Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - February, 2005

Bible Study - Commentaries
Verses 3:12-17

from Kaniyamparmabil Achen, the Great Teacher of Malankara

Verse - Matthew 3:12
“The wheat he will gather into his storehouse; and the chaff he will burn with fire not extinguished.”

John says the ‘one who comes after him ‘ will gather good people (wheat) to the heaven (storehouse) while unjust (chaff) will be sent to eternal fire (hell)

Verse: Matthew 13-17 – The baptism of Jesus Christ
St. Mark (1:9-11), St. Luke (3:21,22) and St. John (1:32-34) also explain this important occasion. 1) Our Lord comes for baptism 2) John refuses to do so 3) But Lord said “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him 4) Heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove up on Him. 5) The voice of the Father. Of these steps, St. Mark and St. Luke explain has narrated the last step while St. John has written about a testimony of John the Baptist that he has seen the Holy Spirit descending like a dove

Two things are noteworthy 1) Jordan to Galilee is 85 miles. John chose Jordan over Jerusalem for his ministry, because a lot of devout Jews who were expecting ‘the Messiah ‘ gathered there. Jesus who knows John came to be baptized. This can be seen as an act of extreme humility 2) People regarded John as Messiah. He held such high regards among people. But he told Jesus in front of that crowd that ‘need to be baptized by you’. This shows his humility. If John - who is ‘filled with Holly Spirit in his mothers womb, who is ‘he will be great in the sight of the Lord’ and one who is ‘the greatest born of a woman and about who people thought as Messiah ‘ – tells us that one need a baptism of our Lord, shows its supreme importance in our lives too.

Jesus Christ was born in the tribe of David as a Jew. And so he accepted all acts instituted as per Jewish Law like circumcision on 8thday, presentation on the 40thday etc, weather it was necessary for Him or not. Just like that He also submits himself to the Godly purpose fulfilled through a man sent by Lord God. Only one who obeys a law has right to give a law. As per St. Augustus – ‘ Our Savior was baptized not to be consecrated , but to consecrate the water for us. When the Lord was baptized in water, He washed our sins in that water. ‘

St. Chrysostom – ‘The Lord who was incarnated as human, had to fulfill all requirements as a human. Even though the Lord was not sinner and did not require a baptism, it was absolute necessary for others who were worldly.’