The Baptism of the Lord

Any parent of an adolescent knows that tension is an every day household word. The adolescent experiences tension within themselves as they grow toward adulthood and they begin to assert their independence! And as they grow toward adulthood, their behavior frustrates and angers parents. The tensions have a good side, though. For the adolescent, it means they are growing up. For the parents, it means they have a real opportunity to instill wholesome values and attitudes in their children.

In our Gospel today, there is a tension between John and Jesus. But this tension is between lesser and greater, sinner and one without sin.

Jesus comes to John for baptism. John judges the situation from his narrow perspective of how he felt he should be in relation to Jesus-he was the one needing baptism, not Jesus. By listening to Jesus and befriending the tension, John opened himself up to a broader vision of his relationship with Jesus.

How often do we experience tension between ourselves and what Jesus is asking us to do?

This gospel calls us to open ourselves and seek Christ’s coming into our lives.