The Baptism of the Lord: Day-to-day vocation
The Baptism of the Lord: Day-to-day vocation https://www.ncronline.org/spirituality/scripture-life/baptism-lord-day-day-vocation January 10, 2026S One of the things we know for certain about Jesus is that he was baptized by John. We're sure of it because it embarrassed the early church, making Jesus appear as John's disciple, yet it was too well-known to skip over. Mark (1:9-11) recounted it as a simple fact. Luke (3:21-22) refers to it only indirectly and John (1:32) simply mentions that the Baptist saw the Spirit of God descend on Jesus. Matthew's version minimizes the implication that Jesus followed John, claiming that when Jesus came for baptism, John protested that it should be the other way around because he was not worthy. All of that indicates that Jesus really did turn to John and his ritual as a sign of commitment to what God was doing in their midst. If Jesus' disciples were so worried about the implications of his baptism, we might ask, "Why did Jesus...