We cannot doubt that he will reach into the heart and soul of each of us.

The Covenant

That water must have felt good. 

Granted, the Jordan river was murky and teeming with various pungent smells of desert growths, scuttling creatures, dry dust, and of course the unbathed bodies of ordinary people. Still it felt good. John the Baptist’s voice boomed out over the waiting crowd. “Repent!”

Maybe you remember your own river swims as a kid, how it felt to sink into thick muddy water, how the mixture could go up your nose and, uck, into your mouth. And you can recall how it sounded when you dove up through the water-surface again.

Here in the desert, people had come to the water for baptism. The river must have been a potent symbol for them, since their means of cleanliness were limited.

Jesus was one of people. He entered John’s baptism just like the others, entirely submerging his road-weary body when told to.

But when he came up from underwater, a great surprise waited for him. The New American Bible translates it this way: the heavens were “torn open.” Out of the torn sky came the voice of the Holy Spirit, to announce to the world that God’s ancient covenant of love now was before them in person, in the flesh—dirty and wet, just as they were.

Covenant. 

What is a covenant? To put it simply, an agreement. God said, “I agree to be your God and you agree to be my people.” This proposal was re-stated many times in ancient scripture, with varying degrees of success. But now Jesus had come into the world to actually become this covenant. He was the most profound agreement possible of God and humanity. He was both halves of the covenant, God’s and humans’. 

Many centuries earlier, the book of Isaiah had predicted this moment. The following words were uttered during the exile of Israel in Babylon:

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. (First Reading)

After so many centureies had passed, the Holy Spirit was descending now upon Jesus, and a voice was saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The time had come, after such a long anticipation.

What would this brand new covenant life in God be like? It would be gentle (“not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street”). It would deliver God’s love to the unkempt, the dripping wet, the honest (and dishonest), the alluring (and repulsive) people of everyday life. Instead of excluding them, Jesus, who had become the covenant, would invite people down from trees where they scrambled to see him. He would say “of course I do” in answer to “Lord if you want to you can cure me.” He will pity the soldiers who were ordered to kill him. He will agree to the shrewd thief’s cry for pity.

We cannot doubt that he will reach into the heart and soul of each of us, even into the parts that so shame and embarrass us.

Most of us have already swum in this particular river, now known as baptismal water. It washes us clean, washes us free so that today we may surge up and out of our sin and reluctance, so that we may be surprised by the great words Jesus now says to each and every of us:

  “You are my beloved; in you I am well pleased.” (Gospel)

-John Foley, SJ