THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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A good Sunday to all.

It will be useful to introduce today’s evangelical text with a brief presentation of the place to which the text refers to. It has a theological significance, as this often happens in the Bible. Tradition places the baptism of Jesus in Bethabara. You can see it indicated on the map. It is located 9 kilometers north of the Dead Sea shore, in present-day Jordan. The Jordan River is quoted 179 times in the Bible, therefore, it is of great importance, but it is not of economic importance.

Along the banks of this river no big city has emerged. It is the difference with the great rivers admired by the Israelites: the Nile in Egypt and the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia. Important empires were born along these great rivers. The Jordan River had no importance of this kind. What did the Jordan River mean in the Bible? It was important to point out a border between pagan, idolatrous land, and the land of freedom.

What did the Baptist do? He preached conversion, make people aware that they were sinners. Then, he baptized those who came to him. The Hebrews, especially the people more observant of traditions, such as the monks of Qumram or the Pharisees, had many ablutions to purify themselves.

Archaeologists have found many of these wells; at least one hundred existed next to the temple in Jerusalem. But the rite of baptism was a very particular submersion. It had the symbolic meaning of making the previous person disappear, as if she or he were dead; then, a new person was born from the water.

This rite was done, for example, when a pagan became a Hebrew. They had to declare that they renounced the cult of pagan divinity, and professed faith in the one God, then if he was male he was circumcised and then baptized. It meant that the previous man, the pagan, is as if he had never existed and a Jew was born from the water. The strange thing about it is that John called to be baptized not to the pagans but to the Hebrew people, those who, being Abraham’s children, considered that they had already obtained salvation. They felt good, free, they had already reached the promised land.

The Baptist questioned this belief: ‘You have not yet reached the promised land; you are still in the pagan world.’ Therefore, the Baptist asked them: return to the pagan land because you must make a new exodus; you must pass across the Jordan River again before entering the land of true freedom.

The evangelist John says that all of Judea went to the Baptist. They returned to the other side of the Jordan, in the land of slavery, and this gesture served to raise awareness that they needed to think of another promised land; that which the Baptist had indicated would have introduced the people to the land of true freedom. This is why, when the Pharisees and Sadducees go to the Baptist —they didn’t want to be baptized… they didn’t feel this need because they had no conscience of being still slaves—the Baptist challenges them. He says: “Race of vipers! Who has taught you to escape the coming condemnation? Do not think it is enough to say: Our father is Abraham; for I tell you that from these stones I could draw children for Abraham” (cf. Mt 3:7-9).

They must realize their condition of slavery; not of a material slavery, although they were subject to the Roman Empire, but of a slavery that prevented them from really being people: slaves of their own passions, of their own pride, of their own evils, of infidelity to the Torah and to the word of the prophets. All this makes the person a slave and there is a need to become aware of this reality, of this fact. It is in this cultural and religious context when Jesus leaves Nazareth, goes down to Bethabara to be baptized by John.

It is the beginning of the public life of Jesus that Matthew narrates beginning in the third chapter. Also in the other gospels Jesus’ public life begins with baptism, when Jesus goes to Bethabara to be baptized by John. At the end of the second chapter, the gospel of Matthew presents Jesus, going to Nazareth together with his parents when he was about two years old. Then, in the third chapter, Jesus enters the scene when he is 34 years old.

Therefore, 32 years have passed between the end of the second chapter and the beginning of the third chapter. What has happened in these first 34 years of Jesus’ life? We will never know. The apocryphal gospels have tried to respond to our curiosity by inventing many episodes that are very familiar to us, but that is not important to our faith. We are only interested in the time when Jesus presented himself to the world publicly to give us the true image of God and how the whole, complete person should be. The strange thing is that Jesus goes to Bethabara to be baptized.

Then, after baptism, he will not return to Nazareth, but will begin his public life in Capernaum. But the strange thing is that he comes to be baptized because no one would have expected a Messiah being a sinner… to go to the Baptist to join all other sinners seeking conversion… NO.

The Messiah should not fulfill this rite, this gesture. In fact, that Jesus had been baptized together with sinners brought problems to the first Christians since he was not a sinner. Let’s listen to what happened: Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.

The orthodox church that you see behind me indicates the precise place where the Baptist was and where Jesus went to be baptized. It is located in the eastern part of the Jordan River. That same river that then had to be crossed to begin the new exodus with Jesus that these people should lead to the land of true freedom. The place he called: Bethabara. This Hebrew word comes from ‘beth’ = the house and ‘abar’ which means ‘to cross’; It is the place of the ford, the place where the people of Israel, who came from the land of slavery in Egypt, had crossed the desert and had passed the Jordan River right here in Bethabara, and had entered the promised land.

