Feast of the Baptism of the Lord C Lk 3,15-22

When we listen to the expression of an unknown person, for example, on television or social networks, we often ask: Who is it? What does he think of himself? By what right does he speak like that? And that times do not change, we also see from the Gospels. People who listened to Jesus, saw his deeds, and followed his ways also asked: Who is this? Who gave him the power to act like this? However, these questions are still relevant after two thousand years. They are put by children in religious classes and by adults in various conversations. At the same time, it makes no difference whether believers or non-believers, simple or educated people set them.

Today’s holiday answers these questions first through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: Behold, my Servant, I will bring him; summoned mine, I am well pleased with him. I put my Spirit on him… Then, through the mouth of the heavenly Father himself: You are my beloved Son, I am well pleased with you. And finally, the apostle Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, declares: He is the Lord of all! It is clear from these words that Jesus is Servant, Son, Lord!

My Servant – indicates Jesus’ belonging to the human race. He became our brother and came to serve. The psalmist puts a testimony about it in the mouth of the Messiah: You do not wish sacrifices and gifts; you have opened my ears. Thou askest not the sacrifice nor the sacrifice of atonement ⁇ Renia, therefore said I, Behold, I come. Jesus himself confirms the psalmist’s words when he says: The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Therefore, at the very beginning of his public ministry, he enters the waters of the Jordan as an ordinary human servant and is baptized.

When the expression My Servant comes from God’s mouth, he breathes with intimacy, closeness, respect, and love. In the Old Testament, God calls the noblest men by this expression, whom he calls to a special mission. Although he does not give them superstition documents, he endows them with his Spirit. Jesus is a servant in the fullest sense of the word: he is the most faithful; the Father brings him to himself, has a crush on him, puts his Spirit on him, and participates in the intimate life of the Father.

The Lord’s Servant is a noble messianic address that the first Christians also used in their prayers. Excerpts of the ⁇? Vol of one of the prayers can be found in the Acts of the Apostles: Stretch out your hand so that healings, signs, and wonders may take place through the name of your holy Servants of the ⁇? Nik Jesus.

Beloved Son – this address surpasses all other addresses. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews also dwells on him when he says: After all, when did he say to any of the angels: You are my Son, I have begotten you today? Let’s notice what wealth of love and emotional relationships is hidden in the words of the heavenly Father. These words are robust even when spoken by a human father or Mother, but how much stronger are they when spoken by God himself? The Father reveals the Son as a reflection of his glory and an image of his essence. All our intimate addresses addressing Jesus are only a tiny echo of the voice heard from heaven at his baptism: You are my beloved Son.

Lord of all people – Jesus, the Son of God, receives with God’s name: Lord, Lord, Kyrios… also rule over all people. This is how Peter sees him when he says in a sermon to the centurion Cornelius: He is the Lord of all. And so Paul also saw him, writing to the Philippians: That every tongue should confess: Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father. Jesus is Lord by his Divine origin ⁇ d and ransom offering on the cross. His Father gave him the nations as an inheritance, and he appropriated them as brothers and sisters through the mystery of the Incarnation and his blood shed on the cross. Earth kings also subdue nations but become masters by shedding the blood of others. Jesus shed his blood as a sacrifice of infinite love. Therefore, all power in heaven and on earth is given to him – he is the Lord of all people.

Saint Teofan Zatvornik (1815–1894) talks about the reasons that cause the loss of baptismal grace. First, it leaves the Church and the sacramental life. This causes the shoot of the Christian life to dry up. The second is submission to the body’s appetites, which causes various passions to take root in the heart. Third, it is the loss of the ability to see the primary goal of life and follow temporary goals that satisfy bodily pleasures and quench the thirst caused by pride and vanity. The fourth is forgetting the soul. Many other things overshadow prayer, God’s fear, or conscience. A fifth is the failure to gain order in life, created by keeping the commandments. Saint Theophan says that all these reasons for losing baptismal grace are interconnected and often cannot be distinguished. Parents who have neglected the proper formation of their children are responsible for this condition.

Through our baptism, we became partakers of the mystery that appeared at the baptism of Jesus. We have become his servants and share in his official mission, just like his Mother, who expressed it with the words: I am the Servant of the Lord! God also called us at baptism: My Servant. I no longer call you servants, but I have called you friends. Baptism gives us a great right: In Christ to serve God, our Father, and all our brothers and sisters! In Christ, we became beloved children over whom heaven opened, and God’s love poured out on our souls. And although we may be afraid of the mission that comes from our baptism, Jesus assures us: Do not be afraid, little flock, because it pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

Let us protect baptismal grace as the greatest gift, give thanks daily for the gift of baptism, and serve God as faithful sons and daughters so that we may share in the kingdom of Christ.