Baptism

As children, many of us learned from the Baltimore Catechism that Baptism “is the sacrament which cleanses us from Original Sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and heirs of Heaven.” The more recent Catechism of the Catholic Church expands that definition, saying that Baptism is “the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God…” (CCC, p.1213)

If this is true – that the sacrament of Baptism takes away original sin and makes us children of God – then why was Jesus baptized? After all, we know that Jesus was born without original sin, and that He is the Son of God. So why did Jesus present Himself to John for Baptism? Of what benefit was it to Him?

As descendants of Adam and Eve, we are born into original sin because we inherited our human nature from our first parents. According to the Catechism, “Original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants” (CCC, p. 405); original sin is not something we have personally “committed” – it is a “condition” we inherit. The People of God in the Old Testament tried to understand the human condition and the connection to the fall of Adam and Eve, but they were at a disadvantage in that the story’s ultimate meaning is “revealed only in the light of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (CCC, p. 388) That is, we must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know Adam as the source of sin. The "reverse side" of the doctrine of original sin is the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of everyone: that all need salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ. (Paragraph 389)

God did not abandon us after that first sin. He sent His only Son who, through His death on the cross, not only makes amends for the sin of Adam and of the whole world, but renews all things in Himself: Jesus says, “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) It is Christ who restores that which was lost through original sin and raises us to even greater heights by inviting us to share in His very life. This is why Baptism is so important: it is the means by which we share in grace, in God’s life.

The Baptism of Jesus, on His part, is an act of obedience to His Father and the acceptance of His mission as God’s Servant. Fully human, He allows Himself to be numbered among sinners. At His Baptism, “the heavens were opened” – the heavens that Adam’s sin had closed. Through Baptism, we are connected to Christ, our Savior: we must go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with Him. We must be reborn of water and the Spirit. (CCC, p. 536)