Who is this Jesus?

Reflection for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday by Fr. Earl A.P. Valdez

Icon of Our Lord in the Hagia Sophia, Turkey. From Artnet

If we look at the liturgical calendar for the Christmas season, we see a chronological succession. We first celebrate the Lord’s birth on Christmas Day, then remember that he belongs to a family in the following Sunday. After that, we celebrate the way He has shown Himself to those who came during his birth through the Epiphany, and finally we go “fast forward” to His public ministry in today’s Feast. 

However, we know that we do not strictly follow the timeline. The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple will have to wait until the month of February, and for us, Filipinos we have two important “disruptions” in the timeline. First, there is our celebration of Our Lord as a child who experienced growing up as any other child does, and second, if one is from Manila or recognizes oneself as a devotee, then we also have another “fast forward” to the Jesus Nazareno who carried the cross in which He was crucified, going through suffering and overcoming death through His own death in that same cross.

That would seem disorienting for one who wishes to follow the life of the Lord through the feasts that we celebrate. Imagine Our Lord experiencing birth and already seeing what He would become, months even before we celebrate Lent!

Nazareno 2026, from the TV Maria Facebook Page

However, as a former parochial vicar of the Minor Basilica and the National Shrine of Jesus the Nazarene, I think that these series of celebrations make so much sense. When we see and understand these feasts as a whole, what we see is a small though meaningful picture which tells us who Jesus Christ is, and remind us of the Lord that we ought to believe and follow as Christians. 

While we see Our Lord as an innocent child born in a manger, and visited by many who wish to see the fulfillment of the prophecies of old, we also see that He comes to be one with us, and grow up to be a human being like us. But at the same time, we also come to see what He becomes and what He does for us. There will come a time when He receives the cross of suffering and death caused by sinfulness, and He accepts and goes through it out of His love for us. This picture is only completed when we enter the Mystery of Easter, when the Father raises Him up, through which He overcomes death and leads us to new life. 

The image of the Holy Child Jesus (Sto. Nino), from The Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Pedro Calungsod Facebook page

Let’s put it in simpler terms: all these weeks that we go through are our reminders of who Jesus is, perhaps a very real picture of His identity as the center of our Christian faith. Yes, we do see Him as this innocent child born among us, growing like us; however, we also see Him as the God and Man who wielded the greatest power known to us as men, the power to overcome death by sharing in our death and giving us a new life in and through His own resurrection. He did not come as a God that could take away all our sufferings and hardships with a snap of a finger, but one who shared in our sufferings and allowed us to go through them, reminding us that despite the dark areas of our own personal journeys, He comes as a light to guide us. 

“The Baptism of Christ” by Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da VinciPhoto from Wikipedia

All of these are summarized in the words of the Father that testify to the truth of who He is, which the gospel readings remind us today: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Son pleases the Father because He followed His will and desire to be a God among men, but more importantly because He showed in human ways and means the love that God has for us. Because of this, He indeed is like and one with His Father as the God of love, of companionship, of accompaniment, and of sharing everything that is part of our lives as His children.

Hence, in these coming weeks, may we see and understand each celebration and festivity as part of the whole identity of Jesus, and by coming to know Him, we follow Him by living His life. Like him, we are born and we experience our own childhood and growth. Like Him, we can love and give our lives. And like Him, we can lead others through our own love to the Father who truly loves us. Amen.