Holy Theophany
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We have progressed from Bethlehem to Jordan and in today's feast of the Theophany, the Feast of Lights, we encounter our Savior, the God-Man, at thirty years of age according to His human nature. The Mighty One Who was hidden among his own people approached His servant John at this time in order to begin His public ministry.
He Who baptizes with fire accepts to be baptized by a servant. At first John protested saying, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" And the Lord Christ told him to allow this for now in order to fulfill all righteousness, that is, in order to fulfill the great economy of our salvation. In silence, Saint John fulfilled this command, our Savior descended into the waters, and as it is written:
And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as it were a dove, and coming upon Him: And lo a voice from the heavens, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mat 3:15-17)
We celebrate and commemorate the revelation of the worship of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We celebrate the revelation of the Divinity and Sonship of our Savior, which was proclaimed by the voice of the Father. God the Word, the Son of the Father, according to nature and essence, Emmanuel, God with us, the God-Man is upon earth and in Him is the Father well-pleased.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man appeared to us bringing the glad tidings of hope and sanctification through the knowledge of God.
The life of those baptized in Christ is a life of renewal and continual repentance. The Kingdom is at hand, but it is taken by those who do violence to their old man, the man of self-complacency and sin.
At our Baptism we are first required to renounce Satan and then we are asked, "Do you unite yourself to Christ?" After our thrice-repeated proclamation that we unite our self to Christ, we then proceeded to the rite of Baptism by triple immersion, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We were then sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit with Holy Chrism and were indeed united to Christ.
Yet, even after experiencing the grace of Baptism, we contend against sin and error all the days of our lives. Thus in order to maintain our union with Christ, we must examine ourselves daily, and remember Saint John's call to "repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Repentance, metania in Greek, signifies a complete turn away from something, a 180-degree turn from sin and a return to God.
And so, there is always good hope for those who seek to preserve union with Christ and ever return unto God. Let us not allow the tricks of the evil one to deflect us. Let us never give into despondency or become distracted by vain thoughts sown by the evil one. The world lies in error. Yet, we have been united to the Truth incarnate.
What then is the use of vainglory and pride? What then is the use of the dissipation of the flesh? What then is the use of the endless desire to possess more than we need? Puny man is here today and gone tomorrow. Without Christ our lives are in vain. Through Baptism, through our union with Him, we have the adoption of sons and daughters of the Most High.
Let us fear the words of Saint John that "even now the axe also lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Our Merciful Savior awaits our return as the Father of the Prodigal Son once looked day by day for the return of his son. Our Merciful Savior is ready to forgive as He forgave the Publican who abandoned all self-justification and entreated God in utter humility.
Our Christ came as a physician to those who would seek to be healed. Let us seek healing daily. Our Christ came to enlighten us, let us seek enlightenment. Our Christ came to sanctify us, let us seek sanctification through union with Him all the days of our lives. Amen.