The Gospel reading for the feast of Holy Theophany this Sunday (Mt 3:13-17) is quite short and is limited to the actual baptism of Jesus and his short dialogue with St John. But I would like to begin by looking at it in the larger context of the ministry of John and what that means for the understanding of Christian baptism.
According to St Matthew, the first words of John’s preaching—like the first words of Jesus’ preaching—were “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This sets the context for everything else that is to come. From the moment Christ was born into this world the Kingdom of Heaven has been at hand, but all the more so when He began his ministry. The Forerunner is, in a sense, a catechist. He has to prepare the people to understand and accept the Messiah and all that He has come to do. So the baptizer has to give the pre-baptismal catechesis. He gets right to the point: “Repent!” For that is the most important and indispensable element of preparation. This is what John’s own baptism was all about. The evangelist writes that the people came to John and were baptized by him in the River Jordan as they confessed their sins. His baptism was not yet the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire that Jesus would bring; this preliminary baptism was still part of the catechumenate, so to speak.
What is Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire? According to John’s preaching it is a baptism of blessing and of judgment, of gathering and of separation. On the feast of Pentecost the Liturgy makes the contrast between the scattering of the peoples and their languages at the tower of Babel and the unifying of the disciples through the gift of tongues given by the Holy Spirit. So part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to gather the elect and keep them in a holy unity. That is why St John, when speaking about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, says that the Lord will gather his wheat into his granary. But the other aspect is fire, and about this St John says, “but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” He undoubtedly means here that evildoers will experience the fire of Hell as a result of the judgment of their deeds when the Lord takes his seat as Judge of the living and the dead. They will be forever separated from the saved.
But perhaps, in the context of Christian baptism, we can see this fire as a purifying fire that burns up the “chaff” of sin while immersing us in the grace of the Holy Spirit. When we perform the Great Blessing of Water on this feast, part of the ritual is to immerse a burning three-branched candle into the water, signifying the flaming tongues of the Holy Spirit, purifying and sanctifying the water, so that all those who partake of it will likewise be purified and sanctified.
So now we have received from the Forerunner our pre-baptismal catechesis. The first thing to do is repent of sin, so that the purifying fire of the Spirit may not have to work painfully (and overtime) upon our souls, but that we may be refreshed by the divine grace poured out upon the elect. We should also remember that every time we go to confession and receive absolution, we are connecting again to the grace and mystery of our baptism. This sa
crament of confession receives its efficacy and fruitfulness from the mystery of baptism and continually immerses us in that healing and saving grace.
But we see in the Gospel that Jesus Himself approached John to be baptized. We just said that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus didn’t need to repent of anything. Why didn’t He simply take over from John and start baptizing others instead of submitting to baptism Himself? Like everything He does, Jesus did this “for us and for our salvation.” On one level it was simply an act of humility and of solidarity with sinful mankind, whom He came to save. He entered fully into the human condition, and though He was personally without sin, He chose to belong to the sinful human race. As our representative before the Father, He submitted to the rite of baptism.
But there is more. As the liturgical texts repeatedly remind us, Jesus entered the waters to sanctify them, to give them the power to engender children of God, born of water and the Spirit. In a general sense, the incarnation of the Son of God put into all creation the potential for sanctification and transfiguration. But here is a specific example for a specific purpose. He entered the waters of the Jordan in order to make water the means for our sanctification, the introduction into the life of grace and communion with the Most Holy Trinity.
As a witness to this, the Holy Trinity was publicly manifested at the Jordan for the first time. As the Son arose from the water, Heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended visibly upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard, blessing Jesus as his beloved Son.
Aside from the reasons already given, there is another reason why Jesus was baptized. It was a preparation for his mission as preacher, healer, and savior. The Holy Spirit rested upon Him for this purpose and then immediately sent Him into the desert to fast and to overcome the devil. So we cannot say that Jesus’ ministry was only public and “active.” His mission began in the desert, in silence and solitude, in prayer and fasting and spiritual warfare. Only after that did He engage in preaching and other public works.
So how does our baptism relate to Jesus’ baptism? St John Chrysostom asks why there was a glorious manifestation of the Holy Trinity at Jesus’ baptism. He answers by saying: because that is what happens at our baptism! We go into the water with and in the Son, we are anointed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the Father pronounces his blessing and good pleasure upon his newly adopted son or daughter. Chrysostom reminds us that St Paul said that extraordinary signs are for getting the attention of unbelievers, but since we are supposed to believe before we submit to baptism, these realities are accessed only by faith. I’m speaking here not of infant baptism, of course, but in those cases, the parents are supposed to believe and not wait for the heavens to open before they accept the truth of God’s presence and power in the mystery of holy baptism.
The fire of the Spirit takes away all sin, and then the grace of the Spirit rests gently upon us like a dove. We are anointed. One word that used to be commonly used for baptism is “christening.” This means that through baptism we are “Christed,” anointed. In the Byzantine tradition, the anointing is made explicit by the immediate conferral of the sacrament of Chrismation (Confirmation), though which the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit is communicated through anointing with Holy Chrism.
After the Holy Spirit thus rests upon us and grants us his presence and his gifts, and after the Father graciously acknowledges us as his beloved children, our own mission begins. Like Jesus, we may not be given much time to bask in this divine love and grace, but may be at once sent into the desert of struggle and spiritual warfare, of asceticism and contemplation, in short, of fulfilling the mission of an anointed one of God. This connection will be made especially clear this year, since Easter comes so early this year. Already next Sunday we will be bringing out our Lenten liturgical books, to begin the period of pre-lenten preparations. So, today we celebrate the joy and grace of the manifestation of the Holy Trinity at Jesus’ baptism—as we give thanks for the immeasurably gracious gift of our own baptism—and next week the Spirit will begin to lead us to the desert, to fight the devil and fulfill our mission and sons and daughters of God.
So let us hear the words of St John the Forerunner: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” And let us reflect on just what this means, in the world and in our own lives. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and this sets us apart from unbelievers and evildoers—but we still have to live accordingly if we wish to be gathered in like good grain and not burned up like useless chaff. Baptism is not a guarantee of salvation; it is rather an equipping for salvation, granting us all we need for our pilgrimage to Paradise. So let us be encouraged—by the anointing of the Spirit, by the presence and constant companionship of the Son, and by the words of the Father, which will be our everlasting delight: “You are my beloved son (my beloved daughter); in you I am well pleased.”
