The Baptism of Jesus

Address given to the Aberdeenshire Theological Club by Hugh Gilbert OSB, RC Bishop of Aberdeen, 20th January 2014

The feast is the earliest outside the Easter cycle, and predates the Nativitiy, prob originating in Egypt. It has come to have a heightened significance in the Roman Liturgy. The interpretations of the meaning of the Baptism are explored: what it was not – admission of sin, ‘making’ Jesus the Son, a call to lay hold of his destiny; and what it is – climax of John’s ministry, the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, his anointing as Messiah, it anticipates his Paschal Mystery, it is an Epiphany/Theophany, the source and pattern of our Baptism