Now there was a counter-exodus requested by the Baptist and then crossing the Jordan again to the true exodus that must lead to the kingdom of God. What does the Baptist do when Jesus arrives to be baptized? He wants to prevent it. For what reason? It is as if the Baptist said to Jesus: ‘Jesus, you are out of place. I don’t understand what you came to do.’ And in fact, the Baptist could not understand the option made by Jesus because it did not correspond to the idea that the Baptist had in mind about the Messiah: A Messiah who, being righteous, could not mix with sinners.

And, shortly after, the Baptist will enter into crisis because he had the image of a God, of a Messiah sent by God who should resemble the Lord, therefore, who was far away from sinners, from lepers. But the God presented in the face of Jesus is completely different. Jesus will be with sinners, with those who have been wrong in life, with tax collectors. According to the criteria and expectations of the Baptist, Jesus begins the wrong way. Therefore, he wanted to stop him. This gesture of the Baptist is similar to what Peter does later. Peter will want to prevent Jesus from traveling a certain path that does not fit his messianic criteria.

Here the Baptist behaves as Peter will later do; and Jesus will call ‘Satan’ to Peter… “You oppose the path that I must travel.” The Baptist does exactly the same gesture as Peter. He wants to stop Jesus because he doesn’t understand what Jesus is doing. In some translations, the original text has not been well translated because Jesus says: ‘Do what I tell you’; and when the Baptist agrees to baptize Jesus, the text says: ‘Before this John accepted’ The Greek word is (ἀφίησιν) = ‘left’. ‘Leaves him’.

It is an expression that appears twice in the Gospel of Matthew. Once here, when the Baptist left him and then, after the third temptation, when Satan left him: 4:11 = ἀφίησιν (the Devil left him). He did not get Jesus to accept his proposal. Here it is as if the Baptist wanted to force Jesus to accept his criteria of justice… then the Baptist leaves him. Accept that Jesus fulfills his justice, which is not the one of the criteria of justice that the Baptist had in mind: to cut the trees that do not bear fruit, burn the smoking straw in the eternal fire. Therefore, separation of the good and the bad. NO.

Now comes the new justice that is the total gratuitousness of God’s love that Jesus will reveal throughout his public life. What did the Baptist not understand? He did not understand what the Old Testament had already begun to reveal. And it is that God is always with his people, unconditionally. This will be done in fullness with Jesus which is Immanuel, God-with-us.

But already the Old Testament showed this unconditional love of God who walked with his people. Recall the column of cloud and fire that accompanied Israel on the desert road. Then, the Ark of the Covenant, placed in a tent and this tent was next to the tents of the people of Israel along the way. Then the temple of Jerusalem which indicated precisely the presence of God in the middle of Israel. And when these people are deported to Mesopotamia, the prophet Ezekiel sees cherubs who take the Ark of the Covenant, which is the sign of the presence of God, and this Ark is carried to the top of the Mount of Olives and from there goes to the East because God cannot be far from his people. If people are deported, God also goes to be with his people. And, again the prophet Ezekiel, you will see this Ark returning to Jerusalem, along with his people.

Let us now listen to what happens when Jesus leaves the water of the Jordan River:

After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

To explain what happened during the baptism of Jesus, the evangelist Matthew uses three biblical images.

The first: “The heavens were opened.” The rabbis held that the heavens were seven. And over the seventh heaven there was the throne of God and between one heaven and another 500 years of journey were necessary. What had happened? That in the last centuries before Christ the people had the feeling that God had closed the seven heavens, locked, because they thought that God no longer wanted to have anything with his people.

The people had been unfaithful; they had not heard the prophets and now God had grown tired and had not sent other prophets to make his voice heard. Psalm 74 says: ” We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.” (Ps 74:9). “We don’t know how long this silence of God will last that distresses us so much.” Also, the prophet Daniel who says: We have no chief or prophet, no place to offer you burnt offerings. When will this silence of God end? They hoped that somehow God would show his face again. They were sorry for their sin. There is a beautiful prayer that clearly makes reference to the text of the evangelist Matthew in this opening of the heavens that were closed.

This prayer of the distressed people is found in Isaiah chapter 63: when the people find themselves in these distressing situations, they turn to heaven and ask God… it is a beautiful prayer… they say to God: look at what situation we are in… “You were angry, and we failed… we were all contaminated… you hid your face… And yet, Lord, you are our father, we are the clay and you are the potter: we are all the work of your hands” (cf. Is 62:4-7).

