The Baptism of the Lord

Jeff Bagnall • 10 January 2025

The way that humans understand their role in the world varies; and the understanding that religious people have of the relationship between God and them is never the same and sometimes develops. In the lead-up to Christmas we have had many passages in which the Jews expressed their hopes and expectations of God; they thought of ideal leaders, of being gloriously successful and of leading the rest of humanity. But now we hear of other trends that they were developing, based on their experiences of bad times, of disappointments and especially of being away from what they thought of as their God-given homeland. Tentatively there arises the thought of a subservient role for themselves, even of suffering for the benefit of others. In part of the book of Isaiah from the time of the Exile in Babylon, there are four poems about a servant of the Lord and what he will do. The reading for today (Isaiah 42 passim) is part of the first of these. It is never clear who the servant is meant to be; it could be an individual saintly person, one of the prophets or all the chosen people as a group; but Christians have always seen Jesus as the one referred to in these poems; that is why this particular passage is chosen for us today. It speaks of justice for all, of gentle caring for the weakest and of miracles for those with various ills; a servant who is a promise for them and a light for all. The psalm with which we respond to the reading, is about the thunderous rain and lightning that is both a hardship and a blessing for this agricultural people; it is called the voice of God and it is a revelation of the glory of God and peace but also hardship for His people.

An alternative first reading is from Isaiah chapter 55 . This passage originated, perhaps, towards the end of the exile, when hope could be raised for a return to the promised land, but it is also about the need for people to embrace this gift of God i.e. the return to the homeland. As it stands it is a poem of three main sections; God addressing everyone with needs, the poet urging the people to heed God’s word and then God announcing His plans and their utter reliability. Firstly, some people know their needs but others think they will be satisfied with things that are not actually good for them; they should accept the promise of God in a covenant that will never be revoked – and the poet adds the notion that this is open to people of all nations. Secondly, the poet calls us to respond while we can, with words echoed at the time of Jesus in the Baptist’s call to repentance – turn your life around now! And the poem concludes with beautiful similes, as God speaks about the surety of His plans – his word that is not compromising but as certain “as the sky is above the earth… as the rain and the snow fall downwards and water the land…” We should be moved by this poem to renew our commitment to live in accord with God’s plan for us, especially at this time of New Year resolutions.

The second reading is from the first letter of John ( 1 John 5:1-9 ). This short section at the end of this so-called epistle is a neat summary of much of what has been covered in earlier chapters. The whole ‘letter’ is more an essay about faith in Jesus Christ and our living response to and involvement in God’s plan. The reading is an example of the intensity of the wording found also in the Fourth Gospel, equally attributed to John. It is about believing, loving and doing whatever God commands; about us Christians, being children of God and free from the control of any worldly deficiencies (just referred to as ‘the world.’ There is a link between being obedient children of God and freedom from the downward drag of ‘the world.’ It is all dependant on Jesus Christ, a genuinely human being, who went through the process of baptism by water, through the trauma of shedding His blood for us and who lived with the Spirit of God. The Christian is similarly engaged with the life of God through baptism, the Eucharist and the gift of the Spirit. All this should cause us to reflect on our faith and its practice in loving!

In this cycle (B) of readings, the gospel is from Mark ( Mark 1:7-11 ) about the baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist was the sort of person who these days would make the headlines in the news for his unconventional behaviour, with his message of dramatic conversion symbolised with emersion in the river Jordan; he drew crowds of all different types of people. Some early Christians at the time of the writing of this gospel were more attracted by John than with Jesus, who was a much calmer and gentler character, though He did propose some hard sayings. So it is that Mark tells of John himself declaring the superiority of Jesus to himself; indeed that Jesus was the very Son of God on whom the true Spirit of God had descended, and who had the grace and favour of God. So the Baptism of Jesus which these readings are chosen to celebrate, speaks to us of faith and love and obedience to God, all through our union in humanity with Jesus and hence with God Himself – we have the power to fulfil God’s plan for us if we just choose and stick at it.

Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2025 - Year C

by Jeff Bagnall • 10 October 2025
The first reading is a story from the Book of Exodus, telling the tale of one of the many incidents from that epic journey of escape from slavery in Egypt, through many ups and downs until the entry into the promised land. The whole book was put together from various collections of stories that had been passed down through at least four or five centuries of retelling. The point of the whole and of each individual story, in general terms, is to say something about God and ‘the people of the Book’ and the relationship between the two; to teach people about their responsibility towards God and about His attitude towards them. The details in this tale about warfare and the rod of Moses, if taken literally, say nothing we would regard as true about the relationship between God and people; it was this rod that seemed to clear the sea for the people to cross when escaping the Pharaoh’s army, and this rod that produced water in the wilderness. But we get closer to the point of the story’s transmission and survival in our sacred Scriptures, if we see its significance for us today; it reminds us that the power of God is in everything, though we usually think of various sacred objects as reminding us of this.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2025 - Year C

by Jeff Bagnall • 2 October 2025
These readings might speak to us when we are going through difficulties or hard times. We must trust in God, do what we should, but most of all thank God for the benefits that we do have. Naaman had to listen to his servants and not give up because there was no dramatic exhibition of a miraculous cure. The early Christian leaders, especially, had to be prepared to suffer for the work they were doing and the beliefs that they had. And like the lepers, we should be prepared to keep the rules as long as we can, but that wont save us; it is God who saves those who are faithful, as He is always reliable. The first reading reminds us how people in the time of the Old Testament lived; there were kings or tribal leaders with nobles under them, they had servants who worked and cared for them, they had their own gods who operated in their territories, miracles and drama were part of their religions and the different small nations were uncertain of each other’s ambitions and motives. The lead up to the first reading is necessary for it to make sense; Naaman was a well-respected leader in a country adjoining Israel, who had leprosy and could find no cure; one of the servants of his wife was from Israel where Elisha was well known as a prophet and man of God; she suggested a visit to him might be helpful. The party set off with plenty of payment and gifts, but Naaman was disappointed when Elisha did nothing dramatic, but merely said go and wash in our river Jordan seven times. He was about to return home disappointed when servants persuaded him to try it all the same. And then we are into today’s reading. Elisha rejects any gift for the miracle and Naaman thinks the god in this land is powerful, so takes some of the land back with him to his own territory.
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