On the Baptism of Christ

A sermon of Saint Gregory the Theologian

Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptized; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.

John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptizer; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to make the waters of the Jordan holy for our sake and in readiness for us. He who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through Spirit and water.

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. John says: I ought to be baptized by you.

John is the lamp in the presence of the sun; John is the voice in the presence of the Word; the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom. John is the greatest of all born of woman, in the presence of the firstborn of all creation; John, the one who leaped in his mother’s womb, in the presence of him who was worshiped in the womb. The forerunner stands in the presence of him who has already come, and will come again.

I ought to be baptized by you, we should also say. And for you, as well — for John is to be baptized in blood, washed clean like Peter, not only by the washing of his feet.

Jesus rises from the waters; and the world rises with him. As Paradise was closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, closed with a flaming sword, now the heavens are torn open. The Spirit comes to Jesus, to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead.

A voice bears witness to him from the heavens, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form – like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honor to the body that is one with God.

Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives so much pleasure to God as the salvation and deliverance of human persons, for whom his every word and every revelation exist.

He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received — even though not in its fullness — received a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.