WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. St. Matthew frames

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the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as

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the Nativity, Christmas, the birth of Christ,

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which flows out of that long genealogy we heard

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a few weeks ago. Today, St. Mark frames the beginning

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of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. as the theophany.

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In the words we just heard from St. Paul's epistle,

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the appearing of God, his manifestation, his

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epiphania. As we prepare to enter into the feast,

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we need to reflect on St. John the Baptist, who

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figures centrally in theophany. It can be easy

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to overlook just how big of a deal John the Baptist

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really is. Perhaps we might put it, with all

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the various necessary changes and caveats, what

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the Theotokos is to Christmas, John is to Theophany.

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Of course, John doesn't bear or birth God. Rather,

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John prepares Israel for the divine fullness,

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the manifestation of God in the flesh, the divine

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life. accompanied by the Father's voice and the

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Spirit's presence, something John himself doesn't

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even entirely grasp. If the Theotokos embodies

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and perfects all the Old Testament women, John

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embodies and perfects all the Old Testament prophets.

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In fact, Mark begins his gospel by smashing together

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three different texts from the prophets, Exodus,

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Malachi, and Isaiah. as if they were one passage

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all about John, integrating Isaiah, Malachi,

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and Moses into John the Baptist. But these texts

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do more than that. They depict John as a member

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of the heavenly divine council. Behold, I send

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my angel before your face. What the English in

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our translation renders as messenger is angulos

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in Greek. My angel, underlying why the church

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often depicts John with angelic wings in icons,

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as a partaker of the angelic life. According

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to the gospel text, John is the voice crying

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out of Isaiah's angelic counsel in the wilderness.

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Prepare the way of the Lord. Moreover, John looks

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and acts like Elijah, who was taken up into the

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angelic life in the Merkava. into the spirit,

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the chariot, the fiery chariot of God. He wears

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the same hairy mantle, the same leather belt.

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His diet is super strict, eating wild honey and

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locusts. These aren't random, arbitrary details.

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They reveal his nearness and proximity to God.

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The wild honey recalls the manna that God feeds

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Israel in the wilderness. which tastes like what?

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Honey. Divine honey wafers, divine honey cakes.

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The Lord commanded a portion to be preserved

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by Moses, Aaron, and the priests throughout all

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their generations. Remember, John comes from

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a prominent priestly family. The locusts, specifically

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deemed kosher to eat in Leviticus, while perhaps

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unappetizing to modern sensibilities. They lack

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blood, which reveals a life devoted to strict

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fasting. It's the same reason we can eat shrimp

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on strict fast days, because there is no blood.

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In this way, John resembles a Nazarite, a man

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who has taken the vow to consecrate and devote

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his entire life to God. He fits the picture of

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the law and the prophets. And the people notice

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these things about him. According to St. Mark,

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all of Judea, that is, all of Judah, what remains

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geographically of Israel's southern kingdom,

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all of Judah go out to him in the wilderness.

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All of Jerusalem, all of Judah, all of Jerusalem,

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all of the people come to be baptized by John

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in the Jordan, to repent, to turn. And he hears

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all their confessions. Here, we shouldn't think

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of a general confession. He kind of absolves

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everyone generally. No, John personally confesses

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them all and then personally baptizes them all.

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Think about that. How profound that is. All of

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Judah, all of Jerusalem, all of the region coming

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to John, confessing their sins. baptized by him.

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That's John the Baptist. The angelic life, the

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life of the prophets, the priests, the Nazarites.

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Elijah, come again, to use the Lord's own words.

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A first century celebrity, even Josephus, writes

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about John. And yet John's entire ministry points

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away from himself. What does he say? Essentially.

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Whatever I am, whatever I am doing, I am nothing.

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I am nothing compared to the one who is coming.

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I am not worthy. I am not oxios. I'm not worthy

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to fall down before him and touch his sandals,

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let alone his feet. It's not about John. It's

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not about what John has accrued, what John has

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built up, what John has accomplished in his ministry,

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in his life. And there's no false pretense. There's

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no false piety, outward humility in John. John

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has emptied himself. John has repented his own

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life. That is, he has... turned it entirely toward

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God, toward the divine life, and has lived out

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the angelic life on earth. My angel I send before

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you. According to the gospel text, repentance

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characterizes the preparation for theophany.

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Theophany fulfills Christmas, the fullness of

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God's appearing. At Christmas, Christ comes to

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Mary, to her surprise, the empty virginal womb

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full of potential and vitality. At Theophany,

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Christ comes to John, again, to his surprise,

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to John, who has emptied his entire life for

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Christ's sake. Before Christ has even been raised

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from the dead, he has not witnessed the resurrection.

