OVERVIEW: In the church year, the feast of the nativity is closely followed by the celebration of Jesus’ baptism because of the parallels between these two great events (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). The opening of heaven is a programmatic theme for the rest of the Gospel, for the opened heaven signals the coming of the forgiveness of sins (ORIGEN). The mystery of the Trinity is present—Father, Son and Spirit are eternally three in one (AMBROSE). The great mystery is that Christ, true God and true man, anointed with the Holy Spirit and acknowledged by the Father, opens the way for fallen human beings to be incorporated into Christ through baptism and likewise to receive the Spirit and to be adopted as children of God (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). From now on the Holy Spirit will accompany Jesus in his public ministry, for the Spirit is always the Spirit of Jesus (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). As “the Anointed One,” “the Messiah,” “the Christ,” Jesus stands in the waters of the Jordan both in solidarity with us and in substitution for us (CYPRIAN). By entering the waters of the Jordon on our behalf, he sanctifies water for our baptism (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). The appearance of the Holy Spirit as a dove recalls Noah after the flood,1 pointing to the ark of Noah as the church where the dove was a symbol of peace, and pointing to Christ whose church is his body. The declaration that Jesus is the beloved Son is the high point of Jesus’ baptism and shows the unity of Father and Son (AMBROSE).
THE PARALLELS BETWEEN JESUS’ BIRTH AND BAPTISM. MAXIMUS OF TURIN:
Today, then, is another kind of birth of the Savior. We see him born with the same sort of signs, the same sort of wonders, but with greater mystery. The
Holy Spirit, who was present to him then in the womb, now pours out upon him in the torrent. He who then purified Mary for him now sanctifies the running waters for him. The Father who then overshadowed in power now cries out with his voice. He who then, as if choosing the more prudent course, manifested himself as a cloud at the nativity now bears witness to the truth. So God says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him.” Clearly the second birth is more excellent than the first.
The one brought forth Christ in silence and without a witness. The other baptized the Lord gloriously with a profession of divinity. From the one, Joseph, thought to be the father, absents himself. At the other, God the Father, not believed in, manifests himself. In the one the mother labors under suspicion because in her condition she lacked a father. In the other she is honored because God attests to his Son. SERMON 13A.2
HEAVEN OPENED SO THAT SIN COULD BE FORGIVEN. ORIGEN: The Lord was baptized. The heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit came down upon him. A voice from the heavens thundered and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased.” We should say that heaven was opened at the baptism of Jesus and for the plan of forgiving sins. These are not the sins of him “who had committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.”3 The heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit came down for the forgiveness of the whole world’s sins. After the Lord “ascended on high, leading captivity captive,”4 he gave them the Spirit. The Spirit had come to him, and he gave the Spirit at the time of his resurrection, when he said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven him. If you retain them for anyone, they will be retained.”5 But “the Holy Spirit came down upon the Savior in the form of a dove.” The dove is a gentle bird, innocent and simple. Hence we too are commanded to imitate the innocence of doves.6 Such is the Holy Spirit: pure, swift, and rising up to the heights. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 27.5.7
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY PRESENT AT JESUS’ BAPTISM. AMBROSE:
Now let us consider the mystery of the Trinity. We say, “one God,” but we confess the Father, and we confess the Son. For although it is written, “You shall love the Lord thy God and serve him alone,”8 the Son denied that he is alone, saying, “I am not alone, for the Father is with me.”9 Nor is he alone now, for the Father bears witness that he is present. The Holy Spirit is present, because the Trinity can never be separated from Itself. Then
“heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily shape like a dove.” EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.92.10
THE MYSTERY OF JESUS’ BAPTISM. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: But how then, they object, was he baptized and received the Spirit? We reply that he had no need of holy baptism. He was wholly pure and spotless, and the holiest of the holy. He did not need the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit that proceeds from God the Father is from him and equal to him in substance. Now, at last, we must explain God’s plan of salvation. God, in his love of humankind, provided for us a way of salvation and of life. Believing in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and making this confession before many witnesses, we wash away all the filth of sin. The communication of the Holy Spirit enriched us, made us partakers of the divine nature and gained for us the grace of adoption as God’s children. It was necessary, therefore, that the Word of the Father become for our sakes the pattern and way of every good work when he humbled himself to emptiness and deigned to assume our likeness. For it follows that he who is first in everything must set the example in this too. He commences the work himself in order that we may learn about the power of holy baptism and learn how much we gain by approaching so great a grace. Having been baptized, he prays that you, my beloved, may learn that never-ceasing prayer is a thing most fitting for those who have once been counted worthy of holy baptism. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 11.11
THE HOLY SPIRIT VITAL TO JESUS’ MINISTRY. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS:
Christ is born; the Spirit is his forerunner.12 Christ is baptized; the Spirit bears him witness. Christ is tempted. The Spirit leads him up.13 Christ performs miracles. The Spirit accompanies him.14 Christ ascends. The Spirit fills his place.15 ORATION 31.29, ON THE HOLY SPIRIT.16
JESUS IS BAPTIZED FOR OUR SIN, NOT HIS. CYPRIAN: From the first moment of his descent from the glories of heaven to earthly things, he did not disdain to put on man’s flesh although he was the Son of God. Although he himself was not a sinner, he did not disdain to bear the sins of others.
