On the feast of Holy Epiphany

The source of the gospel teachings has open streams, and if anyone, being thirsty, drinks from this source, he receives life for himself; he receives life according to the spirit and law of the commandments, experiencing joy more pleasant than wine. The sweetness of spiritual words knows no satiety, because it delights not the belly, but the heart, and leads the thoughts of the pious to divine love. You just heard in the gospel how John the Baptist called out to the Jewish people who had gathered from everywhere and were baptized: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I” (Matthew 3:11). “Coming... for me”; "by", i.e., in relation to the time of birth. “He who comes after me is mightier than I; I am not worthy to bear His sandals" (Matthew 3:11). What kind of shoes that should have been worn did the Lord wear, since John said: “I am not worthy to bear shoes”? Here the shoes speak of the sacraments of the economy, because the Lord’s incarnation is called shoes. And the witness of this is the Lord, who proclaims through the prophet: “I will stretch out my shoe on Edom” (Ps. 59:10). Therefore, the incarnation of man The Lord was known as a footstool, since it appeared on earth and embraced the borders of the earth. This is precisely what he explained from both sides, and the prophet exclaimed: “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship His footstool: holy is it” (Ps. 98:5). “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I; I am not worthy to carry His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire; His shovel is in His hand...and He will gather His wheat into the barn, and He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11–12). When John proclaimed this and preached loudly about the Lord, stronger than he, those who were baptized by him opposed John, saying: Prophet, do you have anyone stronger than you? Why are you slandering yourself? You are the son of the great Zechariah, you are both desirable for people and terrible for wild animals. Do you really have someone stronger than you? Why are you talking idle talk? There is no one stronger than you. You were born in accordance with the promise, you are indicated by Gabriel, you are revealed in the altar, you loosened the tongue of him who gave birth to you, which was bound by Gabriel, you are named John, which signifies the grace of God. So why are you slandering yourself? You don't have anything stronger than you. John, as a servant who testified in favor of the Master, without allowing himself to be misappropriated to divine dignity, loudly answered the opposing people, saying: you say what you do not know; I testify to what I know. The strongest of me is coming. I am for His sake; He is not for my sake; I am from the barren, He is from the Virgin; I am a warrior, He is a King; I am the forerunner, He is heavenly; I received the Spirit on loan, He gives life to all people; I am the messenger of repentance, He is the Giver of sonhood; I baptize you with water, purifying you like vessels contaminated with sins; He will offer the ointment of grace. The one you baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, not burning, but sanctifying. I set in motion the tongue of exhortation, He carries the shovel of justice and will carry the righteous like ripe bread into the heavenly granary, and consign sinners and unrepentant to unquenchable fire like chaff. “He who comes after me is mightier than I,” wait for Him to come to you, receive perfect baptism from Him; I am the lamp in some part, and He is the Sun everywhere. “He who comes after me is mightier than I.” When John preached this and the like, the crowds of people baptized by him waited, reasoning with each other and saying: let us be patient and let us see the kingdom or splendor that is to come; John burdened our ears with amazing words; he says that his strongest will appear, bearing a shovel and fire and the Spirit. At the same time, when crowds of people were impatiently awaiting the appearance of the worldly kingdom, John saw that the Lord of all and God was coming, and here the Lord in human form, alone, poor, in one tunic, as one of all people, having reached the Jordan, bowed his head before John, wanting to receive baptism from him. So, beyond strong expectation, noticing Christ coming in this humiliated form, John the Baptist was confused, perplexed and amazed; I looked around for a place to escape, wanting to hide from Him, but I did not find it, because I was held back and stopped by an invisible hand; he exclaimed to the Lord who was holding him, saying: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” (Matthew 3:14). What are you doing, Lord? Why are you handing me over to the crowds of people to die? Now the crowds of people will stone me as if I told a lie; I announced great things about You, and You appeared as a poor man and a stranger. What are you doing, Lord? And above is the Son of the King, and below is the Son of the King, and there is no royal scepter at all? Show Your right hand; Why did You appear alone and to the poor? Where are the multitude of Your angels? Where is the legion of