"IN THE JORDAN OF YOUR BAPTIZED LORD"

Theological commentary on the great Feast of the Epiphany

     Epiphany is one of the greatest feasts of Christianity. It celebrates the great event of the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River and the wonderful and rare manifestation of the Triune Godhead in the world.

     The importance of the great holiday is shown by the fact that, after Easter, it is the oldest Christian holiday. Historical evidence states that it was established earlier than 140 AD. from the heretical Gnostic group Vasileides in Alexandria, Egypt. The Gnostics celebrated the Baptism of Christ and at the same time his Birth on January 6, because they believed that during the baptism the being was united "Eternal Christ" by "jesus man", malice, which was later adopted by the heretical Nestorians. Its establishment is also not unrelated to the orgiastic pagan festival of the winter solstice of the Egyptians and Arabs, which coincided on the same date.

      It seems that this holiday was well received both by the heretical Gnostics and by many Christians, as the Church had not established such a holiday until then. Even this event led the Church to adopt this holiday and to prevent the faithful from celebrating with the heretical Gnostics. Our sources confirm that the feast of Epiphany, during which the Nativity and Baptism of the Lord were celebrated together at the end of the 2^th century was a fact. By the end of 4^th century in the West, the Birth and the Baptism were celebrated together, at which time the feast of the Birth was moved to December 25, in order to weaken and in the end to abolish the pagan feast of "Invincible Sun”, that is, the noisy manifestations of the worship of the Iranian "solar god" Mithra, which had been established as the patron of the Roman legions. In the East it was divided on the occasion of Saint Chrysostom at the beginning of the 5th century^th century. The so-called "pre-Chalcedonian churches" (Coptic, Armenian, Nestorian, etc), kept the ancient tradition of celebrating the 6^η January the Birth and Baptism together.

      The event of the Baptism of the Lord has enormous theological significance. According to the biblical narrative, when Christ was thirty years old and in order to enter His public life, He went to the Jordan desert, in order to receive the formal baptism of repentance from the honest Prodromos. In those places, the great prophet John preached repentance with unimaginable boldness and recklessness, so that the people would welcome the coming Saviour. Large crowds flocked to him to hear the eloquent and hopeful preacher. He would put them in the waters of the Jordan, where they would confess their sins. It was a purely symbolic act. As the gargled water flowed and cleansed the body impurities in the same way the confession and repentance cleansed the soul of the baptized person.

      The Lord, in order to show as a man respect for human tradition, accepted to receive the formal baptism of John, without actually

 he needs, because he was perfectly sinless, "all the hereafter of purity". This would facilitate him in the great public redemptive work, which would then begin. John was considered a great prophet by the people. His reference to Jesus as "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world(John 1,29:XNUMX) was necessary. John's testimony about Christ was decisive, the crowds were convinced and recognized in the person of Jesus the

expected Messiah. Thanks to this great testimony, the first nucleus of the Lord's associates was formed.

     In addition to John's testimony there was another shocking and unique event. The moment the Lord entered the waters of the Jordan, the heavens opened and the Triune God appeared in person to the multitudes present. The Humanizing Word was in the Jordanian threads, the Holy Spirit was descending «like pigeons" (Mt. 3,16) and from the opened sky the voice of the Father was heard "This is my beloved son, in whom I am blessed» (Matthew 3,16,17, XNUMX, XNUMX). This shocking event of epiphany means that the work of saving mankind is a collective decision of the Triune God. His manifestation at the time of Christ's Baptism reveals the confirmation of God's special care for the redemption of the world and the official anointing of Christ as the Messiah and Redeemer of humanity and the entire creation. The result of this confirmation is the Lord's subsequent dynamic course in the world of fall and corruption and His solemn victory over the forces of darkness, which will be completed with His glorious Resurrection! On the joyous feast we sing about it: "Christ is baptized with us, all hereafter pure, sprinkle the sanctification of water and souls this becomes pure" the earthly phenomenon, and the heavenly mind..." (4^ο mod. of the Lights of Lights).

