(Matthew 3:13-17) (January 19, 2004)
If you listen carefully to the petitions of the prayer for the blessing of water during the service of the Great Blessing of Waters, you will find that many of these are also found in the blessing of the waters when someone is to be baptized. It makes sense, really: for today, among other things, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this should remind us also of our own baptism.
Less than two weeks ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Nativity, the Incarnation of our Lord. God, desiring to accomplish our salvation, has identified Himself with us, taking on our human nature without ceasing to be God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is made like unto us in every way, except for sin. It is this knowledge that prompts St. John the Baptizer to ask of our Lord, Why do you come to me for baptism? He is saying, Lord, I am the one who is a sinner, and need to be made clean; You are without sin, and have no need for baptism. Our Lord replies, Let it be done, so that all righteousness will be fulfilled.
The fathers tell us that our Lord was thirty years old when He went to the Jordan to be baptized. This was not an arbitrary age. Rather, by that time, He had experienced all the temptations to sin: the great foolishness of the first ten years of life; the great flames of passion and anger of the second ten years of life; and the temptations of greed and envy and covetousness of adulthood. Our Lord waited until He had fulfilled the law in all the ages of man. Then , having done in our nature what we, by ourselves, are not capable of doing - fulfilling the Law - our Lord Jesus completes the sanctification of human nature by presenting Himself for baptism. Having lived without sin, and by baptism, He has cleansed us, and has delivered human nature from the curse of Adam. Adam’s sin closed the heavens to us. Christ’s baptism of Adam’s nature opens the heavens to us once more.
Think now of the promises you made when you were baptized: renouncing Satan, and all his ways, we proclaimed that we have joined ourselves to Christ. We have promised that we would be His, and make Him present wherever and whenever we are present. Of course, when we forget that this is who we are supposed to be; when we choose, not the way of righteousness, but rather the way of sin, we hide Him, rather than making Him known. May God forgive us for our continual failure to let His Son be revealed to others through us because of our sins.
“As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!” Brothers and sisters: Let us renew this day our baptismal vows, and live to allow Christ to be seen in and through us. Let us fast, and pray, give from the wealth which God has bestowed upon us, and struggle to discipline ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, so that we turn from our sins. Let us who have been baptized into Christ do all in our power to put on Christ; so that He may be revealed to a world which needs to see Him - to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls. Amen.
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