Слово святого Иоанна Златоустого на Богоявление Господне

I want, beloved, to celebrate and triumph, for the holy day of enlightenment is the seal of the holiday and the day of triumph. He captures the Bethlehem den, where the Ancient of Days, like a baby at his mother’s breast, lay in a manger; He also opens the Jordanian springs, where the same Ancient of Days is now baptized with sinners, granting the world the remission of sins with His most pure body. In the first case, the one who came from the womb of the Most Pure Virgin appeared to infants as a baby, to the mother as a son, to the wise men as a gift, to shepherds as a good shepherd, who, according to the word of Divine Scripture, lays down His soul for the sheep (John 10:11). In the second case, precisely at His baptism, He comes to the Jordanian waters in order to wash away the sins of tax collectors and sinners. Speaking about the extraordinary miraculousness of such an event, the wise Paul exclaims: “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11). For now the world is enlightened in all its parts: first of all, the sky rejoices, conveying to people the voice of God descending from heavenly heights, the air is sanctified by the flight of the Holy Spirit, the nature of water is sanctified, as if learning to wash souls along with bodies, and all earthly creation rejoices. Only the devil cries when he sees the holy font prepared to drown his power. What else does the Gospel say? “Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John restrained Him and said: I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” (Matt. 3:13, 14). Who saw the Master standing before the slave? Who saw the king bowing his head before his warrior? Who has seen a shepherd to whom a sheep would show the way? Who has seen the head of a race who would receive a reward from someone practicing on the run 286? “I need to be baptized by You,” - i.e. teach me, O Lord, You Yourself the baptism that You want to teach the world. I need You to baptize me, since I am under the burden of ancestral sin and carry the serpentine venom within me. I need to wash away the filth of an ancient crime, and for what sins did You come to be baptized? The prophet also testified about You, saying: “For He committed no sin, and no lie was in His mouth” (Is. 53:9). How, by giving deliverance yourself, do you seek cleansing? Those who are baptized, according to custom, confess their sins; What do you have to confess when You are completely sinless? Why do You demand from me what I have not been taught? I do not dare to do anything that exceeds my strength; I don’t know how to wash the light, I don’t know how to illuminate the sun of truth. The night does not illuminate the day, gold cannot be purer than tin, clay cannot correct the potter, the sea does not borrow streams from the source, the river does not need a drop of water, purity is not sanctified by filth, and the condemned does not set the judge free. “I need to be baptized by You.” A dead man cannot raise a living man, a sick man cannot be healed by a doctor, and I know the weakness of my nature! “A student is not above the teacher, and a servant is not above his master” (Matthew 10:24). The Cherubim do not approach me with fear, the Seraphim do not worship me and do not proclaim the Trisagion 287. I do not have heaven as a throne, I was not foreshadowed by a star to the Magi, Moses, Your saint, was barely worthy to see “behind You” (Ex. 33:23), how can I dare to touch Your most holy head? Why do You command me to do something that exceeds my strength? I do not have a hand with which I could baptize God: “I need to be baptized by You.” I was born of an old woman, for nature could not contradict Your command. Being in the womb of my mother and not being able to speak myself, I then used her lips, and now with my own lips, I will glorify You, the Incontainable One, Whom the virgin ark contained 288. I am not blind, like the Jews, for I know that You are the Master, Who only temporarily took on the form of a slave in order to heal man; I know that You appeared to save us; I know that You are a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, a stone in which he who believes will not be deceived. I will not be deceived by the visible signs of Your humility, and I understand in spirit the greatness of Your Divinity. I am mortal, but You are immortal; I am from the barren one, and You are from the Virgin. I was born before You, but not above You. I could only go out to preach before You, but I do not dare to baptize You: I know that You are the ax lying by the tree (Matthew 3:10), the ax that cuts down the barren trees of the Judean garden. I saw a sickle ready to cut off passions, and proclaimed that soon sources of healing would open everywhere, for what place would remain inaccessible to Your Jews? You will cleanse the lepers with one word, the flow of blood will stop through one touch of the hem of Your garments, from Your one command the paralytic will again be strengthened with strength. You nourish the daughter of the Canaanite woman with grains of Your miracles, You open the eyes of the blind with clay. How then do You ask me to lay hands on You? “I need to be baptized by You, and is it You who comes to me, looking down on the earth, and it shakes” (Matt. 3:14; Ps. 103:32), walking on the waters as on earth—You, about whom I exclaimed many times during the sermon: “He who is mightier than me is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down to untie!” (Mark 1:7). I rely only on Your ineffable goodness and hope on Your immeasurable love for mankind, according to which You allow even a harlot to wipe Your most pure feet and touch Your most holy head. What does the Lord say to him? “Leave now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Serve the Word like a human voice, work like a slave to the Lord, like a warrior to the king, like clay to the potter. Do not be afraid, but boldly baptize Me, because I will save the world; I give myself to death in order to revive the mortified human nature. You, despite My command, are still slow to stretch out your hand, but the Jews will soon not be ashamed to stretch out their wicked hands against Me in order to betray Me to death. “Leave it now, for it must be so.” Out of My love for mankind, I, before all ages, decided to save the human race. For the sake of people I became a man. What could be more surprising than the fact that I, as a simple person, come to be baptized? I do this because I do not despise the creation of My hands, I am not ashamed of earthly nature. I remained the same as I had been from time immemorial, and accepted a new nature, and, however, My being remained unchanged: “I will leave you now.” For the enemy of the human race, having been cast out of heaven and expelled from the earth, nests in the watery nature, and I came from there to drive him out, as the prophet announced about Me: “You crushed the heads of the serpents in the water” (Ps. 73:13) “Leave now.” For this enemy wants to tempt Me as a man, and I endure this in order to prove his powerlessness, for I will say to him: “Do not tempt the Lord your God” (Matthew 4:7; Deut. 6:16). Oh new miracle! O ineffable grace! Christ accomplishes the feat, and I receive honor; He fights with the devil, and I turn out to be the winner; He crushes the snake's head in the water, and I, as it were, are crowned with a real wrestler 289; He is baptized, and the filth is removed from me; The Holy Spirit descends on Him, and remission of sins is given to me; The Father testifies of Him as His beloved Son, and I become the son of God for His sake; The heavens were opened to him, and I entered into them; before Him, the baptized, the kingdom above appears, and I receive it as an inherited possession; The voice of the Father turns to Him, and together with Him I am called; The Father favors Him and does not reject me either. For my part, I glorify the Father, who gave His voice from heaven, the Son, who was baptized on earth, and the Spirit, who descended like a dove, God, One in the Trinity, Whom I will always worship. Amen. Ristania is a racing competition that was publicly performed in Greece at some festivals during public games. The winner of this competition was given a reward from special elders who awarded the awards. An indication of the vision of the prophet Isaiah, who was honored to see God sitting on the throne, and the Cherubim and Seraphim surrounding the throne chanted: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isa. 6:3). Of course, the virgin womb of the Most Pure Mother of God. The expression is taken from the ancient custom of crowning the winners with laurel wreaths at public wrestling competitions. You might be interested in: