As the Christmas Season progresses, we gradually unfold the many titles and revelations of Jesus as Messiah and Lord. At Epiphany we saw Christ revealed as the Light to the Nations. He is the Incarnate Son whose birth was revealed through the angel at the Annunciation. Now, as the Christmas season ends with the celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the revelation of Jesus as Son – beloved Son – is announced by the Father. While the Baptism of Jesus is unlike our own – though it prefigures our own Baptism – it is a necessary and natural consequence of the Incarnation.

The moment of the Baptism, where we hear the declamation from the Father: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” is best understood in the context of the Infancy Narrative, and is therefore aptly placed as the culmination of the Christmastide.

While John, preaching on the immanent coming of the Kingdom of God, challenges the people to seek repentance and forgiveness of their sins, Jesus comes to John, not because he needs forgiveness of his sins, but because it is time for him to begin his mission. Although not a typical Jewish practice, the Baptism that John preached pointed to a decision-moment of commitment to prepare for the Kingdom. Jesus, who is to inaugurate that Kingdom through his preaching, his miracles, and ultimately by his Passion, is ready to begin this mission. He knows, in whatever way his human nature is capable of knowing, of his particular relationship with the Father.

John identifies Jesus even before the Baptism. The declamation of the Father is not for Jesus’s benefit but as a revelation to John and those around him. The Father both identifies Jesus as “Son” and announces that he is “well pleased” with the Son. Akin to Mary being called “full of grace” in the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel, the use of this expression indicates that the Father’s grace is fully present in the Son. Jesus’ unique relationship with the Father and for us is expressed and is then made manifest throughout his ministry.

We also see the connections between Jesus and the great figures of the Old Testament in whose tradition he stands. Jesus is connected to David, Isaac, and the servant of God as prophesized by Isaiah. Then, Jesus is identified as king, as the beloved son, and in foreshadowing the Passion and Death by the allusion to the servant of God. In a sense, the fullness of the mission of Jesus is expressed by the Father at the Baptism of the Son.

This means for us that we share more fully in the life promised to us by God at creation and restored to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Through the mystery of the Incarnation our humanity is elevated and divinity becomes accessible in space and time. We are called to a deepened relationship with the Father through the Son, and by virtue of our own Baptism, we are called sons and daughters of God.

In the ritual of Baptism as we prepare to recite the Lord’s Prayer the deacon or priest says: “Dear brothers and sisters, this child reborn through Baptism is now called a child of God, for indeed he (she) is. Through Confirmation he (she) will receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and, approaching the altar of the Lord, he (she) will share the table of his Sacrifice, and will call upon God as Father in the midst of the Church.”

Herein is the next connection. It is in light of the Incarnation, and by virtue of Baptism, that we can and do pray the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus taught this prayer, using the familial term “Abba” where he instructs us to call God “Our Father,” or more precisely “Daddy.” It is through the Baptism of Jesus that his Sonship is revealed and to us also by virtue of our own Baptism. This intimate familial relationship is one that we must not squander.

Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.