Today is Jan. 11, Saturday after the Epiphany.
We read at today’s Mass, “Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned” (Jn 3:22-24).
The Christmas season is coming to a close, and in a way, we finish where we began. What do I mean? What’s the last voice we hear in the Christmas season? John the Baptist. John prepared the way for the Lord during Advent, and now, John’s ministry, a clarion call to repentance, rounds out the Christmas season. Tomorrow, we’ll celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, but today, let’s take a look at John’s baptism of repentance.
John’s baptism was rooted in the traditions of his time. It was not a sacrament like the baptism Jesus institutes but a ritual of conversion, mirroring contemporary practices of the Essenes (a first-century Jewish sect) and other Jewish purification baths. For John, baptism was a call to turn from sin and prepare for the imminent arrival of the Messiah. He proclaimed, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).
John’s baptism and Christ’s grace
This distinction between John’s baptism and Christ’s helps us to understand the transformative power of grace in the Christian life. John’s baptism pointed outward, symbolizing repentance and the desire to live rightly before God. It was preparatory, an acknowledgment of mankind’s need for salvation. In contrast, Christ’s Baptism is inward and sacramental. Through the Holy Spirit, it revives the soul, confers sanctifying grace and incorporates the baptized into the Body of Christ.
In the end, John’s role in salvation history is inseparable from his humility. Humility, after all, is an essential virtue for repentance. He knew his mission was to point to the one who would bring the Kingdom of God. As he declared, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
In these final days of Christmas, thank God for John’s faithful witness. May John’s voice, which calls us to repentance echo in our hearts as we begin 2025, that we will go forth from this season with a deeper awareness of the One who came to save us. Amen.
Let us pray,
Almighty ever-living God, who through your Only Begotten Son have made us a new creation for yourself, grant, we pray, that by your grace we may be found in the likeness of him, in whom our nature is united to you. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
