Almighty ever-living God, Who, when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan and as the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, solemnly declared Him Your beloved Son, grant that Your children by adoption, reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, may always be well pleasing to You. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan – We might wonder with John the Baptist why Jesus chose to receive a baptism of repentance, for He was sinless. Jesus told John (and us) that it was to fulfill all righteousness, to carry out the Father's perfect will and His perfect plan of salvation. Jesus knew that when He entered into the water, He would take our sins with Him. He prepared the water that would one day soon, after He had died on the cross and risen again, wash away those sins as our Lord filled us with His grace and with His very presence. Jesus also knew what the Father had in mind, how He would reveal His Son to the world as He came up out of the river.
as the Holy Spirit descended upon Him – This descent of the Holy Spirit both revealed Jesus' identity and marked Him for the mission He had come to accomplish. The Spirit came in the form of a dove to symbolize a new creation (as in the days of Noah) and to represent the peace that Jesus came to bring through the forgiveness of our sins and our entry into eternal life (which we begin to live now by God's grace and will experience fully in Heaven).
solemnly declared Him Your beloved Son – The Father's voice rang out over the waters of the Jordan, declaring that Jesus is His beloved Son. Imagine what you might have thought if you were standing on the riverbank that day. Would you have been frightened or awed or both? You might not have realized that you were witnessing a manifestation of the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but perhaps your heart would have told you that something your mind could not grasp had just appeared before your eyes.
Your children by adoption – In the new covenant initiated by Jesus Christ through His passion, death, and resurrection, we have become the children of God. We have been adopted as heirs into His covenant family, bound to Him by love. Our home is now His home: Heaven.
reborn of water and the Holy Spirit – When we are baptized in water, we receive the gift of sanctifying grace, the divine indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The power of God courses through us, making us a new creation in Christ, making us His for all eternity if we accept Him, cooperate with His grace, and embrace the eternal life He gives us.
may always be well pleasing to You – This should be one of our constant prayers to God: “Dear Lord, make me well pleasing to You. Give me Your grace, please. Pour it out in abundance. And help me to open my heart to receive it that it may change me and draw me ever closer to You. Amen.”
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