Articles
We concluded the Christmastide with the feast of the baptism of the Lord. The question often asked is whether the baptism of Christ was necessary. This doubt arises from our understanding of baptism as a sacrament, a physical sign of an invisible grace that embeds two aspects; cleansing from sin and incorporation into a filial relationship with God and the church. So, did Jesus have original sin? Did he have to be incorporated into a filial relationship with God, yet by the nature of his incarnation he is already the son of God?
The answer to all these dubia are embedded not in the relationship of Christ with God but rather inthe relationship that the baptism of Christ brings in defining the relationship of all the baptised with God. In other words, Christ undergoes baptism not because he had original sin or because he had to establish a relationship with the son of God. The baptism of Christ reveals him and his mission to the world. The voice that proclaims, “This is my son the beloved in whom I am well pleased” (cf Mat. 3:13- 17) affirms this. As Christ is revealed, those who share in the baptism become adopted sons and daughters of God.
Our being proclaimed sons and daughters of God comes through Christ through whom we go to the Father. (cf John 14:7), “no one comes to the Father except through me.” When we delve deeper into baptism as a sacrament, we realise that the sonship of Christ is obvious andindubitable. The pertinent question only arises in relation to his being withou sin. He was like us in all things except sin (cf Heb 4:15). Thus, we cannot claim that the baptism of Christ also cleansed him from sin. The baptism of Christ reveals the state of grace in which all the baptised are immersed. It did not have to take the sacramental form as we intend.
When we are baptised, we are immersed in his death, purified, regenerated, and renewed. We are born anew in the Holy Spirit. The Catechism of the Catholic Church number 1265 describes this as a process of becoming neophyte in Christ, adopted sons and daughters of God and partakers of Divine nature. This is how our sinful nature meets the mercy of God and we are renewed by the grace of Baptism. We become newborn children of God and like Christ, the words from heaven resonatein each neophyte, sons and daughters of God in whom God is pleased. This leads to another paramount role of Baptism that is, becoming coheirs with Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusively, the Baptism of Christ was essential and necessary. It is the light that enlightens the baptised and gives them the dignity of sharing in Christ’s Sonship. Without Christ, our mediator with the Father, our Baptism would have no meaning. The essentiality of the act of Baptism of Christ therefore, truly and
authentically mediates the incorporation of all the Baptised in one body; the church, the beloved children of God.
By Fr. Nicholas Onyait MCCJ
