First Reading Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7 or Isaiah 55:1-11 Second Reading Acts 10:34-38 or I John 5:1-9 Gospel Mark 1:7-11

The baptism of Jesus was his inaugural as the Suffering Servant of the Lord. Every prophet had an inaugural experience. Jesus’ inaugural comes at his baptism. He identifies himself with sinful mankind by accepting a baptism leading to repentance and forgiveness. In so doing, he takes upon himself all the suffering and sins of the whole world. The “Suffering Servant Songs in Isaiah (Of which our first reading is the first) tell of an “everyman” figure who humbles himself, who is gentle, and who takes all evil unto himself; by his own suffering, he vicariously heals all. This Suffering Servant Song begins with the words “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am well-pleased.” In the original languages, these are almost identical with the words of the Father in the gospel.
Mark’s language is much stronger than our translations: Mark really says that the heavens were “ripped apart” and the Spirit descended as a dove. The dove was a representation or symbol of Israel. In this sign, then, Jesus becomes Israel personified; he becomes the sinful people of the Lord. He will strip off all sin in his saving death and resurrection.
The second reading is the story of the conversion of Cornelius. God is no respecter of persons; Jesus came to save all peoples of all times and places.
In our baptism, we are freed from sin precisely because in his baptism Jesus took to himself the suffering and sinfulness of the world. Jesus other “baptism” is when he gives his life for the sake of us all; he strips away all sin and nails it to the cross. Through this “baptism” he empowers the sacraments to be signs of his salvation among us.