Theophany

 

'When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”'

Luke 3:21-22

"Christ hath appeared in the Jordan to sanctify the waters."

- Troparion for the Eve of Theophany 

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The baptismal waters wash away the impurity of sin, but when the waters are stirred by the all-pure Christ, it is the flowing Jordan that is made pure. Just as Prophet Elais made the river Jordan reverse its flow, so the Son of God begins the reversal of death to life in those same waters. Just as the tree at Marah makes the bitter fountain turn to sweetness, so Christ sanctifies the Jordan with His flesh. The Father speaks once again in a proclamation of the Son; when first He said "Let there be Light", He now says "This is my Son". The Word expresses the Father, but rather than manifesting the cosmos, He Himself is manifested in flesh. The Spirit again 'hovers over the waters' but now He indwells the Incarnate Word as He is drawn out of the Jordan. Here begins the re-creation, or as the fathers say, the deification of the world.

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While God has revealed Himself throughout history and creation, through prophets and scriptures, He is most clearly shown through the Logos, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We reserve this most emphatic title of a singular Theophany, the crown of all theophanies, for the day on which Jesus was baptized, for it was this moment in time when God revealed clearly what was once veiled in symbol and story- that He is Three in One. A Holy Trinity.