The Baptism of the Lord: When the Kingdom Was Planted in History

From the very beginning of creation, God had a plan to redeem what had fallen. He knew that we were utterly incapable of healing the brokenness caused by sin on our own. This brokenness touched every part of life: our relationship with God, with one another, and even with the world He created good.

The prophet Isaiah foretold that God’s servant would come, bearing His Spirit. He would bring forth justice with such gentleness that he would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. And the whole world, from sea to sea, waited for this redemption.

To prepare for this, God set aside a chosen people. He entered into covenant with them and, in a real sense, entrusted them with the stewardship of this promise. This stewardship matters. Long ago, God told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. Not only the people of the covenant, but all people. As Saint Peter would later proclaim, God shows no partiality. The salvation accomplished through Jesus was not only for Israel, but for the whole world.

We celebrate the Baptism of the Lord as the inauguration of this plan. Jesus came into the world quietly, in hiddenness and humility. But in His baptism, He is revealed in a new way. John the Baptist was sent ahead to prepare the way, and he was so striking and unexpected that many wondered whether he himself might be the chosen one. John knew otherwise and denied it.

When Jesus came to him to be baptized, John hesitated. He knew he was unworthy. Yet Jesus insisted, because this was fitting. This was the moment when His mission would be made visible. It was the beginning of His public ministry and the first public sign of the Kingdom He had come to establish.

This baptism was not an empty ritual. It was a real event that changed reality itself. When Christ entered the waters, the water was transformed, not physically, but sacramentally, becoming a conduit of life in the Spirit. The whole Trinity was revealed: the Father’s voice, the Son standing in the waters, and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him. What was revealed was also, in a sense, hidden, because the mystery itself surpasses our understanding.

Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, and through Him we are made heirs to that same Spirit. Baptism is not something we do merely because Jesus commanded it. It truly changes us. It brings us into the New Covenant. And a covenant is not a contract. It is the way someone makes you part of their family.

We who were once estranged now belong. We who were once orphans are now children of God. In the Baptism of the Lord, the Kingdom of God is planted in history, and we are given a place within it.

A Note for the Reader

The reflection above considers the Baptism of the Lord as a moment when God’s saving plan is revealed and set in motion. What follows offers two brief reflections that flow from it. One looks at how baptism continues to shape our daily lives. The other considers why the Church places this feast where it does in the liturgical year.

These are not separate themes, but two ways of lingering with the same mystery.

Living Our Baptism

It is easy to think of baptism as something that happened long ago, especially if we were baptized as infants. But baptism is not only an event in our past. It is a reality that continues to shape our present.

To be baptized is to belong. Saint Paul tells us that through baptism we are united to Christ’s death and resurrection, so that we might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3–4). Our identity is no longer grounded primarily in our failures, our wounds, or our sins, but in our adoption as sons and daughters of God (Galatians 4:4–7).

This does not remove struggle from our lives, but it does change its meaning. We now struggle as members of God’s household, not as outsiders trying to earn our way in. Grace comes first. Conversion, obedience, and growth follow from belonging, not toward it (Ephesians 2:8–10).

Living our baptism means learning to see ourselves and others through this new identity. It means refusing to treat people as expendable, including ourselves. It means returning again and again to the truth that we have been claimed by God and sealed with His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

Each day, in small and often hidden ways, we are invited to live as those who have passed through the waters and now walk in the light of Christ (Ephesians 5:8).

The Baptism of the Lord in the Life of the Church

The Church places the feast of the Baptism of the Lord at the threshold of Ordinary Time for a reason. It marks a transition.

The Christmas season reveals who Jesus is. The Baptism reveals what He has come to do. At the Jordan, the Father’s voice identifies Jesus as His beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in power (Luke 3:21–22). What was hidden in Bethlehem is now publicly revealed.

With this feast, the quiet years of Nazareth give way to public mission. Immediately after His baptism, Jesus begins to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to call others to follow Him (Mark 1:14–15). From this point forward, the Gospel moves steadily toward the Cross.

Baptism, then, is not only about cleansing or new beginnings. It is about mission and self-gift. Jesus enters the waters already oriented toward Calvary, and He invites those who are baptized into Him to share in that same pattern of life (Matthew 16:24).

Ordinary Time begins here because Christian life begins here. Having been claimed by the Father and filled with the Spirit, we are sent into the ordinary circumstances of life to live as members of Christ’s Kingdom, planted in history and bearing fruit in the world (John 15:16).