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| "Everything that happened to Christ let us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of God." St. Hilary of Poitiers |
Through His Passion, Death and Resurrection, Christ opened
to all men the waters of Baptism through which we can be saved.
On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus had shared with His disciples
that He would suffer and die, and He called this His “baptism” with which He
said He had to be baptised (Mk 10:38). We can also consider Christ’s passion,
death and resurrection as His Passover (Pascha). These two things, Passover and
Baptism, are linked. One points to the Old Covenant and the other begins
something New.
The original Passover celebrated from the time of the Exodus
onwards, marked the deliverance of God’s people from slavery and death into a
new life together of freedom to worship God aright. The Church teaches us that
this was to point to the Passover of Christ which brings about not a temporary
deliverance, but an eternal deliverance. The first Passover in Exodus delivered
them temporarily, but the Passover of Christ liberates us for eternity.
The Passover of Christ is offered to all men and is received
through Baptism. So by Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection, Christ has
opened to all men the saving waters of Baptism. We hear in today’s Gospel our
Lord speaking about Baptism with Rabbi Nicodemus (although Nicodemus recognises
Jesus as his Rabbi). Jesus pronounces solemnly in verse 3 a truth of the
Christian faith: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew*, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Christ asserts here the necessity of a new Baptism which is
necessary for salvation. This new Baptism was not the Baptism of John, which
was merely a symbol of repentance, but a Sacrament which enables men to enter
the life of grace; making men into children of God through sanctifying grace.
The blood and water that flowed from the side of Christ on
the cross were types of Baptism and the Eucharist, the Sacraments of New Life.
Now the world has entered into a new age when it becomes possible for people to
“be born of water and the Spirit” so that they can enter into the Kingdom of
God.
As children of God who have received the grace of Baptism
let us then live not the old way of sin and death, but live by grace the new
life of faith, hope and love. In the power of that grace let us renew our
desire and resolve to turn away from the old way of sin, and grow in the
virtues that Christ through His Spirit seeks to bestow on us.
Fr Ian
* The Greek word used here can be translated as “from above”
or “again”.
Note: the Church recognises that there is also Baptism of
desire for those who were not able to be baptised but nevertheless desired it.
She also recognises the Baptism of blood in which a person is martyred for his
faith in Christ. And mother Church also recognises the possibility of salvation
for those who have not heard Christ’s message, but have sincerely followed God’s
will in accordance with their understanding of it. Nevertheless none of this
should lead us to underplay the necessity of Baptism and see it as absolutely
crucial in the mission of the Church. See Catechism, CCC 1257-1261.
