Posts
Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. 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 the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."
And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."
- Luke 3:15-22
Yesterday, we began reading from Luke's Gospel. His preface begins: Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the world delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. From there we went to chapter 3, introducing the time and the ministry of John the Baptist: Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin 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." So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?" He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."
Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. 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 the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." My study bible teaches us: "Fire in this context has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). It further declares the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8). Note that this fire is one. It is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless."
And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. Herod had divorced his own wife and married Philip's wife Herodias while Philip was still living.
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." On this important passage there are a couple of lengthy notes in my study bible. One tells us: "Jesus Himself does not need baptism. In being baptized, our Lord accomplished several things: (1) He affirmed John's ministry; (2) He was revealed by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, God's beloved Son; (3) He identified with His people by descending into the waters with them; (4) He prefigured His own death, giving baptism its ultimate meaning; (5) He entered the waters, sanctifying the water itself; (6) He fulfilled the many types given in the Old Testament, as when Moses led the people from bondage through the Red Sea (Exodus 14) and when the ark of the covenant was carried into the Jordan so the people could enter the Promised Land (Joshua 3; 4); and (7) He opened heaven to a world separated from God through sin." In the Eastern Churches, Christ's baptism is celebrated on January 6th; in the Greek, it is known as Epiphany or Theophany, which means "God revealed." My study bible says, "The Son is revealed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and by the voice of the Father. This is the greatest and clearest public manifestation of God as Trinity in human history." One Orthodox hymn for this day declares, "The Trinity was made manifest." My study bible also tells us that the words of the Father here apply to everyone who is baptized and lives faithfully, as sonship is bestowed by adoption (Galatians 4:4-7). The Holy Spirit appearing as a dove is not an incarnation but rather a visible sign for the people. This appearance further fulfills the type prefigured at the Flood. "Just as a dove announced to Noah that God's wrath had ceased, so too the Holy Spirit announces here that Christ has reconciled us to God by sweeping sin away in the flood waters of baptism" (Theophylact of Bulgaria).
It's so important to think about all that is contained in the revealed images that have been given us by God, and as they are recorded in Scripture. For the Eastern Churches, icons have been important "windows" into understanding these revealed images. In fact, the word "icon" means "image" in the Greek. They are painted deliberately non-realistically, as they are meant to be "windows to heaven" -- a kind of opening up of the contemplation of the things revealed by God. They are meant to convey an understanding of things that have been given to us (for example, in the image of Christ being baptized in the Jordan, together with the revelation of the voice of the Father and the revelation of the Holy Spirit). Therefore this "image" of this event gives us the Holy Trinity; it is considered to be something God has revealed in a particular way so that we are given deeper understanding of our faith, of the true reality of God of which we are a part and in which we participate as creatures capable of faith. And there is so much that is revealed in this one image, this one incident, that it has given us fodder for 2,000 years of theology, and will continue to give us more to think about and to ponder into the future. Thereby we are given to understand our faith, and an important approach to Scripture: there is so much more than meets the eye. What has been revealed to us is a kind of extraordinary exalted poetry; images, sounds, ideas to fill every perception we have about who God is and how we are loved as children. These are so inspired as to be accessible in too many dimensions for us to count; as is the nature of God and the spiritual life and faith to which we are called. If we take just one image, that of fire evoked in the words of John the Baptist, even there we find so much. The Holy Spirit is likened to fire even via revelation (for example, the tongues of flame at Pentecost or the burning bush as it appeared to Moses). In this image, my study bible comments so succinctly about our understanding of this fire: it is the same fire "that both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless." It is this fire we share as light with one another: when Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that a lamp isn't meant to be hidden, but to shine its light, He's speaking of the lamps of His time: an oil lamp with a constant flame burning (Matthew 5:14-16). Fire is also the image of energy; even in modern scientific perception, we may think of fire as an image of energy which exists in potential in everything. The Eastern Church has, from the earliest centuries of Christianity, spoken of the energies of God as those given to us through grace. Thereby grace is the energy that "enlightens" -- that doesn't burn but helps to purify those who accept it in faith, via repentance in its light (like the flame that did not consume the bush). Let us remember the poetry of the Scriptures: that they are true on so many levels as an indication of their Source, the images that have been revealed to us by God, in the realm of what is holy. That which comes to us from mysteries beyond our capabilities to perceive is yet available to us, and leads us so far forward into things we have yet to understand, and new meanings to be grasped on uncountable levels.