archangels? Where are the six-winged cherubim serving You? Where is the shovel? Where is the fire? Where is Your Holy Spirit? You glorified Moses, showed a bright cloud, produced a pillar of fire to walk before him, illuminated his face with angelic glory, clothed the servant with such great glory, and You, Lord, appearing in the form of an ordinary person, bow Your head before me? Look up. You are the Head of all; show that you are; You have discovered the lowly, show also the high; baptize those present, and first of all, me. What will happen if I want to baptize You? The Jordan will not endure; he recognized You, the Creator, and turned his waves back; does not flow forward at its usual pace, rejects the usual order. The elements will recognize, and won’t I recognize? If you want to be baptized, then baptize yourself. I do not stretch out my hands; they refuse to connect, become numb, contract; What they have not learned to hold, they do not accept. “I demand to be baptized by You, and are You coming to Me?” I know You who You are, and You know that I know You. Why do you hide from me, who knows You? Being bound in my mother’s womb and not finding a way out before a certain time, I only contemplated You - carried by She Whom You carry; I recognized You, and, not being able to say anything myself, using the lips of my mother, I exclaimed through her, speaking my words: “Where is it from me that the Mother of my Lord came to me?” (Luke 1:43). I wasn’t deceived there, and won’t I recognize it here? “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” (Matthew 3:14). The Lord, as soon as he heard it, said to him: “Leave it now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Leave it now; you don't know what you're saying; I know what I'm doing. You desire that the glory of My divinity be revealed to you; the present time does not allow; everything is fine in its time. You speak the truth, but they do not believe you, because the Jewish people are unfaithful; have you not called the Jews a generation of vipers (Luke 3:7) 2? Therefore, how do you want Me to be open to them? They do not accept your testimony about Me; due to their suspicion, they are suspicious of your words that you are the Forerunner. Leave now, they will receive a greater testimony. “Leave it now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” John said to Him: How, Lord? And the Lord said to him: just as I was circumcised to fulfill the law, and I was baptized to confirm grace. If I fulfill part and leave part unattended, then I leave the economy incomplete; I must fulfill everything so that after this Paul writes: “The end of the law is Christ for the righteousness of everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4). “Leave now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Leave, John, so that the nature of water receives sanctification; I must do everything. If I do not receive baptism from you, then the Tsar will not want to be baptized by a poor priest. Leave now, leave, so that the Father from above exclaims: “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17), so that the Jews do not begin to call Me the son of a carpenter, but the son of the heavenly Father. Leave now, do not resist Adam: I am the second Adam, who wants to wash away the impurity of his sins; If I am not baptized, how will that Adam be cleansed? After all, that’s why I was baptized for thirty years, having waited for the age of that Adam, so that through what was characteristic of him, I could establish Mine. Leave it now so that what was said through the mouth of the prophet may be fulfilled: “the voice of the Lord is over the waters” (Ps. 28:3). And one could see a terrible sight. Trembling John touched the head of the Lord; and when the heavens opened up from above, the angels looked at what had happened; the grace of the Spirit, descending in the form of a dove on the head of the Lord, pushed away the right hand of John. And there stood a multitude of people, very perplexed and saying to each other: “Who is this?” Then, as if answering the crowds of people who inquired from each other about who it was, the Father exclaimed, saying: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17); “Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5) 3. The Parent exclaims about His tender love for the Son, so that you understand the Creator's intentions regarding the world, since He gave such a Son for such slaves, the Tenderly Beloved for those who are hated, the Sinless One for sinners. Glorious - for the inglorious. So, let us glorify the Lord who appeared with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. In the text: “boots”, according to Slav. lane But the Greek “ὑποδήματα” means any shoes, primarily sandals. - I.I. The text erroneously refers to Matthew 23:33, but there are the words of the Lord, not the Forerunner. – I.I. (My link is I.I.). Here Chrysostom added words that sounded from heaven at the Transfiguration of the Lord, and not at Baptism. This conversation in the Minya edition belongs to the category of Spuria, that is, unfoundedly attributed to St. I. Chrysostom. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith”