On the Back Porch
Baptism of the Lord, Year A
"This is my beloved Son..."
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. 17 And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)
Why is John baptizing? Why did Jesus agree to be baptized and what did it all mean? The heavens open, the Spirit descends and God speaks from above. As always, there is a lot going on in these gospels. Take a moment with a cup of joe and the bible on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
The Baptism of Christ, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, “El Mudo” | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Commons | PD-US
One the questions that usually arises in association with this Feast is “Why was Jesus Baptized?” The detailed commentary addresses this in detail, but it you’d rather watch a video on the question, the two videos below are pretty good starters.