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On an altar of sacrifice the Lamb of God was anointed by the Holy Spirit

Understanding the statement of St. John the Baptist

With his baptism in Jordan, Jesus Christ begins his public ministry. This episode is mentioned in the four Gospels: Mt 3:13-17, Mk 1:9-11, Lk 3:21-22, Jn 1:29-34.

It is a key episode where both the Holy Spirit and God the Father are manifested: “As soon as Jesus was baptized he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on him’.” (Mt 3:16-17). The waters of the Jordan are not opened, nor is a king anointed on his throne with oil, but heaven is opened to anoint the Messiah, King of Kings, with the Spirit of God, revealing the new exodus to heaven of all humanity through Him.

And, although the Bible does not say so, most probably Jesus Christ was baptized and anointed Messiah exactly where the Ark of the Covenant rested, as the Lamb of God prefiguring His own sacrifice as the Innocent Victim, on the altar of twelve stones placed by Joshua: “Then Joshua set up twelve stones in mid-Jordan in the spot where the feet of the priests who carried the ark had rested; they are there even now.” (Jos 4:9). That it was an altar of sacrifice is confirmed by Elijah, later on, when he also makes an altar of sacrifice with twelve stones (1 K 18:30-39). John the Baptist testifies that he is the “Chosen of God” (Jn 1:34) from (Is 42:1), but that he affirms “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29) can only be understood if the Holy Spirit made him see that Jesus Christ was anointed Messiah where the Ark of the Covenant had rested, on the altar of twelve stones, prefiguring his sacrifice as the Lamb of God (Is 53:7-12).

This can be inferred from other coincidences, such as: that Jesus Christ was crucified exactly on Adam’s skull, or that Pentecost occurred exactly on the pilgrimage feast Shavuot, fifty days after the Passover Sabbath. The holiday commemorates God’s giving of the tablets of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai: a movement from the written Law to the grace of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us in our hearts. I thought that this coincidence at the Jordan river was not known by the Universal Church, but commenting it in detail to a presbyter of the Custodia Terræ Sanctæ, he told me that it was exactly what they explain to the pilgrims who visit the place of the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan. Consulted the Secretary of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, he replied: “That the place of the Baptism of Jesus is the same place where Joshua entered the Promised Land is not explicitly written in the New Testament. But that this is the unanimous ancient tradition, is universally known.”

Excerpt taken from the book Mary, the New Woman authored by Diego G. Passadore https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/marythenewwoman/


Image: Al-Maghtas (Bethany Beyond the Jordan). By I, Producer, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6620561


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Diego G. Passadore is the author of Mary, The New Woman and two other books: Heal the Wound of the Sufferer, My Brother (click here for the Spanish edition), and Love Until it Hurts (click here for the Spanish edition). He has also written various articles.
A native of Montevideo, Uruguay, Passadore is an engineer by profession, married, and has a daughter. He is a secular Catholic who takes joy in preaching Jesus Christ to the outskirts of society. A lover of the Bible and contemplative prayer, he frequently participates in Encounters of the School of Silence, founded by Fr. José F. Moratiel, OP.
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