to something deeper than mere achievements; they affirm your very identity. Now, picture this: instead of hearing those words after you’ve reached a milestone, you hear them before you’ve even taken your first step. Not as a reward, but as a starting point.

That is exactly what we see in the baptism of Jesus. He stands in the Jordan River. Before He preaches a single sermon, performs any miracles, or faces the cross, the heavens tear open, and the Father declares, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Mt. 3:17) This emphasises that identity comes before action, and being beloved comes before achievement.

This scene, however, posed a real problem for the early Church. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and for the forgiveness of sins. If Jesus is sinless, why would he submit to it at all? The earliest Gospel, Mark, written around 65–70 AD, preserves the event in its raw historical memory. Jesus comes from Nazareth, is baptized by John, and the heavens are torn open. There is no explanation, no clarification, no attempt to soften the tension. Jesus simply enters the water (Mk 1:9–11). Mark leaves the question hanging, reflecting what was likely the earliest and most unfiltered memory of the event. Matthew, writing later, senses the difficulty and addresses it directly. He introduces a dialogue in which John protests, saying he should be baptized by Jesus. Jesus responds that this must be done “to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt 3:13–17). Here, the baptism is reframed as obedience to God’s saving plan rather than an admission of guilt. It becomes an act of solidarity, not repentance. Luke handles the issue more subtly. John is already in prison when Jesus is baptized, distancing the two figures. The focus shifts away from the act itself to Jesus at prayer and the descent of the Spirit (Lk 3:21–22). John’s Gospel goes further still. It does not describe the baptism at all. Instead, John the Baptist testifies to seeing the Spirit descend and identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Son of God (Jn 1:29–34).

These differences are not contradictions. They reveal the evolution of an early Christian community as they think, pray, and clarify their faith over time. Early Christians were anxious to safeguard Jesus’ divine dignity. A scene in which he appears subordinate to John could be easily misunderstood by Christians as well as by others. As Origen observed, Scripture often adapts its presentation to human weakness. St. Augustine later noted that the Gospel writers tell the same truth from different angles, shaped by their audiences and theological aims.