Last Sunday (Jan. 12) most Christian churches celebrated the baptism of Jesus, an event in his life I always found confusing. I could never understand why Jesus was baptized. After all, Catholics ...

As the Christmas season comes to a close, the hearts of believers shift from meditating on the birth of the Lord to the beginning of his mission. This weekend we contemplate St. Matthew’s version of ...

Who is Jesus? On this celebration of Jesus’ baptism, the Gospel of Matthew provides a clear answer: Jesus is the Son of God. Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism includes details not found in the other ...

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This verse is from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible, and is about the ...

To many Christians the baptism of Jesus seems almost as much of an enigma as it did to the Baptist. It serves as a precedent for our own baptism. It also forms an introduction to Christ’s ministry.

But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” — Matthew 3:14 It’s a good question: Why did Jesus Christ need to be baptized? That’s basically the question ...

Remember the day of your baptism? It's highly unlikely, but your parents and godparents and an assortment of relatives probably do. Perhaps they remember the event itself, or the party, or something ...

On the banks of the Jordan River where the Bible says Jesus was baptized, 15-foot-high reeds rustle in the wind. The site on the Jordanian side of the river looks much like the New Testament describes ...