Day 167: The Baptism of Christ

Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying. The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his "beloved Son." CCC 1224

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the baptism of Christ by St. John the Baptist at the start of His public ministry, and the later institution by Him of Baptism in the Church. 

The Catechism Compendium gives a summary of this part:

All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his public life Jesus had himself baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan. On the cross, blood and water, signs of Baptism and the Eucharist, flowed from his pierced side. After his Resurrection he gave to his apostles this mission: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). (#254)

Without the Holy Spirit, Baptism just makes one wet. Yet Jesus transformed Baptism from just an act of repentance to one that not only cleanses us of sin but through the Spirit saves us and marks us as a child of God (1 Pet 3:21). By being baptized Himself, it wasn't because He needed it but that we all do. In essence, "He brings [us] into the waters with him" (p. 98). It is not just important for eternal life but also necessary (Jn 3:5).

I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol II explains this:

The waters do not make Jesus holy; he makes the waters holy. And now the waters of Baptism make us holy. Jesus takes the incredible image and symbolism of the baptism that John was doing and gives it new meaning and power... From now on, Baptism saves us. Baptism makes us into temples of the Holy Spirit. In the Church from the very beginning, Christians understood that Baptism is what saves us. Now Jesus Christ himself has transformed and given a new power to the Old Covenant baptism. (p. 98)

Finally, Dr. Brant Pitre has a good video on the Baptism of Christ I enjoyed:

Miniature from the Psalter of Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1185)

Here we see Jesus baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. This event signals the beginning of Jesus' public ministry (see CCC 1223). (p. 99)