The Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Thursday, January 6, 2005
1st Vespers Theophany: Genesis 1:1-13 Epistle: Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7 Gospel: St. Matthew 3:13-17
St. Matthew 3:13-17, especially vss. 14, 15: "...John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I need to be
baptized by You and are You coming to me?' But Jesus answered and said to him, 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is
fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.'" While John the Forerunner lived silently in the desert, the Lord Jesus remained
quietly unrecognized in Nazareth. Then, as described in yesterday's Gospel reading, "the word of God came to John" (Lk.
3:2), and he began "preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Lk. 3:3). It was "time for the Lord to
act." Therefore, the Lord "came from Galilee to John...to be baptized by him" (Mt. 3:13), not to observe, nor talk, nor
listen to him, but to be baptized by him.
Since the baptismal rite which the Forerunner offered was for "repentance" (Lk. 3:3), one must ask if there were not some
contradiction in Jesus accepting a ritual signifying personal repentance. After all, the Apostle Paul asserts that He "was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15)! Our expectation is inverted: the all-holy God-man is baptized by
John, the teacher of baptism for repentance. Why does Christ ritually unite His sinless humanity with our corrupt
humanity? Why does He subject His Light to our darkness and sin?
St. John, filled as he was with the Holy Spirit, saw the contradiction clearly: "And John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I
need to be baptized by You, and you are coming to me? '"(vs. 14). But Christ understood that what is to be saved must be
fully assumed. In His baptism He was not repenting. Rather, He was uniting His all-pure Self to our corrupt nature in
order to restore us to Himself, despite our sinfulness. He was using His own humanity as a bridge from His holiness to our
sinfulness. As St. Paul said in another place: "He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).
The Holy Fathers note that, when the Lord was baptized, "the whole universe [was] watered by mystical streams." Hence,
the whole created order, by the entry of the All-pure Person of God the Word, was "lighted from on high....the land and the
sea have divided between them the joy of the world, and the world hath been filled with rejoicing. The waters saw Thee, O
God, the waters saw Thee; they were afraid. Jordan turned back when it beheld the fire of the Godhead coming down and
descending upon it in the flesh" (and see Ps. 113:3-5 LXX).
Thereby, the Lord's purpose in being baptized was grand in scale, yes, even cosmic in its scope. Not only are men restored
to God Who unites Himself to them again in Jordan's waters, but the "whole creation [which also] groans and labors with
birth pangs together until now" (Rom. 8:22) experiences in itself the wondrous process of its renewal.
By the mystery of Christ's Baptism, the waters of earth which suffused His Body were spiritually transformed to be a
means by which the Holy Spirit may be conveyed to men, to us. In Holy Baptism, the Spirit acts through water and we are
united with Christ. Part of Christ's purpose in Baptism was to prepare all of earth's waters for our new birth in the Spirit
(Jn. 3:5). Note carefully: the capstone that completes God's "arch of intention" in the Lord Jesus' Baptism was the descent
of the Holy Spirit and the spoken affirmation by God the Father: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased"
(Mt. 3:17). In the Lord Jesus' Baptism, the mystery of the Holy Trinity is disclosed for the first time in a complete
revelation of the Divine nature of three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ's Baptism is an eternity-filled moment which discloses the eternal glory, nature, and purpose of the Godhead.
Great art Thou, O Lord, and wondrous are Thy works, and there is no word that sufficeth to hymn Thy wonders!