It is the first time in the Bible that God is invoked as a father. The Hebrews did not call God ‘father’, but the pagans did. The Hebrews already had their father: Abraham, the patriarchs were their father. In prayer God was not invoked as a father. It is the first time that God is called father. “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Lord, are our Father Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? (Is 63,16-17).

It’s like telling God: You also have a bit of guilt… you must be attentive as a father to see what suits us. “There are none who call upon your name, none who rouse themselves to take hold of you; For you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our crimes” (Is 64:6). And now the invocation: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down (Is 63:19). “Yet, Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you our potter: we are all the work of your hand” (Is 64:7). It is a beautiful prayer in which the people invoke the Lord to tear the heavens. What the evangelist Matthew means is that when Jesus begun his public life with baptism, when he came out of the water, these heavens were opened.

The evangelist Mark uses a very strong verb: ‘squízomai’ which means: ‘torn’, ‘broken’, ‘in pieces’. They cannot be closed again; They will always remain open. It is a very good comparison because since the Son of God has become one of us, the heavens cannot close again because in that case the Son would remain outside, that Son who has become one with this people being sinners and who make mistakes. The door of the Father’s house will remain eternally wide open to collect all his sons and daughters. No one will be excluded.

The second image that is used: Jesus sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him, that has come from heaven. It is the Spirit, this divine force, this divine life that Jesus fully possesses and it will be the one that will guide him throughout his life. Jesus does not receive orders from outside; he receives them of his divine identity, that life that will later communicate to us; it’s the same life as Jesus brought to the world and we receive the indication of how to live, no more of our instincts but of the divine life that is in us.

This Spirit has come down like a dove. What does this comparison mean? It is a biblical image, not a flying dove. The image of the Spirit that is like a dove. The first memory we have of the dove in the Bible is that of the flood, when harmony between heaven and earth was restored, peace. Now the ‘Immanuel’ is with us, the God-with-us. The second application the dove is derived from the fact that the dove is gentle… the Spirit of God that falls in fullness in Jesus is like the dove, gentle.

We remember that God was throwing fire from heaven, shooting arrows to defeat enemies. Even the Baptist had this image of God coming to cut out the trees and make them to pieces. NO. The Spirit will manifest in Jesus with tenderness, with sweetness, with love… He will not cut the bowed rod; he will not extinguish the wick that still smokes; it will always be gentle with people. It will always distinguish very well between the mistake and the one who makes the mistake. Whoever makes a mistake will always be loved by God.

This is the unconditional love revealed by the Spirit that animates Jesus as a dove. Also, the dove is the symbol of belonging to the nest itself; the dove always returns to its nest. And the Spirit descends upon Jesus because that is the nest that has fully embraced the Spirit, the divine life.

The third biblical image is the voice of heaven, which says: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” What is this voice from heaven? It is a very common image used in Jesus’ time. Everyone understood the meaning. It is not a material voice. It is an expression that was used frequently in the literature and used when one wanted to attribute an affirmation to God.

In our example, to define the name of God, the identity of Jesus. What does this voice say? “This is my beloved Son”. The reference is to the second psalm. ‘Son’: when in Semitic culture it is said that one is ‘the son of a certain father,’ rather than ‘generated from,’ it is understood ‘the one who resembles’, the one who resembles not only the external factions, but especially in what characterizes one as ‘person’: the values ​​in which one believes, moral choices, the way of thinking, speaking, behaving… ‘resembles the father – therefore, he is a son.’ If the voice of heaven says: “This is my beloved Son.” It means: observe him because when you see him you see me. He is my Son, in whom I recognize myself. We are at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and in this year we will observe this Jesus who makes himself seen. When we see him we will know that we are seeing the Father in heaven whom he resembles perfectly. He is the ‘beloved.’

The reference is to Isaac. Abraham had two children and one was the favorite. And Jesus is presented as the one who is fully involved in the love of the Father. “With whom I am well pleased.” Here the reference is to the Servant of the Lord as presented in chapter 42 of the prophet Isaiah, when God calls this Servant and God says: in you I am pleased…. It means that the Father in heaven is recognized in Jesus. It is the invitation during this year, that when we hear Jesus and see what he does, we must keep in mind the Beloved One of the Father because it is the invitation to resemble this Jesus to feel, also we, that the Father in heaven be pleased with us.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.