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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 thus it 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 that when John the Baptist 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 thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. My study bible notes here: "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. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Here, my study bible notes: "The Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Gen. 1:2). Now, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove to anoint the Mesiah, 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. The feast day of Epiphany (a manifestation or revelation), or Theophany (a manifestation of God), commemorates this day and points to the age to come." It should be explained that in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Epiphany is the celebration of this event, as it is a revelation of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit.
The revelation of what it is the Messiah brings into the world is made through this event of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan. We see the "anointing" of the Spirit in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father, indicating both the Father's presence, and the divine Sonship of Jesus. But I think we can surely infer that not all these things were obviously and clearly present for everybody. It's not quite clear, from various passages, who exactly heard the voice of the Father or saw the vision of the Spirit of God descending like a dove. But this is the way revelation works. It is to those who can receive, and later given to all. There is nothing, seemingly, that would make it obvious to all the people there that Jesus is the Christ. No, that is a revelation that comes through His ministry very gradually, and at first to His own inner circle of disciples -- just as here the vision comes to John the Baptist, who is considered the greatest of the lineage of Old Testament prophets. And that is something of a great mystery that we need to keep in mind: revelations of God do not necessarily mean they are obvious to everyone. The words Jesus will teach are also revelations from God, but it is certain that not everyone heard them that way. There is a mystical element to them, in how they are received and understood, and that is yet another aspect of revelation and God's work in us. Somehow we need to be prepared to understand, and to understand appropriately. We are conditioned perhaps by many things to expect spectacular "proofs" of things that no one can doubt, revelations of truth that make something perfectly clear so that no one can disagree with it. But this isn't the way spiritual revelation happens. Those who may fully understand are often faced with terrible persecution for that truth, and it takes time for it to be widely accepted. We are organic creatures, not abstract beings, and God's work in us is an "organic" type of process, something that works with all of our complications, contradictions, and human traits, whatever they are. And that's what we need to remember when it comes to faith. This is why Jesus comes in the flesh, as a person like us, someone who must be heard and received, and not forced upon us. This is a faith that works with love, not coercion. And so, we struggle, on the road, on the way, to Him, with Him, and with everything we carry with us. Everything - although revealed - is not clear to us all the time. To make God's love a part of ourselves is also a process that wrestles with everything we are, and so it should be. Let us remember His way, and the open heart we need to work through all of it, as it is given us. The Trinity has always been with us, but even this baptism made so long ago, doesn't guarantee that we see and understand. For that is the work of God in us, the work of the heart.
