BAPTISM OF OUR LORD (January 11)

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

MK 1:7-11

One mightier than I is coming after me.

The image is of a procession or of a retinue. The first is lower in rank. The last is highest in rank.
The might or power of Jesus is revealed in his fight against Satan. Jesus is go-ing to destroy the kingdom of Satan.

I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.

This is the task of a slave.

I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The work of salvation begun by Jesus is presented as eschatological (pertain-ing to definite establishment of God’s reign at the end of time) purification or sanctification through the action of the Holy Spirit.

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

The interest of St. Mark is not in the event of Baptism but in the heavenly revelation that follows. This is the key to understanding the gospel of St. Mark.
Mark does not mention any other witnesses.

On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.

The heavens is being torn open as if it were a piece of cloth. This is the sign of God intervening in the history of man in order to fulfil his promises, in this in-stance, through the sending of the Holy Spirit.

The descent of the Holy Spirit identifies Jesus as the promised Savior.

There is no certainty as to the symbolism of the dove. It probably has no allusion to the dove that Noah released. Others see in the dove the symbol of the love of God coming down on the earth. Hebrew tradition saw in the dove the symbol of Israel. But there is also another Hebrew tradition that saw in the dove the symbol of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters at the creation of the world. If this is the meaning of the dove, then the Baptism of Jesus is to be interpreted as the beginning of the new creation.

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

Other translate “with you I am well pleased” as “I am pleased to choose you.”

At the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, the Father recognizes Jesus as his Son.

Beloved Son has two biblical references. The first is the prophecy of Nathan of a royal son in 2 Sm 7:14, “I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.”

The second is the Servant of Isaiah. “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street” (Is 42, 1-2).