THE BAPTISM
OF OUR LORD 2008
The Baptism of
our Lord. Our Collect today neatly
summarizes, at least in part, the reason why each of us underwent the Sacrament
of Baptism, in most cases here, as infants.
We are regenerated, made God’s children by adoption and grace, and
become partakers of His Holy Spirit. And
when it says “regenerate”, what does that mean?
Our Catechism explains it thus, “a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness.” The Catechism further explains that it is at
our Baptism, a belief of the Church as suggested in the pages of the New
Testament, that we become “members of Christ”, which is to say, members of His
Body, the Church.
It has been
mentioned often enough that some post-Reformation ecclesial bodies no longer
look upon Baptism as necessary to salvation, nor as something wherein grace
from God is infused into us to the extent that we are mystically cleansed from
our sins and are thus regenerated, nor that it represents the seal of the new
Covenant and as such, membership in Christ’s Church - all of which were
believed by the early Church and still are by all catholic / orthodox
Christians. We’ll not delve into that
yet again, as today begs us to consider something very special as regards
Baptism.
We understand
why we, each of us, was baptized. Why
was Jesus baptized? Our Gospel reading
today from St. Mark records the episode for us.
The same episode in St. Matthew is slightly expanded and includes that
very question from John the Baptist, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you
come to me?” Jesus was not in need of
repentance of sins and a new birth unto righteousness; He did not need adoption
as a child of God, or to become partaker of the Holy Spirit. Why then did He undergo baptism, telling
John, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all
righteousness”?
Again, the
Collect tells us why, but without any elaboration whatever, simply stating that
Jesus was baptized “for our sakes”. If
any of us were to attempt to elaborate on the Collect we might observe that
Jesus was identifying Himself with sinners - with all of us, as He will
ultimately bear the sins of all mankind, and in so doing, His perfect
righteousness will be imputed unto us.
Considering that, we might state that His Baptism was a necessary part
of the righteousness, to which He referred in His response to John, that He
secured for us sinners. Also, in the
antiphon upon the Benedictus at Mattins today, we are given something to ponder
in terms of His being baptized thus sanctified the waters of Baptism for ever.
We might
further offer that His Baptism pictures His death and resurrection; that it
symbolizes the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and
resurrection - “we are buried with Him in Baptism”. It also marks His first
public identification with those whose sins He would bear. And, as is germane to this season of
Epiphany, the event was a very public affirmation of His Messiahship by the
testimony that came directly from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son, in Whom I
am well pleased.”
That’s all fair
enough, but perhaps we might do well to ponder this a little more deeply by
listening to the words of one of the Church Fathers, Hippolytus in his Discourse
on the Holy Theophany - another word for Epiphany, still used I think by
the Orthodox for this season.
Hippolytus, whose dates are 170-236 AD, was a pupil of Irenaeus - which
is to say one of the early Fathers in the pre-Nicene Church. In his discourse, Hippolytus takes the words
from Scripture and expands on them as any of us might, were we to be so
thoroughly immersed in the Spirit of the story. Let us pick up his musings just
before Jesus appears at the River Jordan.
Wherefore
John, the forerunner of the Lord, who before knew not this mystery, on learning
that He is Lord in truth, cried out, and spake to those who came to be baptized
of him, “O generation of vipers,” why look ye so
earnestly at me? “I am not the Christ;”(and here Hippolytus presumes
to suggest the thoughts that were going through John’s mind) I am the
servant, and not the lord; I am the subject, and not the king; I am the sheep,
and not the shepherd; I am a man, and not God.
By my birth I loosed the barrenness of my mother; I did not make
virginity barren. I was brought up from beneath; I did not come
down from above. I bound the tongue of
my father; I
did not unfold divine grace. I was known
by my mother, and I was not announced by a star. I am worthless, and the least; but “after me
there comes One who is before me”—after me,
indeed, in time, but before me by reason of the inaccessible and unutterable
light of divinity. “There comes One
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” I am subject to authority, but He has
authority in Himself. I am bound by
sins, but He is the Remover of sins. I
apply the law,
but He bringeth grace to light. I teach
as a slave, but He judgeth as the Master.
I have the earth as my couch, but He possesses heaven. I baptize with the baptism of repentance, but
He confers the gift of adoption: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and
with fire.” Why give ye attention to
me? I am not the Christ.
Then Hippolytus
resumes his descriptive narrative of the scene, As John says these things to
the multitude, and as the people watch in eager expectation of seeing some
strange spectacle with their bodily eyes, and the devil is struck with
amazement at such a testimony from John, lo, the Lord appears, plain, solitary,
uncovered,
without escort,
having on Him the body of man like a garment, and hiding the dignity of the
Divinity, that He may elude the snares of the dragon. And not only did He approach John as Lord
without royal retinue; but even like a mere man, and one involved in sin, He
bent His head to be baptized by John.
