Беседа на Святое Богоявление. (О крещении Господа на Иордане.). Св. Иакова Саруга

The appearance of our Lord on the Jordan is the real line between the Old and New Testaments. The beginning of the law was Moses, and the end of it was John. From now on, instead of the law, fulfillment will be heard from the lips of our Lord, who fulfilled the path of righteousness through His baptism: so it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). Moses, in the clouds of Mount Sinai, discovered a source of milk, feeding and strengthening by which the world would rise to heights and could become perfect; John offered the world a saving remedy instead of milk, showing it Christ, who said: I am the bread (John 6:35). “The law was milk, but I was bread; turn away, children, from the milk and come and live on bread—the food of grown men.” John also proclaimed this when he spoke loudly to the people: I baptize with water: I give you only the milk of the law of Moses; but he who comes after me is strong against me: He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11; Luke. 3:16) He will make you actual children of God. He will regenerate you, so that you can call God your Father.” For this reason, John was chosen as the finalizer of the law and the pioneer of the Gospel. On him rested the prophecy of Moses and the spirit of the zealot Elijah, that he might minister by the power of both covenants; he gave permission to some so that they could calm down, and he invited others to a meal so that they could be comforted by it. John in the desert called on the people to turn away from milk and take up healthy food, which gives strength and perfect growth. Standing on the border of the Old Testament and preaching the greatness of the new beauty, he found himself in the desert, like the morning star speaking of the Sun approaching its rising. The Bride (i.e., the Church) surrendered herself to her true leader and believed in his spiritual leadership, that he was the bridegroom, her comforter; he, having preserved the Bride in purity, revealed himself to her: “I am not Christ, but he whom He sent.” And when she asked him: “Who are you,” he openly said to the people: I am a voice (John 1:23), through which you should know that the Word reveals itself through the voice: for the voice testifies to the word, and is the messenger, the herald of the word. When John was asked: “Who are you,” he said that he was the herald of the Word, in order through this to arouse among the people love for Him for Whom he is the voice, that is, to arouse a fire in the Bride for the Bridegroom, so that She would strive for Him. John presented Christ to her as great, but showed himself to be insignificant, wanting His (the Lord’s) greatness to be known through his (John’s) insignificance. “I am not worthy of Him,” he says further, “Let me loose the thong of His shoe” (John 1:27). He wanted to visually depict before the Bride the greatness of the Bridegroom when he said: "The shoes of your praised one stand higher than my head. If I were to stretch out my hands, I could not touch the strap of His shoes; if I were even higher, then again I would be unworthy to kiss His feet. The beauty of His nature exceeds my head: for He is as far from me as heaven is from earth, the word is from a voice, as The Spirit rises above the prophets. God is above people. He is from above, He is from the earth, and He speaks from the earth (John 3:31). And I am from below; He is great, and I am small; He is the body, and I am the shadow; He is from the eternal Father, and I am from Zechariah; He is from a Virgo, and I am from a married woman. He is the most powerful in the world (Isa. 9:6), God; and I am the flower of the earth, now about to fade (Matthew 6:30), man.” – With such fiery words, John aroused love for the Groom in the Bride, whom he washed with baptism. And when she heard this, she believed and loved him, and wanted to see the Bridegroom every day, unceasingly. But our Lord made Himself unrecognizable: the world did not know Him until John with the Father and the Holy Spirit testified about Him. Christ the Bridegroom was revealed daily on the Jordan from John, but the Jews did not know who He was. But then He came to John, who was glorifying the Bridegroom, in order to wash His Most High with this water, which was prepared for the Bride. Seeing His approach, John was overwhelmed with joy and, pointing his finger to the people, at the same time he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, instead of the lamb of Moses; behold, take away the sins of the world (John 1:29), instead of the sacrifice of the Levites. About this I spoke daily, that for me the Man who is before me is coming, as he was first to me (John 1:30). Behold the Lamb of God! Moses depicted Him in the form of a lamb, and by His blood the sins of the Jews were washed away.” Our Lord approached John so that he would baptize Him; but the Baptist, filled with holy astonishment, drew his hands to himself and said to Him: “Lord, I demand to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me (Matthew 3:14)? Fire cannot be taken without tongs: Jordan cannot embrace the sea so that it is baptized in it. It is indecent that the Purifier should seek cleansing, and that the Giver of salvation should be one with those who come here. to receive salvation through immersion." Our Lord said to him: "Leave now. Do not prevent Me from being baptized in the Jordan, for you did not prevent Me from finding a place in the Virgin. I wanted and came through birth and do not hinder Me: for I must be baptized. The mother's body is less than the river, and the mother's embrace is less than the font of the Jordan; but since the Father wanted, the mother's body embraced Me, and as He wants, so does He. The font of the Jordan is spacious for Me. I allow myself to be baptized, for I was born. Do not remove me from the path on which I have gone: for I will not leave it until I have made redemption through the lawful doors I have entered into the flock of sheep (Jn. 10:7, 11), and so it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15) established by Moses. So, I begin priestly ministry in the world, like Melchizedek the high priest, who portrayed My mystery, in order to perfect it. I want to fulfill the truth, so I show its end; I want to finish the service of the law, and then I will begin the great path of the cross. Leave it now! Do not talk about My greatness, for now is the time of My humiliation.” The rich Bridegroom deigned to wash himself with the water that was prepared for the poor Bride. But the Bride-Giver also exposed his poverty when he asked to be baptized by the One who sent him here to the Jordan, the One whose kingdom is more perfect than all kingdoms. Through John's testimony the world knew its Lord that He was the Messiah; as a result of this, His baptism is called the Epiphany, for on the day when the Lord was baptized, He openly appeared to the people, came into the light, which is why people said among themselves: His was the writing of Moses in the law, and the prophets, who