Baptism of the Lord

Baptism of the Lord A

January 12, 2020, Hongo Church

First Reading      Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7

Second Reading Acts 10:34–38

Gospel          Matthew 3:13–17

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.”

- - -

Homily

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

Then the heavens opened, and the spirit of God fell on Jesus like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven.

"This is my Beloved Son,with whom I am wel pleased."

It is also possible to say, "It is my pleasure."

The Church believes that the voice of God that "my favor rests on him." has already been prophesied in the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.

Let's remember the first reading.

A person called "Servant of the Lord" appears. "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased,　upon whom O have put my Spirit."

A bruise reed. Is it a person who is already in a broken state that it breaks if there is a little already? "Dark light" Does it mean a weak person who is in a state where the fire goes out when the wind blows?

It tells these people that I am a servant of the Lord who takes care of them gently and carefully.

In addition, Peter said in today's second reading.

"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good work and healing all those oppressed by evil, for God is with him

Today we commemorate that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized.

We were baptized, too. And then received the Holy Spirit and was made a Child of God.

Being a child of God means that it was "made similar to Jesus."

It was not exactly the same as Jesus, but, well, so to speak, Jesus' brother. We have made to be the lives of the Son of God because the Eternal Word has given us the same weak humanity as we do.

Some of us still have weaknesses, fragility, or, if we dare to say, miserable parts.

Sometimes you step off your feet. But we are already made a child of God.

Isn't it important to deepen that awareness today?

When we look at others and look back at ourselves, we may wonder if this is a child of God, but if we look with the eyes of faith, we are already children of God.

God's grace is invisible, but faith believes that the grace of the invisible God works and lives that way, isn't it?

According to the Gospel of John, we have already been transferred to eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ.

So what is the difference between Jesus Christ and us?

This question, in other things, is like an eternal question.

In the case of Jesus, there is a perfect unity between Jesus, the human being, and Christ, the Son of God. Everything Jesus did was pleased with the will of God.

In our case, it's hard to do that. But in general, I think we live according to God's will. It's not perfect. But we work to live the way God wants us to. And it is because we receive the Holy Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit has cleansed, encouraged, and moved us in us. We can say that we are given to the "divinity" of God's life.

Let us review this faith again and renew our resolve and continue our journey of the year 2020.