Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - January, 2005

Denho and the Baptism of Christ

by the Very. Rev. Kuriakose Chorepiscopa Moolayil

Matthew Chapter 3: 13-17

This event is observed in the Church as the great feast of Epiphany, meaning appearence (of our Lord). The term is closely associated with Nativity of our Lord. Both are appearences of our Lord, one at birth and the other at baptism. At the birth He was revealed by the Angels and the wise men from the East. At His baptism he was revealed by God himself and by His messenger, John the Baptist. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition the feast of Nativity and the feast of Epiphany is together celebrated.

In Syriac tradition this feast is termed Denho. This word gives another shade of meaning to this feast. It means the shining forth or manifestation of our Lord in flesh. It is compared to the rising of the Sun. It is also called Theophany--i.e., the manifestation of God.

This introduction will make clear the essence of the baptism of our Lord. It is the occasion to:

1. Reveal the appearece of the Lord. John the baptist is pointing Him to "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," "This is he who baptizes with the Holy spirit" (Jn 1:29,33).

2.The occasion of baptism is God's self revealing to the world that Jesus is the Son of God.

3.The Son of God is the light that shines the whole world in truth and justice as pointed by John. It is he who is coming after me... whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose (Jn.1:27).

Baptism of Repentence

John the Baptist was referred to by the Lord as the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets (Luke 7:28). As such, he came in the spirit and power of Elijah to "restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:5, Luke 1:17). In this context, "fathers" implies forefathers and "children" implies descendants, thus bringing the Faith back to what it was as received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

John preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3). All the Old Testament Prophets also issued calls for repentance. But their calls for repentance focused people back to the Old Testament rituals where remission of sins was by blood sacrifice, not by water. (Leviticus 4:20, Deuteronomy 21:8). Old Testament purification rites required those who offered sacrifices to wash in clean water beforehand; but water just cleaned up the offerer to qualify him to offer the sacrifice (Exodus 29:4, Leviticus 8:6, Exodus 19:10-15, Exodus 30:18-21). Jesus later spoke about how true worshipers must worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). With the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, people then had no alternative. John alluded to this also when he said that, even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Luke 3:8-9). In Eastern Orthodox iconography, John is pictured as having wings like an angel. This is a reference to Malachi 3:1 (quoted in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27): "Behold, I am going to send my messenger (literally angel), and he will clear the way before Me".

Luke tells us about Apollos and twelve others in and around Ephesus that were "fervent in spirit" and who taught accurately the things of the Lord even though they knew only the baptism of John (Acts 18:24, 25; 19:1-3). This occurred at the beginning of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, or about 53 AD (25 years after the death of John). Apollos of Alexandria had been a member of the Seventy that Jesus sent out two by two to heal the sick and cast out demons (Luke 10:1-20). He had been instructed in the way of the Lord (by John) and was an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures (Acts 18:24-25).

After he spoke boldly in the synagogue, Aquila and Priscilla (also of the Seventy) "took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26). Similarly with the other twelve; they hadn’t heard that there is a Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). Apollos and his twelve co-workers had apparently been out of town at Pentecost and had missed the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 38)!!

Thus, the baptism of John was incomplete. In Paul’s words: "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him; that is, on Christ Jesus (Acts 19:4). John said the same thing: "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16).

Hippolytus, referring to John’s statement, "I am not the Christ" (John 1:20) said that John was saying: "I am the servant, and not the Lord; I am the subject, and not the King; I am the sheep, and not the shepherd; I am a man, and not God. By my birth I loosed the barrenness of my mother; I did not make virginity a mother. I was brought up from beneath; I did not come down from above. I bound the tongue of my father; (Luke 1:20). I did not unfold divine grace. I was known by my mother, and I was not announced by a star (Matthew 2:9). I am worthless, and the least; but "after me there comes One who is before Me" (John 1:27). He is after me, indeed, in time, but before me by reason of the inaccessible and unutterable light of divinity. "There comes One mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:2). I am subject to authority, but He has authority in Himself. I am bound by sins, but He is the Remover of sins. I apply the Law, but He brings grace to light. I teach as a slave, but He judge as the Master. I have the earth as my couch, but He possesses heaven. I baptize with the baptism of repentance, but He confers the gift of adoption: Why do you give attention to me? I am not the Christ" (Discourse on the Theophany, 3).

So John's Baptism is:

1.The preparation to receive the baptism of spirit and truth.

2.He substituted water with the blood of animals.

