The Baptism of Jesus

One question regarding Jesus’ baptism had struck me many years ago: Why did He, who had no sin, need to be baptised?  Of course, after 20 years of priesthood, I have given a standard answer every time this question comes up.  Jesus wanted to be identified with sinful humanity even though he was sinless.  Saint Paul would say this, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)

This idea of identification brings to mind what our attitude should be in this Jubilee Year of Mercy.  We need to identify ourselves with our brothers and sisters before we can truly be merciful as God has been merciful to us.  One of the ways of identifying ourselves with our brothers and sisters is to feel with them: to have sympathy.  In the Gospels, Jesus is said to have had compassion on the people around him.  He is able to have compassion because he sympathised with the people.  Let us not talk about mercy from a top-down perspective: Those people are less fortunate than me and since I am able, I will help them.  God’s mercy is not like that.  God knows our weaknesses and difficulties.  He sent His Son to become one of us to live in this weakness.  His compassion is not one of I’ve got the means and so I’ll help you.  Rather, it is one of I’m helping you because I’m with you.  Of course, we must have the means to help or else we cause more trouble.  Yet when we have God, we have the means.  He will indicate to us the means to help.  He will indicate to us how to help.

I remember many years ago, I was told this little principle: Don't just give fish, show how to fish.  Sometimes we have to just give fish.  Most of the time, after giving fish, we teach how to fish.  We can only know when to do which when we are with the people we serve.  When we give fish, we do not need to know the people we help; we simply provide.  To teach how to fish, we need to encounter and interact with the people; we must be with the people.  This calls to mind the little problem in an European country some time back regarding helping the refugees from the Middle East.  The refugees complained that they were given food that they were not allowed to eat.  Whilst it could have been a simple misunderstanding, I believe that the situation could have been avoided if those who wanted to help by providing food took some time to be with the refugees.

Thus, may I humbly suggest that the next time we are given the opportunity to help, we take a short time to discern.