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 sanctify
the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh
comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.
The Baptist
protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptized by you. He is
the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the
friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in
the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his
mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner
and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to
come again. I ought to be baptized by you: we should also add, “and for you,” 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; the world rises with him. The heavens like Paradise with its
flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open.
The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice
bears witness to him from heaven, 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 such pleasure to God as the
conversion and salvation of men, 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 – though not in its fullness – 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.
We listened to these
words of Saint Gregory Nazianzen in the somber light of this morning's Vigils
and were amazed and delighted.
Plaque with the Baptism of Jesus, ca. 1150–75, South Netherlandish, Champlevé enamel, copper alloy, gilt, 4 x 4 x 1/8”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Used with permission. Excerpt from a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen (Oratio 39).
Plaque with the Baptism of Jesus, ca. 1150–75, South Netherlandish, Champlevé enamel, copper alloy, gilt, 4 x 4 x 1/8”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Used with permission. Excerpt from a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen (Oratio 39).