The Theophany or Epiphany - the baptism of Christ
© Methodius
As one of the hymns of the feast puts it:
When Thou, O Lord, wast baptised in the Jordan the worship of the Trinity was made manifest! For the voice of the Father bare witness to Thee and called Thee his beloved Son! And the Spirit, in the form of a dove confirmed the truthfulness of his Word. O Christ our God who hast revealed thyself and enlightened the world glory to Thee!
A question that some people sometimes ask is why our Lord Jesus Christ needed to be baptised. If we are baptised for the remission of our sins, and He was sinless, was his baptism not pointless? He was baptised by St John the Forerunner, who baptised with a baptism for repentance, but if Christ was without sin, why would he need to repent?
One could answer this very briefly by pointing out that our baptism and Christ's baptism are opposite in their meaning and significance. When we are baptised, one of the things that happens is that we ourselves are made clean of sin. We go into the water dirty, and come out clean. With Christ, it is the other way round. He goes into the water clean, and comes out bearing the sins of the world. We enter the water to be purified. When Christ enters the water, it is the water that is purified.
It is this purification of the water that we celebrate at the Great Blessing of the Waters at Epiphany.
In the Scriptures water, especially in large quantities, is a symbol of evil. In creation the Spirit of God moves on the face of the waters, and brings order out of chaos. In the story of Noah, human sinfulness brings a great flood, which threatens to destroy all life. In the Exodus, the people of Israel escape from oppression and slavery in Egypt, but find the way to freedom is barred by the sea. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, they eventually cross the Jordan to enter the promised land.
Jonah is swallowed by a monster from the water, and St John in his Apocalypse, describes a sea between him and God (4:6). In chapter 12 the dragon tries to sweep away the woman who represents the church with a flood, and in chapter 13 a monster arises from the sea. Yet when the dragon is finally defeated, there is a new heaven and a new earth, and the sea no longer exists as a barrier between people and God (21:1). Instead there is a river, flowing from the throne of God, watering trees for the healing of the nations (22:1-2).
