“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him. But John stayed him, saying: ‘I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?’ And Jesus answering, said to him: ‘Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice.’ Then he suffered him.”
The morning star having risen, the Sun then follows, eclipsing the little light with its great splendor, and Jesus comes after His long obscurity to John the Baptist, ready to embark on His public mission of love. It is proper to receive what is necessary in prayer and reading, and act freely from this, rather than pulling oneself out of the embrace of contemplation arbitrarily, when no duty is imposed: “I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the field, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please” (Song 2:7). The approach of Jesus to John shows the approach of God to man, for you cannot lift yourself up to God, but in being carried in the arms of Jesus, letting His love and merits be your own, for spouses share all that they are and have together, you will enjoy the constant approach to you that He is making. Jesus went to St. John to be baptized for many reasons, but there is a great mystery in the beginning of eternal life at baptism. When you were baptized, you were joined to Jesus, and as long as you remain in a state of grace, He is present in you by love. Yours and Jesus’ baptisms are a type of overlap, that in this immersion into water and the Spirit, the two became one, and the nuptial covenant between you was enacted. Because of this, He will always be faithful to you, never departing from you, even when it feels like He is far, because His love for you is unwavering. He descends into you like dew into fleece (Judges 6:37-40), with gentleness and a presence you cannot distinguish. Now, He went to submit Himself to baptism, that the differences between the two of you may be washed away, and the journey of becoming like unto another may begin. He wants to embark on the entire mystery of your life with you, and descends to the low station of a repentant sinner not only that He may practice what He taught, but to know the experience of coming to the waters to be washed clean. This humility and self-lowering like an outstretched hand was known to Christ, but not to John, who cries out in protest before the Lord: “I ought to be baptized by thee!” He did not realize the depths to which Christ would lower Himself: “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Philippians 2:6-7). It fulfills all righteousness that Jesus would serve all, that there may be none to which He would not attend or to whom He would lower Himself. It also fulfills righteousness that He would fulfill by deed what He taught in word, both in being baptized and in lowering oneself to total servitude: “He that will be first among you, shall be your servant” (Matthew 20:27). It could thirdly be said that He fulfills all righteousness by experiencing the totality of human experience: Birth, growth, work, poverty, rejoicing, communion, solitude, all things He knows, that He may be with you at every step of your journey through life. You are never alone, He is not only present to you at all times, but understands the totality of your experiences, from good to bad. John then obeys, for He hears the commandment of the Lord and does what He says: “Blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28). Blessed are you when you keep the commandments of Jesus, for by them you will experience Him in yourself. His love is present in you, and by keeping His commandments you stop up the leaks in the cistern that you are, and in seeing yourself loving like He does, you see Him in you. This is what it means to “Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well” (Proverbs 5:15); you do not need to run to others for affection or make great pilgrimages to find Christ, for you are His icon. Thus the bride in the Canticle of Canticles languishes: “I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I found him not” (Song 3:2), because in losing all sensible consolations, she looks to external things to reinvigorate love and devotion, and seeks to rejuvenate with other things or be loved by others. However, “When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul loveth” in your own heart, “I held him: and I will not let him go,” (Song 3:4) that is, you won’t let His presence depart from you by mortal sin because you are too intertwined, too madly in love, and you can no longer encounter Jesus in the same way that you cannot see your own face. It is only by humbly recognizing the beauty of the love that you radiate, recognizing that it is entirely a gift from God that you have been made this enchanting, that you can see His love at work. Thus the proverbs continue: “Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters” (Proverbs 5:16), that is, if you want to see your love fully alive, let it be shared with others, “Give, and it shall be given to you” (Luke 6:38), that you may see the beauty of the love that the Trinity has poured into you.