Matthew 5: 17-37

15 February 2026 • Day of Prayer for the unemployed

All four gospels record that Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, making it one of the most historically certain events in the life of Jesus. John preached a baptism for the forgiveness of sins as he gathered a community to await the coming Messiah. In the fullness of time Jesus, the Sinless One, went down into the waters of the Jordan in solidarity with sinful men and women, ‘to fulfil all righteousness' (Matt 3:15) and was baptised by John.

The Synoptic Gospels describe the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father that declared ‘You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.' Emerging from the waters of the baptismal font, every Christian hears again that voice that was once heard on the banks of the Jordan. From this comes the reassurance that one has become a child of adoption (cf. Gal 4:4-7) and a brother or sister of Christ.

Baptism is not a rite of passage into a privileged club. It is the sacrament by which believers, bathed in living water, enter the Spirit-filled community that seeks to manifest the reign of God the Father as Jesus did