       The event of the Lord's Baptism is a bright milestone in the course and activity of our Savior on earth, because "the people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in the land and shadow of death a light dawned upon them» (Matthew 4,16:XNUMX). Christ's entry into the world dispelled the spiritual darkness of the fallen past, for He Himself is the "true light, he always illuminates a person coming into the world» (John 1,9). During Epiphanies «we behold his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1,14). That is why the faithful called this great holiday the Lights and in fact the ancient Church performed the baptisms of the catechists on this day, which it called illuminations! The holy hymn writer of the great feast exhorts us: "Come and receive, all of you, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of the fear of God, of the manifest Christ" (amended by M. Agiasmos).

      Another important aspect of the Feast of the Epiphany is the sanctification of nature. The descent of Christ into the Jordanian kennels means the sanctification of the liquid element, which is the basis of life in the entire creation and by extension the sanctification of the entire creation, which because of human sin "summarizes and coordinates without the present» (Rom. 8,22). The amazing asmatic sequence of the feast is full of hymns, readings and wishes, which refer to the sanctification of nature with the wonderful wishes of the Great Sanctification prominent. The Great Sanctification itself, which we partake of on this day, is the liberation of the material creation from the corruption of the fall and its metamorphosis into its pre-proposal state. The prophet Isaiah predicted this wonderful eschatological transformation of the material world as follows: "For the hills and the mountains are exalted, welcoming you with joy, and

 always the trees of the field applaud the branches. And instead of the pile, a cypress is raised, and instead of a sycamore, a myrsine is raised. And the Lord is in name, and in eternal sign, and will not fade away" (Isaiah 55,12:XNUMX). The brilliant ceremonies of the consecration of the waters, with the throwing of the Holy Cross into them, on this holy day, signify the eternal sanctification of creation, thanks

in the cathartic power of Christ, which springs from the Jordanian kennels. Our Orthodox maritime country, which lives and thrives thanks to the generous liquid

element that surrounds it, celebrates this festival with particular splendor and the Pandima faithful participate in the brilliant ceremonies of consecrating the waters.

      The great feast of Epiphany is the beginning of the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth. "Adam the worn-out one is restored to Jordan's kennels and dragon-headed nesters are broken by the Lord, the King of the ages" (2^ο amendment 1 of the ode, of the Canon of Lights). This makes us leap for joy and fill our wounded hearts with unspeakable hope for our deliverance from the bitter bonds of sin and death. The Lord's formal baptism in the Jordan is for us an example of our essential baptism, which is "palligenesis bath” and death of our old fallen self and rebirth of our new existence in Christ. Through Holy Baptism "our old man was crucified, so that the body of sin might be abolished, the fabric of which makes sin work for us" (Rom. 6,5). In the amazing sequence of the Great Sanctification we read: "Today the sins of the people are washed away in the waters of the Jordan. Today heaven lifts people up and the sun of justice shines upon us... Today we are freed from the old mourning and as a new Israel we are saved. Today we are freed from the darkness and we are enlightened by the fire of the knowledge of God. Today the dust of the world is cleansed, the surface of our God... Today the Despot is hastening to baptism, so that the human will rise to a height" (Wish of M. Agiasmos).

      The God of our faith is not an abstract logical and theoretical figure, born of human imagination, but the living Triune God, Who condescended to enter the world and human history, for the sake of our own redemption. And as a sign of His eternal presence and His manifestation in the world, it is the unrepeatable event of the Epiphanies, which we celebrate with all splendor on this great day. The apostle Paul clearly gives the trigger for a new course of holy life: "The grace of God, the savior of all men, has appeared, disciplining us, so that denying irreverence and worldly desires we may soberly and justly and devoutly live in the present age, accepting the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he may redeem us from all sin and purify ourselves, a wealthy people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2,11-15). If we can, as individuals and as a society, realize the magnitude of the Divine Gift and accept to follow in His footsteps, His "Baptized in Jordan", whatever our problems will be a matter of time will be solved, our world, God's beautiful Creation, will once again become heavenly and we will perpetually experience the flood of divine illumination on our heavenly course. So go ahead: "Behold, now is a welcome time, behold, now is a day of salvation" (6,2 Corinthians XNUMX:XNUMX) for all of us. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only savior and redeemer of the world, is waiting for us!                

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