found Jesus the son of Joseph, who was of Nazareth (John 1:45). Until this time, rumors had spread that the Messiah had been born, partly through the story of the wise men from the east who were guided by a star, partly through the song of the angels to the shepherds, and also through the beating of children by Herod: these and other similar events spoke of the birth of the Messiah; but Who He is and how He was born - this was not known to the people. But then John appeared in the desert, filled with every virtue, adorned with extraordinary spiritual exploits: he despised the love of the world, trampled upon all earthly desires, ardently strived for poverty, carried within himself the image of chastity and purity, in all his actions his virginity was clearly revealed, there was no stain on his appearance and not the slightest spark of anger in his behavior. That is why many thought that he was the Messiah, so that even the priests and Levites themselves turned to him with a question (John 1:19), in order to find out from him whether he was the One about whom it was rumored that He would come (Matthew 11:5). But he clearly answered everyone: “I am not the same; but He stands in the midst of you, and you do not know Him” (John 1:20–26). These words of John confirmed all the assumptions that had previously been spread about the Messiah, and the people were completely convinced that the Redeemer should come soon; but who He was, no one knew this except John. And that is why people from Jerusalem and Judea came to him, as to the Forerunner of the Great Leader, not only to receive baptism from him, but also to ask him who he is: are you the Christ (John 1:25)? Since everyone was busy only with this question and wanted to get an answer to it, Jesus, who came with the people to John, was not noticed: no one recognized Him. But when the servant saw his Lord, then he said: “This is the One of whom I told you, that He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11). After this testimony, Jesus was known to everyone, and since the words spoken by John were fulfilled in Him, the people said among themselves: I have found the Messiah, who is, as we say, Christ (John 1:40-41). John, daily who said that he was not worthy to touch the strap of Christ’s shoes, did not want to calmly raise his hand above His head, as happened later: for he was aware of his insignificance and thereby actually showed the people the height of the Lord: it was hard for him to imagine that he should do to Him what he should do to all those who were not like Him. But behold, he heard the words of the Lord: “Leave it now,” and fulfilled the desire of the Lord. John approached to fulfill what was commanded, however, not in the same way as he did for others, whom he himself called and convinced to accept baptism from him, but in such a way that it was obvious that he was fulfilling what was commanded - and thereby showed that humility is higher than one’s own righteousness. All the sayings and justifications of our Lord are filled with light. He said: He who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14). It is clear that this also applies to John, who humiliated himself, and through this was exalted. He confessed that he was not worthy to touch the Savior’s shoes; but through this he was elevated so much that he was worthy to touch even the head of the Lord; he stretched out his hands to touch the shoes of the Lord, and in place of the shoes he touched His head. If there had been any place still lower than the feet of the Savior, then John would have descended there too; and if the Lord had any other place higher than His head, then John, by God’s grace, would have been raised to this highest place. since there was no lower place from the shoe, and no higher part of the body from the head, John humbled himself as much as he was able; and he rose so high that there was no longer a higher place; he descended to touch the heels of the Savior, but was worthy to see the height of the Lord. He did not really touch the thong of the Lord's sandals, but actually put his hand on His head; when he preached about the Lord, he was humbled, and when he baptized Him, he was exalted. If the creatures of the heavenly world (angels) had a love of fame, then the seraphim would have to envy John that he was raised so high; The seraphim carried the secret, so to speak, in secret, with fiery tongs (Isa. 6:6), and John the Baptist was honored to touch the burning coal with his bodily hands. O humility so exalted! Oh, wondrous dust of the earth, which covered the great abyss and was not destroyed! It is marvelous how the unquenchable Fire was baptized bodily in water, and how he stepped into the Jordan to wash himself. The Highest Flame (Son of God), into the light of whose face the seraphim themselves are not able to look. Our Savior entered the Jordan: then the watery nature trembled with such joy, for the Holy Source was now in the water. David also sang about this: when he saw the waters, O God, when he saw the waters, he was afraid: the deep was crushed (Ps. 76:17). The entire mass of water (surface and lower part) rustled and rushed upward to see You. The Father at that moment let out a voice from above: “It is You, and no one else!” During the appearance of the Son, one Trinity appeared on the Jordan, and John in three forms received this secret, hidden at all times and from all tribes (Coloss. 1:26). Three Divine faces opened up and appeared fully to Him: the Father and the Holy Spirit testified about the Son. The Triune Godhead revealed Himself in three different forms: the Father through the voice, the Son through touch, the Holy Spirit through visible appearance. John, standing here, heard with his own ears, touched with his own hands, saw with his own eyes. His hearing was filled with the Father, His sense of touch with the Son, and His eyes with the Holy Spirit. One God was heard, touched and seen: three persons were known, revealed and adored. There is no other Father except Him whose voice sounded in the ears of John; there is no other Son except the One who was baptized in the Jordan by John; there is no Holy Spirit except the One who revealed himself to John in the form of a dove; John heard with his own ears, touched with his own hands, and saw with his own eyes the Father, Son and Spirit. The Father appeared to testify of the Only Begotten Son, from His voice we heard: This is My beloved Son, and in Him I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). The Holy Spirit appeared to testify together to the Truth, in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16), and through His visible appearance to confirm what the Father said. He was knowable, for He was none other than the True Son; He was known as the Only Begotten through the testimony of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen 102. See Sechs Homilien des heiligen Jacoh von Sarug. Aus Syrischen Handschriften übersetzt von P. Pius Zingerle Benedictiner von Marienberg. Bonn. 1867; p. p. 10–24. 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