Baptism: Sacrament or symbol? Why so urgent?

If Baptism is truly symbolic then there is no need for it. However, it is significant in light of the New Covenant because it is mentioned not just in the life of Jesus but also in the Acts of the Apostles after Pentecost.[1] In the life of Jesus, we see that God worked through the actions of John the Baptist. It was after the Baptism that the Holy Spirit descended and Jesus began His mission. It is the grace bestowed by the sacraments which makes them necessary. It is significant that Jesus starts His Mission as such.[2] “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”[3]

Secondly, the actions of the Apostles are significant because they are the first to act out the New Covenant. Their first actions were preaching and baptizing.[4] If there was no need to spend the time baptizing, why would they need to waste time performing the symbolic action and not continue preaching, so as to accomplish the Will of God more efficiently? It is pointless to stop preaching for a would-be symbol, on the contrary, if they stop to give an efficacious sacrament that would be a legitimate reason. “Peter [said] to them, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call’ He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.”[5] 

Further recall the Ethiopian and the Apostle Phillip.[6] Phillip is drawn out to meet the Ethiopian nobleman. When God calls us to act, it is not an option in the sense it may be worked around. Either you choose to do exactly it or you chose not to obey God (mind you He gives us this freedom). The Ethiopian, by the Spirit of God working through Phillip and in the Ethiopian, is brought to faith in Christ. Mind you, it was the Ethiopian who points out the nearest body of water and asks, "Is there anything to prevent me from being Baptized?" To be later addressed is His openness and readiness for entrance into the Church. Notice, however, there was no hesitation on Saint Phillip's behalf. A hesitation may have been the wetness later collecting dust, the clearness of the water, etc. Importance and urgency are clear elements of this passage as well.

More than a mere symbol, Baptism, by the giving of the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ as adopted sons/daughters of God.[7] We shed our sins and welcome God into our lives not just as a symbol of conversion but as conversion’s true action, of “dying with Christ so as to be raised with Him”.[8]

Ok fine, I need Baptism, but surely Jesus didn't need Baptism. To this I reply, you are right. I cannot presume I know exactly how God thinks. I would, however, postulate that since God became a man he wanted to become a man. Since he disposed himself to suffer, if you will the most deplorable aspect of human existence; He willed to take part in not just the easy parts of human life but the whole of it. Maintaining His fully divine and full human identity, "He did not deem equality with God as something to be grasped".[9] He, therefore, desired a human experience. Not only in His baptism does Himself with Trinity make Himself known to others and establish the practice of Baptism as an entrance into and participation in Trinitarian life; He also participates in the human experience of it.[10] He was always in communion but desired a human experience of it. He was not adopted as a Son of God through it but truly is the filiated person of the Trinity. He experienced the separation from God caused by sin.

FN:

1. The New American Bible, Revised Edition (Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011), at United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, www.usccb.org, Matthew 3:13.; Acts of Apostles 2:38 
2. Cf. Matthew 4
3. Matthew 3:13-17
4. Acts of Apostles 2:41
5. Acts of Apostles 2:38-41 
6. Acts of Apostles 8:26-40
7. Ephesians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 6:18 
8. Romans 13:12; Psalm 34:13; Romans 6:8
9. Philippians 2:6
10. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 456-460.