254. Who brought to fulfillment those prefigurations?

254. Who brought to fulfillment those prefigurations?   

(Comp 254) All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his public life Jesus had himself baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan. On the cross, blood and water, signs of Baptism and the Eucharist, flowed from his pierced side. After his Resurrection he gave to his apostles this mission: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

“In brief”  

(CCC 1277) Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism. 

To deepen and explain  

(CCC 1223) All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan (Cf. Mt 3:13). After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:19-20; cf. Mk 16:15-16). (CCC 232) Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19). Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: "I do." "The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity" (St. Caesarius of Arles, Sermo 9, Exp. symb.: CCL 103, 47).  

On reflection 

(CCC 1224) Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness" (Mt 3:15). Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying  (Cf. Phil 2:7). The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his "beloved Son" (Mt 3:16-17). (CCC 536) The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29; cf.  Isa 53:12). Already he is anticipating the "baptism" of his bloody death (Cf. Mk 10:38;  Lk 12:50). Already he is coming to "fulfil all righteousness", that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins (Mt 3:15; cf.  26:39). The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son (Cf.  Lk 3:22; Isa 42:1). The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on him" (Jn 1:32-33; cf.  Isa 11:2). Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism "the heavens were opened" (Mt 3:16) - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.  

(Next question: Starting when and to whom has the Church administered Baptism?)