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The Water, the Spirit and the Voice (cf. Mt. 3:16-17)

This Sunday, the church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. In St. Matthew’s brief account of the baptism of the Lord, there are three terms used which practically summarize the events described. First, there is the WATER in which the Lord was baptized. Second, there is the SPIRIT which descended like a dove on Jesus. Third, there is the VOICE which declared Jesus as the beloved Son of God. 

Each of these terms is theologically charged. In the Old Testament, Water was the first sign of deliverance. The most significant act of Salvation in Israel was the Exodus event. Moses led the people of Israel dry-shod through the waters of the Red Sea (Ex. 14). This act of going through the waters of the Red Sea became also a symbol of what Christians went through in baptism as they also were immersed in water (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-4). That is why baptism remains for every Christian, the gateway to the life of Grace. As Christ says, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5).

The second element is the Spirit. The Spirit is also associated with deliverance. When Israel entered the promise land, they were surrounded by hostile nations. Whenever Israel cried out to YHWH, he would cause his Spirit to descend mightily on some ordinary man, who invested with power would deliver Israel from their enemies (Jdg. 2:18). It is this same Spirit that enabled Gideon, Jephthah, Deborah and Samson to rise up and deliver Israel. Going through the water made a person part of God’s saved people, but it was the Spirit that gave them the power to rise up and do great deeds for God.

The third element is the Voice. The voice is the vehicle which carries the Word. It is this Word which was given to the prophets and which they proclaimed to Israel. John the Baptist identifies himself in this same tradition as a prophetic voice. But he is only the voice proclaiming the Word. It is the Word of God which saves. That Word is Christ who is revealed at his baptism and offers the fullness of Salvation. In Christ we receive a deliverance more powerful than that which was given to Israel through Moses at the Red Sea. In Christ, we have a saviour more powerful than Samson or Gideon or any other Judge. And in Christ, we have more than a prophetic voice. We encounter the Word himself. For if in former times, God spoke through prophets, he has spoken most definitely today to us, through his beloved Son (cf. Heb 1:1).

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