He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 

 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."

 

- Matthew 3:7–12 

 

In yesterday's lectionary reading we were given sections from two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 1 and chapter 3.  First we were given St. Matthew's genealogy of Jesus:  The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Reoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.   Then, the lectionary skipped to chapter 3, where we  begin reading about Christ's public ministry, which starts with the mission of St. 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?"  My study Bible explains here that Sadducees were members of the high priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  The Sadducees differed from the Pharisees in that they denied the resurrection of the dead, did not believe in the existence of angels, and had no messianic hope beyond our earthly life.  The Pharisees formed a lay religious movement which was centered on the study of the Law, and strict observance of its regulations  Moreover they developed secondary traditions around the Law, which they scrupulously followed.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead, and also a messianic hope, but they taught that righteousness is found on the strength of one's works according to the Law.  Additionally, my study Bible explains, they believed that the Messiah would be merely a glorious man.  St. John the Baptist's title for them, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  It's an image of their deception and malice, and their being under the influence of Satan.  

 

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, . . . "  According to my study Bible, repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  My study Bible comments that if a fruitful life doesn't follow, then sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  So, therefore, in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is pictured chopping a fruitless tree in accordance with the Baptist's image given in verse 10.

 

 ". . . 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."   This warning that from these stones (in Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim) is a play on words.  My study Bible comments that God will not admit fruitless children into His house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.  

 

"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."  This statement is tied to the Baptist's earlier command to bear fruits worthy of repentance.  My study Bible comments that fire here refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11; 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22; 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also the reference to fire in the following verse.

 

"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."  Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, which my study Bible says is the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  It is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.   Additionally, in the Baptist's culture, a slave would carry the king's sandals.  So, my study Bible explains, John is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  His inability to carry Christ's sandals also has a second meaning.  To carry another's sandal indicated that one was taking someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here, according to my study Bible, it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  

 

"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."  Winnowing is a process that separates grain from the chaff, so as to save the edible grain and toss the inedible chaff.  My study Bible explains that this is a metaphor for the divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.  

 

In last week's lectionary readings, we were given Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples.  In Friday's reading, Jesus said to them, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  The Helper, in this discourse, is the Holy Spirit.  In today's reading, St. John the Baptist speaks of the Messiah (or Christ) as He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Again, my study Bible teaches us that this is the fire of the power and truth of God, yet this same fire is also the fire of judgment.  It is similar to a flame that purifies metals like gold, by burning away the impurities and leaving the pure metal.  It matches St. John's metaphor of the winnowing fan in yet another way, for a winnowing fan uses airflow to separate the lighter chaff from the heavier grain (modern winnowing machines use industrial technology essentially to perform the same task by efficiently blowing air to separate both).  In Greek, the word for Spirit is Πνευμα/Pneuma.  This is the same word used for the Holy Spirit, and the more general word spirit.  It also means breath, or wind.  The same is true for the Hebrew word Ruach.  Jesus likens the Holy Spirit and His effects to the wind when He teaches Nicodemus about Baptism in St. John's Gospel (see John 3:5-8, especially verse 8).  The same fire that purifies gold and burns impurities can be likened to the wind that separates wheat from chaff, as metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit, whose job it is not only to illumine spiritual truth for those who will accept it, but also to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."  So, we take St. John the Baptist's prophetic words here to indicate what the coming of the Lord means for all the people, including the coming of the Holy Spirit for all, and particularly within Christian Baptism.  Moreover, John's words speak with the prophetic power of the meaning of the coming of the Messiah for all people, in that he speaks eschatologically.  That is, his words indicate the coming of judgment:  "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."  This is a prophecy of "end times," which in the historic mind of the Church began with Christ's Incarnation and will continue until His Second Coming.  Just as Christ indicated in His Farewell Discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper, the coming of Christ is a mission which will initiate also the work of the Holy Spirit, alive like a spiritual fire always working in the world, always testing and purifying, with His power working to reveal truth as well as what needs to be burned away.  Let us remember the power of our Baptism given by Christ, and seek to fulfill its promise with the true fruits of the Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 

 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."

 

- Matthew 3:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the wise men who came to find the Christ Child had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male  children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

 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.'"  My study Bible comments that the wilderness of Judea is the barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea (see this map).  It says the preparation for the Savior's ministry begins with John the Baptist's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face.  The word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) means literally to change one's mind, or more generally to turn around.  Repentance, my study Bible says, is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart.  That is, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  This is the necessary first step in the way of the LORD, but it is an ongoing process throughout one's lifetime of movement more deeply toward God.  My study Bible tells us that it is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, and it's followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change.  