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He has already emptied his entire life. For Christ,

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he who has died to self and turned himself entirely

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toward God so that the divine face itself can

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appear before his angelic messenger. In this

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way, John already resembles Christ, one in whose

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heart Christmas has dawned. Christ is born as

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Christ prepares to draw near to John for baptism

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to shine before him. Brothers and sisters, it

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forces us to ask the question, if we sat with

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ourselves in the wilderness, as it were, the

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place that is toward the divine silence alone

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with God, where would we find our hearts at?

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Where would we find our lives at? Could we sit

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in silence? And emptiness with God. In some sense

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we're always wandering in the wilderness toward

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God. Preparing for the divine life. Preparing

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for the divine fullness. As we wander in the

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darkness with the light shining at the end. Sometimes

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we can see that light only dimly. As if it's

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not shining but simply flickering. That has more

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to do with our own sight. The purity of our hearts

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to see God. as we sing every Lord's Day and the

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Beatitudes. What is the character of our preparation,

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our waiting, our entire life of repentance, our

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looking and turning toward God? John illustrates

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the heart toward which Christ draws near and

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then shines upon. We just celebrated St. Seraphim,

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and we just heard his grace, recall and reflect

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on that profound quote, acquire the Holy Spirit

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and thousands around you will be saved. Look

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at John shining as people draw near. They want

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to be near him. Christ wants to be near him.

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It's like that guy who keeps coming to St. Anthony.

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over and over again in the wilderness and doesn't

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say anything. He doesn't speak at all when he

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comes. And St. Anthony finally asks him, do you

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want to ask me anything? No, Abba Anthony. It's

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enough for me to be in your presence. Are we

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cultivating that kind of inner life where the

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hidden person of the heart, the inner man that's

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springing forth from us, is he attracting people

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towards? Not because of us, but because Christ

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is born in us, dwelling in us, shining in us,

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forming in us, rooted in us. John has that. John

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has that life. His entire life is conformed to

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that. He will die before the resurrection. Yet

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all he says is, I baptize you with water. The

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one coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

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St. Mark calls our attention to the beginning.

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All four gospels do in their own way. But St.

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Mark calls our attention to the beginning. The

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are he of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The beginning

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of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The beginning,

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of course, recalls Genesis. Creation. where the

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Spirit of God, that is the Holy Spirit, broods

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and first hovers like a bird over the depths,

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over the roaring and chaotic waters, as divine

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light bursts forth into creation, appearing through

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the divine voice speaking. Theophany immerses

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us into this creational reality. as the Holy

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Spirit hovers over the chaotic waters of Genesis,

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subduing them, ordering them, and constituting

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them toward their created and rightfully divine

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purpose. In Theophany, the Holy Spirit rests

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upon Christ our God as he enters into the waters

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of Jordan, reconstituting them, subduing them,

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trampling down their evil, Leviathan -like, monster

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-like, demonic -like, as we still pray every

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time we baptize someone. But before we enter

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into theophany, John announces that that same

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Holy Spirit who will rest on Christ in his baptism,

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he comes upon us as we enter into those reconstituted

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and now life -giving waters of baptism to fill

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us with light, to fill us with the fire of God.

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as St. Matthew will add, to set us aflame for

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Christ. As the Desert Fathers put it, to be aflame,

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to be all fire, to make us children of the light.

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What we hear on Theophany, spoken over Christ,

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brothers and sisters, we hear spoken over us

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in our baptisms. A divine voice speaks, the Father.

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This is my beloved Son. What St. Paul envisions

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elsewhere is Christ formed in us the hope of

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glory, that we would not only bear his image

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born in us as we go down into the waters, but

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we would become like him, that we would bear

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the likeness of his resurrection. In this baptism,

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the Holy Spirit rests upon us to empower and

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help us repent, to help us to aid us, to strengthen

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us, to fortify us so that we might make it through

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the wilderness of life. In that wilderness, let

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us empty ourselves before him. As we enter into

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a new year, which theophany conveniently corresponds

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with, let us remember again our baptisms and

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let us renew our repentance. Let us turn our

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lives again toward God as we prepare for this

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great feast. Let us love him because he loves

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us so that that love might appear in us, that

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it might spring out of our inner man, that it

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might bubble up to that surface, that water might

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seep into us like we are sponges. and might burst

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out of us and spill out toward others so that

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they might have that living water. Even those

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who don't love us, that we might be made to be

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people who people want to draw near to, that

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it would be enough for them to simply sit in

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our presence. Not because of us, but because

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Christ is being formed in us. Let us always seek

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Christ. And when Christ appears at last, we will

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appear like him and with him in glory. Amen.