Having put aside his immortality for a time, he suffered himself to become mortal, in order that though innocent he might be slain for the salvation of the guilty. The Lord was baptized by his servant, and he, although destined to grant the remission of sins, did not disdain to have his body cleansed with the water of regeneration. THE GOOD OF PATIENCE 6.17
JESUS SACTIFIES ALL WATER WITH HIS BAPTISM. MAXIMUS OF TURIN:
Today, then, he is baptized in the Jordan. What sort of baptism is this, when the one who is dipped is purer than the font, and where the water that soaks the one whom it has received is not dirtied but honored with blessings?
What sort of baptism is this of the Savior, I ask, in which the streams are made pure more than they purify? For by a new kind of consecration the water does not so much wash Christ as submit to being washed. Since the Savior plunged into the waters, he sanctified the outpouring of every flood and the course of every stream by the mystery of his baptism. When someone wishes to be baptized in the name of the Lord, it is not so much the water of this world that covers him but the water of Christ that purifies him. Yet the Savior willed to be baptized for this reason—not that he might
cleanse himself but that he might cleanse the waters for our sake. SERMON 13A.3.18
THE DOVE POINTS TO THE ARK AND TO CHRIST. AMBROSE: Why like a dove? For the grace of the washing requires simplicity, so that we may be innocent like doves.19 The grace of the washing requires peace, as in an earlier image the dove brought to the ark that which alone was inviolable by the flood.20 He of whom the dove was the image, who now deigned to descend in the form of a dove, taught me that in that branch, in that ark, was the image of peace and of the church. In the midst of the floods of the world the Holy Spirit brings its fruitful peace to its church. David too taught, he who perceived the sacrament of baptism and said with the Spirit of prophecy, “Who will give me wings like a dove?”21 EXPOSITION OF THE
GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.92.22
THE VOICE OF THE FATHER AFFIRMS THE UNITY OF FATHER AND SON.
AMBROSE: We saw the Spirit, but in bodily form, let us also see the Father.23 Because we cannot see, let us hear. Our merciful God is present. He will not forsake his temple. He wishes to build up every soul, he wishes to mold it for salvation, he wishes to convey living stones from earth to heaven.24 He loves his temple. Let us love him. If we love God, let us keep his commandments.25 If we love him, we shall know him. He who says that he knows him and keeps not his commandments is a liar.26 For how can he who does not love Truth love God, for God is Truth?27 Therefore let us hear the Father, for the Father is invisible.28 Yet the Son is invisible according to his divinity, for no one has seen God at any time.29 So, while the Son is God, he is not seen as the Son, insofar as he is God. Yet he wished to show himself in the body. Because the Father did not wear a body, therefore the Father wished to prove to us that he is present in the Son, saying, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.” If you wish to learn that the
Son is always present with the Father, read the voice of the Son saying, “If I go up into heaven, you are there. If I go down into the grave, you are present there.”30 If you seek evidence of the Father, you have heard it from John. Believe him by whom Christ believed he must be baptized, to whom the Father entrusted his Son, saying with a heavenly voice, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”31 EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF
LUKE 2.94.32