Wherefore John, on seeing so great a humbling of Himself, was struck
with astonishment at the affair, and began to prevent Him, saying, as ye have
just heard, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” Again, Hipploytus suggests what John might
have been thinking, What doest Thou, O Lord?
Thou teachest things not according to rule. I have preached one thing (regarding Thee),
and Thou performest another; the devil has heard one thing, and perceives
another. Baptize me with the fire of
Divinity; why waitest Thou for water?
Enlighten me with the Spirit; why dost Thou attend upon a creature? Baptize me, the Baptist, that Thy
pre-eminence may be known. I, O Lord,
baptize with the baptism of repentance, and I cannot baptize those who come to
me unless they first confess fully their sins.
Be it so then that I baptize Thee, what hast Thou to confess? Thou art the Remover of sins, and wilt Thou
be baptized with the baptism of repentance?
Though I should venture to baptize Thee, the Jordan dares not to come
near Thee. “I have need to be baptized
of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
And
what saith the Lord to him? “Suffer it
to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” “Suffer it to be so now,” John; (here, presuming to tell us
what Jesus might have been implying) thou art not wiser than I. Thou seest as man; I foreknow as God. It becomes me to do this first, and thus to
teach. I engage in nothing unbecoming,
for I am invested with honour. Dost thou
marvel, O John, that I am not come in my dignity? The purple robe of kings suits not one in
private station, but military splendour suits a king: am I come to a prince,
and not to a friend? “Suffer it to be so
now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness:” I am the Fulfiller of
the law; I seek to leave nothing wanting to its whole fulfilment, that so after
me Paul may exclaim, “Christ is the fulfilling of the law for righteousness to
every one that believeth.” “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh
us to fulfil all righteousness.” Baptize me, John, in order that no one may
despise baptism. I am baptized by thee,
the servant, that no one among kings or dignitaries may scorn to be baptized by
the hand of a poor priest. Suffer me to
go down into the Jordan, in order that they may hear my Father’s testimony, and
recognise the power of the Son. “Suffer
it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then at length John suffers Him. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and the heavens were opened unto Him; and, lo,
the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested upon Him. And a voice (came) from heaven, saying, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Hipploytus
resumes his discourse on the episode and its importance, Do you see,
beloved, how many and how great blessings we would have lost, if the Lord had
yielded to the exhortation of John, and declined baptism? For the heavens were shut before this; the
region above was inaccessible. We would
in that case descend to the lower parts, but we would not ascend to the
upper. But was it only that the Lord was
baptized? He also renewed the old man,
and committed to him again the sceptre of adoption. For straightway “the heavens were opened to
Him.” A reconciliation took place of the
visible with the invisible; the celestial orders were filled with joy; the
diseases of earth were healed; secret things were made known; those at enmity
were restored to amity. For you have
heard the word of the evangelist, saying, “The heavens were opened to Him,” on account
of three wonders. For when Christ the
Bridegroom was baptized, it was meet that the bridal-chamber of heaven should
open its brilliant gates. And in like
manner also, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the
Father’s voice spread everywhere, it was meet that “the gates of heaven should
be lifted up.” “And, lo, the heavens were opened to Him; and
a voice was heard, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The beloved generates love, and the light immaterial the light inaccessible. “This is my beloved Son,” He who, being manifested on earth and yet unseparated from the Father’s bosom, was manifested, and yet did not appear. For the appearing is a different thing, since in appearance the baptizer here is superior to the baptized. For this reason did the Father send down the Holy Spirit from heaven upon Him who was baptized. For as in the ark of Noah the love of God toward man is signified by the dove, so also now the Spirit, descending in the form of a dove, bearing as it were the fruit of the olive, rested on Him to whom the witness was borne. For what reason? That the faithfulness of the Father’s voice might be made known, and that the prophetic utterance of a long time past might be ratified. And what utterance is this? “The voice of the Lord (is) on the waters, the God of glory thundered; the Lord (is) upon many waters.” And what voice? “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This is He who is named the son of Joseph, and (who is) according to the divine essence my Only-begotten. “This is my beloved Son”—He who is hungry, and yet maintains myriads; who is weary, and yet gives rest to the weary; who has not where to lay His head, and yet bears up all things in His hand; who suffers, and yet heals sufferings; who is smitten, and yet confers liberty on the world; who is pierced in the side, and yet repairs the side of Adam.”
The Baptism of our Lord. For our sakes? Yea, verily.