At the entrance with the Gospel, we heard the introit, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us.” This, indeed, is what happened when our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River. St. John the Baptizer knew there was more to this man than meets the eye – but then, he had, in his mother’s womb, leapt for joy at the sound of the voice of the Theotokos as she bore in her womb the Son of God. When our Lord went into the waters, he was, as far as anyone else present was concerned, simply a man, one of a multitude who had come to be baptized. All that changed, of course, when He came up out of the waters, as the heavens were opened, and the voice of the Father declared Him to be His beloved Son, and the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove.
What about today (and I am not referring to the Feast we celebrate today)? Are there any theophanies of Christ today? Not as it occurred on the day we remember and celebrate; our Lord will not be going again to be baptized in the Jordan River. That took place at a certain date in time, that He might be made known to the world; and in order to restore fallen Adam, and, through that restoration, all of us who are the heirs of Adam. So, on that basis, the answer is, No, there are no theophanies today.
But maybe there are still ways that Christ is shown forth to the world today; maybe we can speak of a Theophany in this day and age. But how is this possible?
It is possible when we live the life of Christ given to us in our baptism. We are given a reminder of this every time someone is baptized, as took place here last night; and we heard the reminder today, when, in place of the Trisagion hymn, we sang, “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!” So, when we live a Christ-like life, we show Him forth into the world. When we love our enemies, when we forgive those who hate and hurt us, when we turn the other cheek, when we go the extra mile – as Christ has done for us, to save us – we show forth His life, His presence in the world today. When we live the life of Christ, people can see that there is something different about us, that we are not just another person, not just one of the multitude. We have a great, even an awesome, opportunity – which we all too often fail to accomplish.
Living the life of Christ isn’t easy; and we fall, and fail, all the time. Yet, if we will pursue, with all our powers, the way of life we are taught by the Church – prayer, and fasting, giving, struggling against our passions; loving and caring for each other, and reaching out to those in need around us – the life of Christ becomes more and more obvious to those who are looking for something beyond what the world has to offer – who are looking for a Theophany to transform their life.
Brothers and sisters, as we celebrate this great Feast, let us humbly beseech our God to make us shine forth with the life of Christ, for the glory of His name, and the salvation of our souls.
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