 

 Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  John the Baptist's ascetic life conformed to that of Jewish sects such as the Essenes.  My study Bible explains that they lived in the wilderness, and their purpose was to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  John is distinguished in his clothing as an image typical of a prophet (2 Kings 1:8).  The monastic movement in the early Church took inspiration and was patterned after John's manner of life.  

 

 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.   The confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New, my study Bible says.  But John's baptism was a sign of repentance and the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not give the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God; that will come with Christian baptism.

 

  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?"  My study Bible explains that Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class, who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  It says they denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees formed a lay religious movement centered on the study of the Law and on strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead, and they also cherished a messianic hope.  But they taught that righteousness is based on the strength of one's works according to the Law.  Moreover their understanding was that the Messiah would be a glorious man.  John calls them brood of vipers here, but Jesus will later do the same (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  My study Bible adds that this term indicates their deception and malice and their being under the influence of Satan.

 

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . . "  My study Bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance; in other words, a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life doesn't follow, it notes, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  Therefore in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is imaged chopping a fruitless tree (verse 10).  

 

. . .  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."  This warning that from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim) is a play on words.  My study Bible says that God will not admit fruitless children into His house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.

 

 "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."  This first reference to fire (every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire) refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  Christ baptizes in the fire of Holy Spirit, which my study Bible calls the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  But the fire of judgment is the same fire of the Holy Spirit; it burns what cannot stand in it and enlivens and enlightens those who will receive it.  John says that he is not worthy to carry Christ's sandals: in John's culture, a slave would carry the sandals of the king, so John is declaring himself to be lower than a slave of Jesus.  His inability to carry Christ's sandal has a second meaning cited by my study Bible, and that is that carrying another's sandal once meant to take someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  So John is showing that he could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and also that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  Winnowing is a metaphor for divine judgment, as it separated the threshed grain from the chaff, and thus images the separation of good and evil.

 

Today's reading may prompt us to wonder, what is a prophet?  Both St. Matthew and St. Luke report Jesus as saying of John the Baptist, "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet" (Matthew 11:9; Luke 7:26).  In accordance with the traditional view of the Church, we could call John the prophet of prophets, or perhaps even more literally, the prophet to end all prophets.  It is John, after all, who is the last in the line of Old Testament prophets, for he is the one proclaiming the time of the Messiah and the Kingdom at hand, preparing the people for Christ's public ministry.  As my study Bible points out, John comes dressed in the clothing distinctive of the prophet Elijah (John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey).  This is a reflection of the prophecy that Elijah would return before the Messiah came.  In the prophesy of Malachi we read, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6).  Jesus will later tell the disciples, "I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."   Through this the disciples understood He was speaking about John the Baptist, who came Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist, who came "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17).  In all of this understanding, and more, John is considered to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  But what is the function of a prophet?  Is it simply to tell of future events?  When we look at the prophets of the Old Testament, what we see are servants of God calling the people back to God, reminding them of the promises to Abraham and his descendants, and challenging their lack of loyalty to the Lord.  These prophets are the ones who warned of hardships to come for the people's lack of fidelity to God, a community's failure to stick with the Lord who loved Israel.  But then, the return to the Beloved is also found in the prophecies, and the redemption of Israel's fortunes.  So John's warnings come not only with the great good news of the coming of the Lord, but also with the warnings to those whom he calls a brood of vipers, the religious leaders who betray their calling with corruption.  Repentance is the word given here, and it is a word given to all:  in repentance is found the preparation for the Lord's coming into the world and for His ministry.  For in repentance we find a commitment to turn and face God, to shake away or burn off the things that cannot stand with God, to turn from the things God wants us to leave behind, and to find God's way forward for us.  A call for repentance from a prophet cannot be without this reminder, this knowledge that we need to prepare for the time, and to take it seriously, for there are effects created by our choices.  Why do people so often seem to wish to see prophesy only as that which can "tell the future" as if some grand thing will be gained by knowing the time of Christ's return, or what new thing will happen that we don't yet know about?  So often, no one wants to hear the warning and the message of repentance, to look in the mirror or even toward the Cross and to say, "What do I need to do for You?"  Let us consider that it is the love of God which calls us forward and our own refusal that holds us back.  For as Jesus said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:36-37).  Replacing all the prophets of old, Christ teaches repeatedly that we are to be awake and aware, prepared for His return (Matthew 25:1-13), and above all that we are to endure in our faith through all things, for just like ancient Israel, the Lord is our first love and the One upon whom we must depend.  So every day, we may prepare the way of the LORD; and make His paths straight, even if the cry comes from a lone voice in the wilderness of the world.  For we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, and that promise also will be kept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened

