The Feast of the
Baptism of Christ is also known as the Theophany (showing forth of God). It is
one of the most significant moments in the entire Gospel story. Christ is
revealed to all present as the Holy One of God; the Holy Trinity is explicitly
manifested in the voice of the Father, the Holy Spirit’s anointing presence “in
the form of a dove,” and in Christ, the Son; Heaven and earth are re-connected
and the Creation revealed as holy once more. The waters of the river Jordan,
once Israel’s entryway into the Holy Land, become the entry for all people into
the divinizing light and life of God through Holy Baptism.
St. Gregory the
Theologian (c. AD 329-390, feast day May 9) was one of the greatest of all
Christian thinkers (sharing the designation “Theologian” with the Apostle St.
John!). His thought was profound, partly because of his scholarship, but mostly
because of his deep prayerfulness and humility before the mystery of God. This
sermon is often read in conjunction with this Feast.
The excerpts of this
sermon below show his understanding of this great mystery within the context of
how we are to live it out by remembering our cleansing in Christ through Holy
Baptism, and then the ongoing cleansing of our spirits through the Holy
Sacraments, prayer, ascesis, study of the Sacred Scriptures, and the works of
mercy God places before us daily. This is an essential element of authentic faith-sharing (evangelism): we may only share what we have ourselves received.
Through the baptism we
celebrate today, we are made able to stand beside Christ the True Light and enjoy
more and more its splendor by sharing in it—and sharing it with others.
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Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light.
Christ is baptized; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.
John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to
sanctify his baptizer; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the
waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us;
he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and
water.
The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought
to be baptized by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in
the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the
greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation,
the one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in
the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has
already come and is to come again. I ought to be baptized by you: we should
also add, “and for you”, for John is to be baptized in blood, washed clean like
Peter, not only by the washing of his feet.
Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The
heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and
his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing
witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of
origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago
announced the ending of the flood and so gives honor to the body that is one
with God.
Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this
feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing
gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of humans, for whom
his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living
force for all people, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights
as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is
the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light
of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray
of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom
be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
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