Before we delve into the scripture readings for the day, a brief note on the history of the feast day. Originally the baptism of Jesus was celebrated on Epiphany. At that time, the Feast of Epiphany commemorated the coming of the Magi, the baptism of Christ, and the wedding at Cana. The common theme being the “theophany” of the Lord to the nations and the people of Israel.

Over time the emphasis of the visit of the magi during Epiphany so minimized the Baptism of Jesus and the wedding at Cana, accommodations were made to the (western) lectionary of Sundays and Feast Days. In the West the celebration of the baptism of the Lord came to be commemorated as a distinct feast from Epiphany. In the Eastern Catholic tradition Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th regardless of the day of the week on which it falls. In the Western Catholic tradition Epiphany is celebrated on the first Sunday following January 1st.

In 1955, the Feast of the Baptism (in the West) was established as the Sunday after Epiphany with one caveat. If Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday, Jan. 7 or 8, the Baptism of the Lord is the following Monday – and part of the Christmas season – and “Ordinary Time” begins the following day.

The Gospel Reading and the Passage

The Gospel reading is not a continuous pericope (a selection from a larger narrative) from Luke, as shown immediately below 4 verses are removed from the passage so that the text that is proclaimed focuses entirely on the revelation of the Messiah and his Baptism by John.

¹⁵ Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

[¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”¹⁸ Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.¹⁹ Now Herod the tetrarch, who had been censured by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil deeds Herod had committed,²⁰ added still another to these by (also) putting John in prison.]

²¹ After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened²² and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 15-22, with vv.17-20 not part of the proclaimed gospel)

The apocalyptic tone of the 4 verses (17-20) makes sense in the large pericope that starts at Luke 3:1. Let us see how that plays out in the flow of Luke’s narrative.

---

Image credit: Baptism of Christ |Pietro Perugino, 1482 | Sistine Chapel, Vatican City | PD-US