Likewise, what gift is as necessary for us as water? By water everything is washed, and nourished, and purified, and irrigated. Water waters the earth, produces dew, fattens the grapes, ripens the ears of corn, destroys the bitterness in the fruits of the vine, softens the olive, delights the palm, adorns the rose, dots the violet with flowers, nourishes the lily in a beautiful shell. But why say so much? Without water, nothing that we see can exist: water is so necessary that when the other elements have their abode under the vaults of the heavens, it has received for itself a receptacle above the heavens. The Prophet himself testifies to this, crying out: "Praise Him, O heavens of heavens, and waters which are higher than the heavens" (Psalm 148:4).

But this is not the only limitation of the significance of water. It is also in the fact that the Creator of all things, Christ Himself, descended like rain (Hosea 6:3), was known as a spring (John 4:14), spread out like a river (John 7:38), and was baptized in the Jordan. For Jesus, having come to John, was baptized by him in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13), a wonderful thing. The Endless River, which rejoices in the city of God (Psalm 45:5), is washed by a little water. The boundless Source that brings forth life for all people, the Source that has no limits, is covered with scanty waters that quickly dry up. He Who is everywhere present and fills everything, He Who is incomprehensible to angels and invisible to men, comes to Baptism according to His own good will. Hearing this, beloved, you will not only understand what has been said, but behold here the mystery of our salvation. For this reason, even from the nature of the water, that which the Lord, in His loving condescension, did in secret, was not hidden: for "the waters saw Thee, and feared Thee" (Psalm 76:17). They almost set out, and did not flee from their shores. Therefore, the Prophet, contemplating this event long ago, forgives: "What is the matter with you, O sea, that you have fled, and (with you), Jordan, that you have turned back?" (Psalm 113:5). The waters answer: we have seen the Creator of all things in the form of a servant, and not understanding this mysterious dispensation, we have moved out of fear.

But as for us, we have already come to know this economy of the Lord, and we glorify His mercy, for He came to save, and not to judge the world. Why did John, the Forerunner of the Lord, who had not previously known this sacrament, but afterwards knew that Jesus was truly the Lord, called out to those who came to him to be baptized: "Offspring of vipers." (Matt. 3:7). Why are you looking at me so attentively? "I am not Christ" (John 1:20). I am a minister, not the Lord; I am a sheep, not a shepherd; I am a man, not God. By my birth I have freed the barrenness of my mother, but I have not left virginity barren. I am from the lower, not from the highest. I have bound the tongue of my father (Luke 1:20), but I have not explained the divine grace. I was recognized by my mother in her womb, but not foreshadowed by a star (Luke 1:24). I am poor and insignificant, but "He who follows me... stood before me" (John 1:27). ("Follow me" - in relation to time, and "ahead of me" - in relation to the unapproachable and ineffable light of the Divine). "He who comes after me is stronger than I: I am not worthy to bear His shoes; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matt. 3:11). I am under authority, and He has original authority. I am a sinner, and He destroys sins (John 1:29). I preach the law, and He brings the light of grace. I teach as a slave, and He judges as the Lord. My bed is the earth, and He has heaven. I baptize with the baptism of repentance, and He bestows the grace of adoption: He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Why do you fix your eyes on me? I'm not the Christ.

When John thus spoke to the people, who were impatiently expecting to see some extraordinary spectacle, and when the devil trembled at such an important testimony of John, the Lord Himself appears, in a simple form, alone, without adornment, without companions, clothed with human flesh and hiding under it the dignity of the Godhead, so as to conceal it from the wiles of the spiritual dragon. He not only approached John as the Lord, who had laid down his royal majesty, but also, as a simple man guilty of sin, bowed his head in order to receive baptism from him. Therefore, John, seeing such great humility, was amazed, began to restrain Him and said to him: "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to Me?" (Matt. 3:14). What are you doing, Lord? You do not teach one thing I have proclaimed about You, and You do another. The devil has heard one thing, but sees another. Baptize me with divine fire: what shall Thou expect from the water? Enlighten me with the Spirit, what can you get from creation? Baptize me, the Baptist, that they may know Thy dignity. I, O Lord, baptize with the baptism of repentance, and by no means can I baptize those who come to me, unless they first confess their sins. Even if I were to baptize You, what will You confess before me? Do you destroy sins, and yet you want to be baptized with the baptism of repentance? Let me dare to baptize You, but the Jordan itself will not dare to approach You. "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"

What does the Lord answer him? - "Leave it now, for thus it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). Leave it now, John; you are not wiser than Me. You look like a man, and I judge like God. First it behooves Me Myself to do and only then to teach. I do nothing unworthy, for I am clothed with splendor. Are you surprised, John, that I did not appear in the splendor of My dignity? I am the doer of the law, and I do not want to leave anything in it unfulfilled, so that after Me Paul may say: "The end of the law, Christ, to the righteousness of everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4). "Leave it now, for thus it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness." – Baptize me, John, so that no one despises baptism. From thee, O servant, I am baptized, so that none of the mighty may abhor to receive baptism from a humble priest. Suffer Me to descend into the Jordan, that they may hear the testimony of the Father and know the power of the Son. "Then John admits Him. And having been baptized, Jesus immediately came up out of the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and John saw the Spirit of God. Who came down like a dove, and did not descend on Him. And behold, a voice from heaven saith, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:15-17).

