Lesson 6 - Baptism of Jesus
Lesson 6 - Baptism of Jesus
Lesson 6 - Baptism of Jesus
WE CONNECT
Today we will know what Jesus did before He went on His public ministry. Jesus knew that he couldnt fulfill his mission without making such necessary preparations. Like us, He was also helped by someone to prepare Himself for his mission. John the Baptist, His cousin, had a very important task to do so that the work of Jesus could be fulfilled.
the video.
Why
do you think Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize Him? did God the Father say after Jesus was baptized? What did the God the Father mean when He said that?
What
came to John to be baptized as a sign of repentance. To be truly one with us and to be like us even in our weakness, Jesus received the same baptism. He wanted to fully embrace our humanity, our failures, and our struggles.
be strengthened by the Power of the Holy Spirit and the love of the Father be obedient in following the will of His Father
To
show us an example of great humility He allowed Himself to be baptized by John. John baptized so that people could admit their mistakes and to repent from their sins. Jesus did not do anything wrong, he did not commit any sin but because he knows his Fathers will, he humbly accepted it for the sake of his mission.
How
How
In
prophet foretold by the prophet Isaiah. the last prophet. a prophet because he spoke in Gods name and foretold the coming of the Messiah. a cousin to Jesus and was entrusted by God to prepare his way.
John
the Baptist is also called the precursor because he came ahead in order to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.
Unlike
the other men during that time who were rich, expensive clothes, he was clothed in camels skin. He stayed alone in the desert for many years, praying and fasting. He lived on locusts and wild honey.
Mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of Jesus. He preached to them and told them to have a change of heart.
Change of heart does not only mean avoiding bad actions and attitudes but it also involves doing the good, which is the opposite of ones bad behavior.
Therefore,
John went through all the country around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Many people came to him to ask what they should do so that they can reform their lives and have a change of heart.
How is the mission of John the Baptist connected to the mission of Jesus and to our own mission today?
The
mission of Jesus is to give us eternal life by saving us from sin. However, Jesus cannot force us to accept this gift of eternal life if we do not want it and if we continue to do bad things. the Baptists mission is to show us that if we want to change and reform our lives we should stop our bad habits and start doing good to others.
John
How is the mission of John the Baptist connected to the mission of Jesus and to our own mission today?
He
baptized others as a sign of repentance and grief for the sins that the people had done. Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized by John even if He did commit any sin as a sign of his great humility and obedience to his Fathers will.
However,
the baptism ministered by John the Baptist at the Jordan River was not like our sacramental baptism but closer to our sacrament of Penance because it was baptism of repentance.
Today
we also bear the same mission to spread the Good news and to lead a good example to others. Thanks to John the Baptist we now know what to do so that we can become true followers of Christ.
Will you have the strength and humility to allow Jesus to enter or will you lock the door of your heart so that you can keep your bad habits?
We Respond:
Today,
Jesus asks us to respond to the call of John the Baptist to change our hearts and to open ourselves to Messiah.
1. 2. 3.
Closure
What
is the meaning of the Baptism of Jesus? What is the role of John the Baptist in the mission of Jesus? How can we imitate John the Baptist in showing others the way to follow Jesus? What traits or behaviors does John the Baptist have that I would like to imitate? Why?