Baptism in the Jordan
"John is baptizing. Jesus cometh. He cometh that He may make holy him who baptizeth Him; He cometh to bury the old Adam in the waters; He cometh to hallow the blessed flood of Jordan. He Who is Flesh and Spirit cometh to open for all that should ever be baptized that power of generation whereby new peoples are constantly begotten of water and the Holy Ghost. The Baptist will not receive Him. Jesus striveth with him. I, saith John, have need to be baptized of thee. Thus speaketh the candle to the Sun, the voice to the Word.
"Jesus came up out of the water, having, in a manner, washed the whole world, and brought it up with Him. And He saw the heavens opened not divided, even those heavens which Adam had once shut upon himself and us his descendants, when the cherub's fiery sword barred the gates of Paradise. And the Holy Spirit bare witness, witness unto Him Who is of One Substance with Himself. And witness was given from Heaven, unto Him that came down from heaven." (St. Gregory Nazianzus)
Are there any Church Fathers that interpret Christ's baptism as His identification with sinners? I ask because the ones I've read so far always see it as a sanctification of the waters (which one can see in certain icons), but lately the only explanation I've heard of it (coming from latins, at least) is that it has to do with the identifying Himself with sinners.
ReplyDelete"Thus speaketh the candle to the Sun, the voice to the Word." I loved this phrase when I read that at Mattins in dark o'clock this morning, Each year something new usually sticks out from these lessons, and this was it. Happy Octave Day of Epiphany! Tomorrow, the Per Annum descent begins.
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