 

 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 read the dedication of Luke's Gospel, to Theophilus:  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 word 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.  Then the lectionary took us to Luke's chapter 3:  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 Baptist 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 comments that 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).  Moreover, this declares the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2-8).  But it is important to understand that this fire is one:  it is the same Power and the same Spirit, my study Bible notes, 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.  My study Bible explains that Herod had divorced his own wife and married Philip's (his brother'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."  Jesus Himself, of course, does not need baptism.  But in being baptized, my study Bible says, the Lord accomplished several things.  First, by doing so, He affirmed John's ministry.  He also thereby was revealed by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, the beloved Son of God.  Moreover, Jesus identified with His people by descending into the waters with them.  Baptism prefigures His own death, giving the ultimate meaning to baptism.  As Jesus entered the waters, He sanctifies the water itself for future baptisms.  The many types given in the Old Testament, such 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 Promises Land (Joshua 3, 4) are fulfilled in His baptism as well.  Finally, Jesus' baptism opened heaven to a world separated from God through sin.  In the Orthodox Church, Christ's Baptism is celebrated on January 6th and is commonly known as Epiphany; but more properly it is called Theophany in Greek, meaning "God revealed."  In the very ancient Church, Nativity and Epiphany (Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan by John) were celebrated together on January 6th; in the Armenian Apostolic Church this remains the tradition.  My study Bible says that the Son is revealed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and by the voice of the Father.  It notes that this is the greatest and clearest public manifestation of God as Trinity in human history, as in the words of an Orthodox hymn for this day, "The Trinity was made manifest."  Also, my study Bible says, the words which are spoken by the Father also apply to everyone who is baptized and lives faithfully, as sonship is bestowed by adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).   The Holy Spirit appearance as a dove is not an incarnation, it says, but rather a visible sign for the people.  This appearance, moreover, further fulfills the type prefigured at the Flood:  Theophylact writes, "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."

Luke writes, "When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened."  Today I notice this powerful phrase that hasn't struck me before, that it is while Jesus prayed that the heaven was opened.  What a powerful statement about prayer this truly is!  It should give us a sense -- so often missing from modern life -- of the reality of what it means to pray and to worship.  In so doing, we connect ourselves with something much greater than ourselves, than our worldly notion of ourselves and our lives, in a way that happens through grace, the power of God.  The reality of the Kingdom of God is present to us even through prayer, though we so frequently seem to lose sight of this.  Modern life often conditions us to think this way.  We're used to a secular sense of who we are and what our world is about, in which we don't necessarily consider God in all that we do and all the choices that we make.  But this isn't the reality that is shown to us in the Bible.  The reality of the Bible is this constant sense of the Kingdom breaking in upon us, brought to us in the voices of the prophets calling us back to it, brought to us in the teachings of Christ, brought to us in the experiences of Israel in the Old Testament, brought to us in the disciples who would later become apostles sent out to  all the world, and brought to us in the establishment of the Church and our ongoing worship and prayers, and especially -- of course -- in the Eucharist given to us by Christ.  Here Jesus fulfills all righteousness (Matthew 3:15) by submitting to baptism by John like everyone else in these scenes of John the Baptist's ministry.  While of course, we may think that our prayers will differ from those of Jesus (after all, He is the Son of God), the text in this sense teaches us once again that we are meant to be like Jesus; we are to do as He does.  His prayer is so powerful that it opens up the heaven, but it is His prayer and His life that bring the Kingdom of heaven to us so that we also may participate in its reality -- and we do that through prayer ourselves.  Let us remember that it is God's grace, the true reality and powerful presence and action that Christ brings to us, that is working in us and among us, in our midst.   But we need to do our part to participate and to receive it; we are invited in to "work the works of God" through our faith and trust in Him, through worship, through prayer, through all these things that we are given. 

 

 

 

 

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 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."

- Matthew 3:7-12

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and all his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shaltiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. * * * 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?"  The Sadducees, my study bible explains, were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees were a lay religious movement, which centered upon the study of the Law, and on the strict observance of its regulations.  They did believe in the resurrection of the dead, in contrast to the Sadducees, and they also looked to the coming of the Messiah.  But they taught that righteousness is won on the strength of one's works according to the Law, and also that the Messiah would not be divine, but rather a glorious man.  The title that the Baptist uses for them, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus as well (12:34, 23:33).  My study bible characterizes this name for them as indicating their deception and malice, and also being under the influence of Satan.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . . "  My study bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance, which is a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, it says, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  Therefore in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, there is an ax pictured chopping a fruitless tree (see this one, for example).

