The liturgy of the Catholic Church, the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the daily prayer life of the Catholic Church rightly and understandably exalt Jesus Christ as Universal King, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. God the Father certainly contributed to this lofty notion of Jesus’ excellence as this Sunday’s reading from Isaiah testifies: “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... I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations...” St. Peter’s elocution to the newly converted household of Cornelius confirms Jesus’ exalted state: “You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all...how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good...for God was with him.”
St. John the Baptist too recognized Jesus’ superior state when Christ approached him for baptism. St. John felt unworthy even to interact with Christ: “John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’ Immediately after St. John’s hesitant baptism of Christ, heaven itself confirmed Christ’s excellence: ‘..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.’ And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”
Yet the same liturgies, teachings and prayers that rightly herald the Divinity of Christ also signal the nearness of the Master to those most desperate among the human family. Today Isaiah affirms the Savior’s concern for all the needy: “A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; (he will) open the eyes of the blind, (and he will) bring out prisoners from confinement.” St. Peter also tersely affirms the nearness of Christ to the most distressed within society, “He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” And, of course, the very notion of Jesus’ accepting the baptism of John is a dramatic affirmation of Christ’s intended nearness to sinners. Jesus even has to ease the Baptist’s own embarrassment at including the Son of God among his sinful constituents: “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
For two thousand years the Christian community has shared this challenging task of balancing the exaltation of Christ among the Divine Persons with the humility of Christ among the sinful human race. Christ’s heavenly excellence might easily distance the Savior from an errant believer. Christ as God might seem unapproachable or, at best, distant and remote. On the other hand, Christ who rubbed shoulders with acknowledged sinners along the shores of the Jordan indeed appears more accessible, even sympathetic, to the plight of fallen humanity. Yes, although sinless himself, Christ’s message along the riverbank wants almost to be “...been there, done that...” as a profound gesture of compassion and camaraderie with the whole of sinful mankind.
The baptism of Jesus on Jordan’s bank was certainly not the last time Jesus would affirm his empathy for sinners. The religious leadership in Jesus’ day was only too quick to accuse the Master of consorting with sinners as he preached to crowds, dined with tax collectors and showed kindness toward Gentiles. And certainly, the Savior’s most graphic testimony and his most sincere witness to being hope for the hopeless and salvation for the sinner was certainly his crucifixion as a criminal and his death as a condemned man.
Death had long been recognized in the Jewish Scriptures and tradition as a punishment for sin. “For the wages of sin is death,” St. Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, confirming what was common knowledge since Eden. The death of Jesus was the ultimate declaration of his unity with sinful mankind. “Been there, done that” indeed! While certainly adorable as God, Jesus is emphatically approachable as man, as both his baptism and his crucifixion attest. Through Christ, the believer has the best of both worlds: access to the Master in heavenly glory and nearness to the Savior in earthly trials.
