Why was Christ baptized? Truly, this is a great mystery. Baptism means purification. What was the Most Pure One cleansed from? Not from anything pertaining to Him, from the heaps of impurity pertaining to mankind.

And John himself was amazed that He came to be baptized: "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me? If anyone is to wash anyone, it is the clean of the unclean, and not the unclean of the clean. I am a mortal man, conceived in sin from the seed of a sinner, and I must be baptized of You, and not You of me. I am not worthy to detach even the strap of Thy shoe. I am the voice of the wilderness of man, and you are the Son of God, the Messenger from heaven, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

That's the explanation. John caught him. The Spirit of God revealed to him what is most important and what explains the baptism of Christ. Christ took upon Himself, of His own free will, before His Father the sins of the world. Ah, what a burden and what a burden it is! Oh, what an abomination and what an uncleanness! Here is Eve's betrayal of God, and her faith in the words of the serpent, when the serpent coiled around her and whispered in her ear that God was lying; here is the fratricide of Cain, here are millions of other fratricides.

Ah, my Theodoulos, here is war, war and war, and only the flame of war, in which cities and villages, families, tribes and peoples are burned; a flame that, subsiding in one place, flares up in another, but never goes out. In this flame of the war of all against all, only the infernal spirits of evil rejoiced, and people in despair and powerlessness shook their fists at heaven itself and blasphemed the One Who created them.

Into such a world came from His eternal glory the Son of God, Whom the two great Johns called the Lamb of God: John the Baptist and John the Theologian, the apocalyptic seer. And because of such and so many sins He came to the Jordan River to be baptized. Each of these sins brings death. How many millions of death sentences He took upon His shoulders, taking upon Himself the sins of the world, and not only the sins of the descendants of Adam who lived before His Coming, but also of all those who have to live after, until the end of time! With this immeasurable and incalculable burden He immersed Himself in the water, and John the Baptist laid His right hand upon His head.

His angels flew down from heaven and crowded around Him with awe and wonder. Why is He Who gives purity to water cleansed by water, and why is He Who sanctifies every creature by Himself, even Angels, sanctified by baptism?

And the heavens of heaven bowed down to the Jordan, and the Father and the Holy Spirit appeared over the Son. The Holy Spirit hovered in the form of a white shining dove over the head of Jesus, and the voice of love was heard: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."

Thus Jesus was baptized, silently, without explaining His baptism, but setting an example for all His followers, so that they too might be baptized and become partakers of the merits of His baptism. The Lord was silent then, but at the end of His earthly ministry He gave a commandment to His disciples: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit... Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.

Get baptized, India, what are you waiting for? God will not help you, who only thunders and commands, but does not set a personal example. Neither Krishna nor Shiva will save - it is Christ who saves, Who Himself began with purification and gave us an example of purification. The Creator, although pure, enters the water as a parent, and in this way sets an example for soiled children, so that they may first be cleansed of their former defilement and then be able to begin a new life in purity. A person, even the greatest sage and philosopher, cannot save the world. After all, the world is not saved until the sins of the world are taken upon themselves by someone. But even the greatest man is too young to take upon himself the sins of the whole world. This can only be done by the Heavenly Hostage and Guarantor. Only the Son of God – God from God, eternal and immortal – can take upon His shoulders millions of millions of human sins worthy of death, all the terrible and heavy burden of mankind.

Perfume

Do you believe in bodiless spirits, Theodoulos, servant of God?

In shallow water, the river murmurs loudly, and over deep pools it falls silent. Look into your soul and tell me if you are shallow or deep. Shallow water is language without a mind, depth is a mind without a tongue. Verily I say unto thee, the talkative godless are the shallow waters of life, and the silent sages and saints are its depths.

In the boastful shallow water you can neither bathe nor find food, unless you like frogs. You must seek purity and food only in the depths.

God is Spirit and truth. Unbelievers stubbornly deny the existence of all spirits, including God Himself. This is their thoughtless murmur in the shallow waters of life.