" . . . 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."   The statement that from these stones  (in Hebrew, 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim) is a play on words.  My study bible says that God will not admit fruitless children into God's house, but rather will adopt other children from the Gentiles.

"Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  Here fire refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

"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."  My study bible comments that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God divinely poured out on believers at baptism.  In the culture of the Baptist, a slave would carry the sandals of the king.  Therefore what John is declaring is that he is lower than even a slave of Jesus.  There is also a second meaning to this statement, my study bible says, as carrying the sandal of another once meant taking on that person's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).    Here, understood as such, it would indicate that John could not possibly have carried the responsibility that Christ does, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.

"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."  A winnowing fan is one that separates threshed grain from the chaff.   This is a metaphor for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

One thing worthy of note in today's reading is the similar use of "fire" both as representative of the energies of God the Holy Spirit and also as that which burns the chaff -- that which is not fit for consumption and not good for human beings.  In this sense, we can read a spiritual metaphor as that fire being one and the same:  the energies of God are those with which we either become compatible -- producing fruits of worthy of repentance, as John puts it -- or for which we are incompatible and cannot stand in that fire.  Either way, fire is a purifying image, burning away that which is not good, not healthful.  If we consider Christ's mission into the world (and John's) as a healing ministry, then perhaps we also get another sense of this meaning of winnowing the wheat from the chaff.  Christ will come into the world in order to heal and to restore, to bring good health on all levels:  to spirit and soul and body.  That is, to seek what is good and restorative not just for human beings but for all of the creation.  This is one meaning of "to save."  It is not simply to keep from perishing, but rather to give life and fullness of life, abundance of life, as Christ will put it (John 10:10).  "Wheat" will also become an understood metaphor for the good and healthful "food" of the Eucharist.  John also speaks of bearing fruits worthy of repentance, and we must consider what that means, as fruits of faith.  John addresses the religious leadership in the harshest terms, describing them as a "brood of vipers," indicating, as my study bible says, malice and deceptiveness, as well as being under the influence of Satan.  His statement, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" strikes me as scathingly sarcastic, indicating that they hold no true idea of the God of Israel in their hearts, nor the warnings of the prophets of the Old Testament as applying to themselves.  From these statements we can deduce that a lack of awareness of any judgment at all, and the practices of malice and deception, are those things that are needful of repentance, of a turning toward God and the things of God.  It is these religious leaders of whom one would expect a greater knowledge and understanding than others, yet it is they whose practices John condemns.  It indicates to us a responsibility unfulfilled, in response to which even what they have will be taken away and given to others -- so John warns, as Jesus will after him (Mark 12:9).  John's words suggest a condemnation of practices well-known and understood by the common people, who flock to him for baptism in preparation for the Lord.  They suggest a corruption known and understood by the people, a form of oppression upon which Christ will also comment ("For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" - 23:4; "For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" - 23:23).  None of these things are said in private, but in the hearing of the people, both when John the Baptist states them here in today's reading, and also when Christ speaks in the temple during what we know as Holy Week.  They are all warnings, said in the context of prophetic speech, about the need for repentance before the work of God's holy fire, the proving out of the work of the Spirit in the world.  They speak to us of the destructiveness of sin and selfishness, that both are not simply bad for us as human beings, but rather something to mourn, that which harms the creation and works against true healing.  Thereby do the saints mourn not only their own sins, but the sins of the world which harm all of the creation.  What we understand from today's reading is not just that each of us must consider repentance and turning toward the Lord, but that we must also think about this fire of the Holy Spirit, an image of energy at work among us.  How is this fire of love one and the same as that which burns away sin -- or even that which has become wholly self-identified with sin?  How does that fire work on one who considers no need for repentance or reconsideration of personal orientation and understanding?  These are mysteries beyond the possible valuation of each one of us, a judgment which belongs only to the One who will Judge.  Nevertheless, we can heed these words and awake to the work that needs to be done.  This is a call to spiritual awareness, and to the deep healing needs of the soul.  John's words speak to us not only of our own lack of perception of the place to which Creator calls us for healing, but also to an understanding that none of us is exempt from this work.  Even so, thereby, our prayers can be understood as that which heals -- our turning to God in dialogue (the very goal of repentance) as that which helps restore not only ourselves and our fellow human beings, but the whole of the creation as well.  This echoes in the prayers of the Church at each liturgy, in which we pray not simply for ourselves but for the whole of the nation and of the world.  In the fullness of all of these understandings, John's words give us a sense in which the fire of the Holy Spirit is ultimately healing in both its purifying and energetic senses -- both giving us what we need and taking away that which is unhealthful.  Let us join with our prayers to this work on behalf of "all of the creation."