At the moment of baptism, the sky opens. The evangelists are remembering the text of Is 63,19b, which deals with the prophet's prayer for God's answer to the Lord's silence when the people lose themselves, fade in love, turn away from divine worship and surrender to world. The sky is closed. It is important to reproduce this prayer here: “You are our Father. Abraham does not know us, Jacob does not care about us. You are our Lord, our father, our deliverer, your name is eternal. Why do you lead us astray, Lord, from your way? Why do you harden our hearts to lose your fear? Go back for your servants' sake, for the sake of the tribes that are your inheritance! Why have the wicked entered your sanctuary, our enemies have defiled your holy place? We have long looked like a people never ruled by you and upon whom your name has never been invoked. Good, if you OPENED HEAVEN AND DESCESSES! Before you the mountains would melt ”(Is 63,1619). Heaven opens to the "descent" of the Holy Spirit, indicating that baptism bestows the grace of destroying every barrier that prevents man from returning to God, because it eliminates sin, which closes heaven to those who commit it. The entrance of Jesus tore the heavens (incarnation); God is present in the history of men; the veil of the temple has been torn (redemption), nothing further separates men from communion with God. The dove as a sign of the Spirit (already used by the rabbis in the time of Jesus as a sign of divine reality) indicates the beginning of a new creation, for it carries with it a sign of the spirit that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation; still as a sign of peace (the dove released by Noah) and reconciliation between God and humanity, according to the Fathers of the Church.
6. Further, comes the Father's recognition. According to Mt, Mc, and Lc, the Father recognizes Himself in His Son by saying, "This is my beloved Son." When he adds, "... in whom I am well pleased", that is, my only begotten Son. Thus Mt, Mc, and Lc show that whoever sees Jesus, the Son of the Most High, sees the Father. Jesus Christ reveals the Father in His life, mission, and action. Your whole being is a revelation of God. Whoever meets the Son of God has the possibility of knowing God, himself and the world, according to the vision of the same Creator. To give up this intimacy with Jesus is to despise every possibility of discovering the Truth and one's salvation.
7. At the baptism of Jesus we can realize His identity as the Son of God (He did not become a son at baptism, for He has been from all eternity. At baptism He manifests Himself as such). Also, in His baptism His mission as Messiah is revealed as a Servant; His solidarity with Israel and all sinful humanity, posing as a kind of baptism of repentance when He Himself had no sin; His reality of the Father's image and His transparency in the history and fulfillment of Israel's promises, as well as the maker of the new creation, according to His Holy Spirit; and yet His reality of God's absolute Word, which must necessarily be heard for the salvation of all.
A strong and affectionate hug.
Father José Erinaldo
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