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Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And 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 this is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
- Matthew 3:13-17
Yesterday, we read about the ministry of John the Baptist. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'" Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And 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 this is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. My study bible says that "Jesus did not need purification. But by making the purification of humanity His own, He would wash away the sin of humanity, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Thus, His baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of all God's righteousness. St. Gregory of Nyssa says, 'Jesus enters the filthy [sinful] waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up [purifies] the entire world with Him.'"
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. A note here says, "The Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Genesis 1:2). Now, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at the beginning of the new creation. Jesus does not become the Son of God this day; rather, in His baptism the eternal Son of God is revealed to all humanity. The Holy Spirit always rests on Him." In the Eastern Church, the feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation) commemorates this day. It is also called Theophany -- meaning a manifestation or "showing" (revelation) of God. My study bible says it both commemorates this day and points to the age to come, to be fulfilled.
And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." My study bible tells us, "This is a composite quotation from Psalm 2:7, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You,' and Isaiah 42:1, 'Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One, in whom My soul delights!' The substitution of Son for 'Servant' reveals the deity of Christ, the naturally and eternally begotten Son of God. Note how the baptism of Jesus reveals the great mystery of the Holy Trinity. The Father speaks; the Holy Spirit descends; the incarnate Son is baptized and anointed."
Baptism, in this passage, is set out as something new coming into the world; it is not the old baptism. As John has said in yesterday's reading, he baptized with water, but the One who was coming would baptize with the Holy Spirit. In that sense, Jesus' baptism is set apart as the first baptism in the Christian sense of what that means. It is not only a baptism for repentance and remission of sins, but it is also a baptism of death and rebirth. Death is symbolized in the covering of the waters, and rebirth is given by birth in the Spirit. Therefore Jesus sets Himself apart as the first, and as the example we are to imitate. In other ways, also, this baptism gives us gifts. It is often said that Jesus' baptism has sanctified the waters of the world, so they are fit for the baptism of the rest of us, in the Church. One part of the Eastern Church's ceremony of Epiphany -- the commemoration of this first baptism, which in the earliest years of the Church was celebrated together with Jesus' nativity -- is to dip a cross in water, most often throwing a cross in a natural body of water (such as a lake or at the shore) to be retrieved by parishioners. It is the symbolic blessing of the waters conferred by Christ, who did not need baptism Himself but who rather "fulfilled all righteousness." In the Armenian Apostolic Church, Nativity was never separated from the commemoration of this day, and so even Christ's birth as a human baby is celebrated together with this first baptism which confers rebirth in Spirit. Whatever way we look at it, baptism is something that is meant not only to be given as a gift for our lives but also something that is fulfilled throughout our lives. Just as my study bible notes that the commemoration of this day is meant both for this original event and also to point to the age to come, our baptism is something given at one time and yet fulfilled throughout our lives. Jesus fulfills all righteousness by setting the example for us as a human being, and in so doing raises us up with Him from the waters in regeneration. So, too, our individual baptisms are meant not as one-time events, but also to be fulfilled throughout our lives as the Spirit works in us, helping us to fulfill the promises of a Spirit-led life and also the promised Kingdom which is both here with us, and being fulfilled in time -- even as we look forward to its fullness at the Second Coming of Christ. In our own imitation of Christ, we should remember our baptism every day. This gift is at work in us. We can call upon the Spirit help us see our way forward in life, and encourage us to "be like Him," to imitate Christ in the ways in which we as unique children by adoption are called to do so. Take a moment today to remember your baptism, the blessing it confers, and this first baptism. What is its promise to you? How is it at work in you and in your life? In what ways are you reborn in the changes in your life? It was St. Paul who told us, "I die daily." He was speaking of the gift of Resurrection, the change from the "old man" to the new, which baptism prefigures and begins for us by rebirth in Spirit. This process is also in the image of taking up our cross daily. Let us remember that it is something which we are in the process of fulfilling every day as Christians, along with St. Paul. How is the Spirit at work in your life today?
