Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
Do you remember how the Israelites escaped from Egypt at the time of the Exodus? They crossed through the water and entered a desert. They wandered the desert for forty years. Then they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. In this process they came to know themselves as God’s children. Remember the saying from the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my Son”?
Now look at Jesus. He had asked John to baptize him. He had entered the water as the Israelites had crossed through water to the side of safety. The Spirit has come upon him, and the heavens were opened the way the waters of the Red Sea had been opened for the Israelites. Then the Father solemnly declared Jesus his own beloved Son. Shortly after his baptism, the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert for forty days.
What is going on? The way Matthew told his story, he was describing Jesus as the epic representative of the whole of Israel. Jesus, as the wholeness of Israel, would wage war of the great enemy, Satan, and defeat Satan. All the miracles and mighty deeds Jesus did are signs of him defeating the devil. Even his death and resurrection describe his defeat of the devil.
There is one further question on our minds: Why did Jesus receive baptism from John? Jesus was sinless and had no need to repent. This is true, but when John tried to stop Jesus from receiving baptism, Jesus told John that was necessary to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus identified himself with our sinfulness. In this way Jesus could heal our sinfulness.
It is not enough, however, that Jesus stand in for the whole number of the Israelites, those who crossed the sea with Moses and those who had endured the history and the future of Israel since. Jesus is also the stand-in for all the gentiles, the pagan and non-Jewish peoples of the world. In his baptism, we are all called to baptism and to become members of God’s family with the beloved Son, Jesus the Lord.