3.It was the baptism of repentence for remission of sins

The Baptism of Jesus

The baptism of Jesus began very much like the baptism of John; and both Jesus and John were baptizing at the same time (John 3:22-23). Some of John’s disciples were concerned that Jesus was baptizing more people than John (John 3:25-26, 4:1-2). John considered himself "the friend of the bridegroom who rejoices because of the bridegroom’s voice" (v.29). "He must increase, but I must decrease" (v.30).

John testified of Jesus: "He who comes from heaven is above all. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure" (vv.31-34). John said this following his baptism of Jesus after having seen heaven opened, having seen the Spirit descend as a dove and having heard the Father’s voice (Matthew 3:16-17).

These early baptisms that Jesus performed, or rather that Jesus’ disciples performed (John 4:1-2), were different than baptisms that the same disciples performed after Pentecost. The difference being that the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39). After Pentecost, when the 3,000 were converted as a result of Peter’s preaching, they were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Spirit with the baptism (Acts 2:38-41). The Epistle from Titus has more on this aspect of baptism (q.v.).

Why Jesus took Baptism from John

If the Baptism of John was incomplete and intended just to prepare the way for the Messiah as John said (Matthew 3:11-12), why did Jesus need to be baptized at all by John? John actually tried to prevent Jesus from baptism saying that he needed to be baptized by Jesus, not vice versa (Matthew 3:14). Jesus stated: "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). So John allowed Him to be baptized and the Uncreated accepted the laying on of hands by His own creation.

The Gospel reading from John 1 gives us more details of this encounter. As Jesus was coming toward John to be baptized, Jesus’ identity was revealed to John and John stated: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, `After me comes a Man who ranks higher than I, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I come baptizing with water" (John 1:29-31). John also stated: "He who sent me to baptize with water said to me: `Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’ " (John 1:33). The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was something important to John, because John had been filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). John realized that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16, Matthew 3:11); this occurred on Pentecost, 30 AD (Acts 2:1-4).

Old Testament purification rites required those who offered sacrifices to wash in clean water beforehand; but water just cleaned up the offerer to qualify him to offer the sacrifice (Exodus 29:4, Leviticus 8:6, Exodus 30:18-21).

Another aspect of fulfilling all righteousness involved Jesus’ offering up Himself as the spotless Lamb of God (Hebrews 9:14, 1 Peter 1:19). He needed to keep the Law perfectly in order to do this, and thus He observed all the requirements of the Law (Luke 2:39, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 3:5, Hebrews 4:15) including aspects of the Law that weren’t necessary but which may offend some (Matthew 17:24-27). As a result of all this, the Church is able to be holy and spotless as the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:27, Colossians 1:22, 1 Timothy 6:14).

Jesus did not need to be baptized by John; John recognized this. But Jesus’ purpose in becoming incarnate of the Virgin Mary and in His whole 33 years was to redeem a fallen creation. The Orthodox Study Bible footnote to Matthew 3:15 says it very well: "Jesus did not need purification. But by making the purification of humanity His own, He would wash away the sin of humanity, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Thus, His baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of all God’s righteousness. Gregory of Nyssa says: `Jesus enters the filthy (i.e. sinful) waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up (i.e. purifies) the entire world with Him. ‘ " If the Master, the Uncreated Son of God can be baptized to fulfill all righteousness, how much more can we walk in newness of life.

Jesus is in the likeness of the sinful flesh and therefore He receives the baptism of repentence. He Himself models for the baptism of repentence for the preparation of the Kingdom of God.(Mw.4.17). This is also an encouragement to others.

What are the models that we find in the baptism of our Lord

1.It shows the humility of Jesus to receive the baptism of repentece. The first step to the highest hounor is humility. John had a high honor till now. He also humbles when he declares that he has to be baptised by Jesus and 'whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose loose'. Think of John, he was filled with Spirit even while he was in the womb of his mother. But he request to be cleased thoroughly by the Lord. Pure souls are most sensible for the remaining impurity in them and earnestly seek for spiritual warming up.

2. Best and holier people need Christ more. Better are they that find what they need more! John sees himself and he preaches to himself. He sees his own unworthiness. He aims for higher virtues. He is not satisfied with what he is spiritually. So he seeks himself to be baptzed by Christ himself.

3.Jesus accepts John's humility but not his refusal to baptize.

4.At the Baptism the heaven is opened and those who are with the Son could enjoy the bliss of the Kingdom.

5.The Symbolism of the Dove to represent Holy Spirit. It is harmless and non offensive. It is clean and tidy even in worse situations. It mourns much. It is the symbol of purity and innocence. It is offered as a sacrifice. It brought olive leaves to Noah--i.e., God's will to people.

5.It is the occasion of manifestation of the Holy Trinity.

Notes by Kuriakose Corepiscopa Moolayil