You see how many and great blessings we would be deprived of if the Lord, yielding to John's persuasion, renounced baptism. Until now, the heavens have been closed; the upper region remained impregnable.

But was the Lord alone baptized? No. At the same time, He renewed the old man and returned to him the Royal right of adoption. For immediately the heavens were opened (Matt. 3:16). There followed the reconciliation of the visible with the invisible: the heavenly faces rejoiced, earthly infirmities were healed, the hidden was revealed, enmity was destroyed. The heavens were opened for three wonderful things. For at the time when the Bridegroom, Christ, was baptized, the heavenly palaces had to open their shining gates. In like manner it was fitting that the gates of heaven should lift up their tops (Psalm 23:7), when the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered. And behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and a voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

The beloved gives birth to Love, and the immaterial Light gives birth to the unapproachable Light. "This is My beloved Son"—the Son Who appeared on earth without leaving the bosom of the Father. He appeared and did not appear. For He was not what He seemed. Otherwise, judging by appearance, the baptizer has an advantage over the one being baptized. Therefore, the Father sent down the Holy Spirit from Heaven on the one being baptized.

For just as in Noah's ark God's love for mankind was depicted by means of a dove, so here the Spirit, descending in the form of a dove and as if carrying an olive branch, rested on Him of Whom it was testified. Why is that? In order to know the power of the voice of the Father and to believe the ancient prophetic prediction. To what prophecy?-"The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory roared. The Lord is over many waters" (Psalm 28:3). What voice? "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," this one, called the son of Joseph, is my only-begotten Son according to the divine essence. "This is My beloved Son." Though He hungers, He feeds thousands; He labors and gives rest to those who labor; "hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20) and holds all things in his right hand; suffers and heals infirmities; suffers blows (Matt. 26:67) and gives freedom to the world; pierced with a spear into the side (John 19:34) and corrects Adam's rib.

But I ask you to pay attention: for I want to turn to the Source of life, I want to contemplate the Source that exudes healing. The Immortal Father sent into the world the immortal Son and the Word-Son, who came to people to wash them with water and the Spirit, and, having regenerated us to incorruptibility spiritual and bodily, breathed into us the Spirit of life and clothed us with an incorruptible armor. Thus, if man has become immortal, then he will also become a partaker of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). But if, after being reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, which he received in the font, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature, then even after his resurrection from the dead he becomes a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). And so, with the voice of the preacher, I cry out: Come all nations to the immortality granted in Baptism. I preach life to you who sit in the darkness of ignorance. Come from slavery to freedom, from tyranny to kingdom, from corruption to incorruption. But how, you say, will we come? How? By water and the Holy Spirit. This water, united with the Spirit, is the same water with which paradise is irrigated, the earth is fattened, plants vegetate, animals give birth, in a word, by which the regenerated man is revived, in which Christ was baptized, on which the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

This is the same Spirit who originally hovered over the waters (Gen. 1:2), by whom the world moves, creation is preserved and everything is made alive - who acted in the prophets (Acts 27:25), descended on Christ (Matt. 3:16). This is the Spirit which was given to the apostles in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2:3). This is the Spirit that David desired when he said: "And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 50:13). Gabriel also proclaimed this Spirit to the Most Holy Virgin. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow Thee" (Luke 1:35). By this Spirit St. Peter uttered that blessed word: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16). By this Spirit the rock of the Church was established (Matt. 16:18). This Spirit-Comforter (John 14:26) is sent to you for the purpose of showing you that you are a child of God. Come, therefore, man: be reborn, that ye may receive the adoption of God. How? - If you do not commit adultery, kill, serve idols; if you are not conquered by pleasures, if the passion of pride does not dominate you; if you destroy impurity in yourself and cast off the burden of sin; if you put off all the armor of the devil and put on the armor of faith, as Isaiah says: "Wash yourselves... seek the truth, save the oppressed, defend the orphan, intercede for the widow. Then come, and let us reason, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool. If ye will and obey, ye shall partake of the good things of the earth" (Isaiah 1:16, 17-19).

Do you see how the prophet foretold the cleansing power of Baptism? For he who enters this bath of regeneration with faith denies Satan and is united with Christ, rejects the enemy and confesses Christ as his God, puts off slavery and puts on adoption as sons. He returns from the baptismal font as bright as the sun, shining with the rays of righteousness, and what is most important is that he returns as a son of God and a co-heir with Christ. To Him be glory and dominion with His All-Holy, Good, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto all ages of ages. Amen. Additions to the Church Bulletin. № 2. 1890

MARRIAGE

"Have you not read that He who created male and female in the beginning created them? And He said, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:4-6).