Today, our
Christmas season officially ends, so that on Monday/tomorrow, we will begin
what the Church calls Ordinary Time. And, while no liturgical time is
completely ordinary, we will mark the beginning of the years when Jesus begins
His three years of public ministry, and it begins in the Jordan River where St.
John the Baptist baptizes Christ Himself.
Many people think it is strange that Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, in whose name we are baptized, and God Himself would need to be baptized at all.
Yet, it was necessary, not for Him but for us. In fact a bishop of the church by the name of St. Maximus of Turin said just that, he said: “Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched.” So that as Christ is washed in those waters we too then can be washed of our sins.
Do you see this water? It is Holy Water, and while it may seem like plain water, taste like plain water, even look like normal water, it is water that was blessed and made holy.
And, the way that water is made holy is because Jesus made it holy when He allowed St. John the Baptist to baptize Him.
So, this water and any water that is blessed, especially before someone is baptized, is and has been made holy by Jesus Himself and, as a result, the sin of Adam, the sin of our first parents could be cleansed and we could be made, as our Gospel reminds, beloved sons and daughters of God.
St. Gregory Nazianzen puts it beautifully, he says: “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.” This is why in early Baptismal rites things were done a little differently. And, since sometimes things can start to lose their meaning when they are separated from their origin, it seems appropriate to understand what and how Baptism used to occur, especially on this Feast of the Lord’s Baptism.
Baptism, in the beginning, wasn’t just for babies, in fact, most people were a little bit older and they would stand before a bishop on a rug, most likely made out of camel to remind them of the animal skins that Adam and Eve were forced to wear when they had to leave the Garden of Eden.
Then the person that was to be baptized would face west, a symbol of the dominion of the Devil over the world, and then they would renounce him. They would then turn to the east, because it was believed paradise was in the east and it is also believed that Jesus will come from that direction when He comes a second time. So they would face east and then they would profess their faith.
Then, they would remove all of their clothes, a symbol of shedding, as St. Paul calls it, the “old man.” Then they would be Baptized, but this Baptism wasn’t just a couple of splashes of water on their head, instead, the person to be baptized would either be brought to a pool or a river where someone would take their head and dunk them 3 times.
But it wasn’t a short time; they were held underwater a rather long time, in essence to experience the closeness of death. This is why like Christ who came out of the cave after 3 days after His death, those who were baptized rose from the waters just as Christ was raised from the dead and then they, like Jesus, would be dressed in a white robe.
Later on the anointing was added, a beautiful symbol that just as Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit, we too become “anointed ones” partaking and sharing in this same mystery. In fact, in the early instruction for the newly baptized in Jerusalem, the following was said: “Now that you have been baptized into Christ and have put on Christ, you have become conformed to the Son of God…since you share in Christ, it is right to call you ‘Christs’ or anointed ones… You have become ‘Christs’ by receiving the sign of the Holy Spirit…When you emerged from the pool of sacred waters you were anointed in a manner corresponding to Christ’s anointing. That anointing is the Holy Spirit… Christ was anointed with...the Holy Spirit…and you have been anointed with chrism because you have become fellows and sharers of Christ.”
This is why we celebrate today Christ’s own Baptism in the Jordan, because our Baptism is an imitation of His and through it not only are we cleansed, made holy and made God’s beloved children, we become another Christ in the world, and if we remain faithful, our prayer is that the Father may say of us what He said to Christ: “You are my beloved….with you I am well pleased.”
Many people think it is strange that Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, in whose name we are baptized, and God Himself would need to be baptized at all.
Yet, it was necessary, not for Him but for us. In fact a bishop of the church by the name of St. Maximus of Turin said just that, he said: “Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched.” So that as Christ is washed in those waters we too then can be washed of our sins.
Do you see this water? It is Holy Water, and while it may seem like plain water, taste like plain water, even look like normal water, it is water that was blessed and made holy.
And, the way that water is made holy is because Jesus made it holy when He allowed St. John the Baptist to baptize Him.
So, this water and any water that is blessed, especially before someone is baptized, is and has been made holy by Jesus Himself and, as a result, the sin of Adam, the sin of our first parents could be cleansed and we could be made, as our Gospel reminds, beloved sons and daughters of God.
St. Gregory Nazianzen puts it beautifully, he says: “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.” This is why in early Baptismal rites things were done a little differently. And, since sometimes things can start to lose their meaning when they are separated from their origin, it seems appropriate to understand what and how Baptism used to occur, especially on this Feast of the Lord’s Baptism.
Baptism, in the beginning, wasn’t just for babies, in fact, most people were a little bit older and they would stand before a bishop on a rug, most likely made out of camel to remind them of the animal skins that Adam and Eve were forced to wear when they had to leave the Garden of Eden.
Then the person that was to be baptized would face west, a symbol of the dominion of the Devil over the world, and then they would renounce him. They would then turn to the east, because it was believed paradise was in the east and it is also believed that Jesus will come from that direction when He comes a second time. So they would face east and then they would profess their faith.
Then, they would remove all of their clothes, a symbol of shedding, as St. Paul calls it, the “old man.” Then they would be Baptized, but this Baptism wasn’t just a couple of splashes of water on their head, instead, the person to be baptized would either be brought to a pool or a river where someone would take their head and dunk them 3 times.
But it wasn’t a short time; they were held underwater a rather long time, in essence to experience the closeness of death. This is why like Christ who came out of the cave after 3 days after His death, those who were baptized rose from the waters just as Christ was raised from the dead and then they, like Jesus, would be dressed in a white robe.
Later on the anointing was added, a beautiful symbol that just as Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit, we too become “anointed ones” partaking and sharing in this same mystery. In fact, in the early instruction for the newly baptized in Jerusalem, the following was said: “Now that you have been baptized into Christ and have put on Christ, you have become conformed to the Son of God…since you share in Christ, it is right to call you ‘Christs’ or anointed ones… You have become ‘Christs’ by receiving the sign of the Holy Spirit…When you emerged from the pool of sacred waters you were anointed in a manner corresponding to Christ’s anointing. That anointing is the Holy Spirit… Christ was anointed with...the Holy Spirit…and you have been anointed with chrism because you have become fellows and sharers of Christ.”
This is why we celebrate today Christ’s own Baptism in the Jordan, because our Baptism is an imitation of His and through it not only are we cleansed, made holy and made God’s beloved children, we become another Christ in the world, and if we remain faithful, our prayer is that the Father may say of us what He said to Christ: “You are my beloved….with you I am well pleased.”
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