he Baptism of Christ: What It Was Not For and What It Is For!(Epiphany Theophany Sermon)

In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
May the blessing of the Father who calls us and His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ who saves us,
and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies and transforms us be with us all,
that we may hear His word and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Amen.

Today the Church stands at the Jordan, not as spectators of a beautiful event, but as children who are being shown their own mystery. Epiphany, Theophany, is not simply the story of water. It is the revelation of Who Christ is, and therefore who we are in Him. The Jordan becomes a pulpit. The heavens become a sanctuary. And the Holy Trinity is proclaimed openly, not as an idea, but as a living reality that saves, renews, and adopts.

So let us preach the Feast with clarity and strength, in two movements that every heart can remember: The Baptism of Christ: what it was not for, and what it is for.

Point One: What the Baptism of Christ Was NOT For

First, the Church corrects confusion. We do not honor Christ by imagining He needed something. We honor Him by receiving what He reveals.

1: It was not for repentance. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, but Christ had no sin to repent of. He stands in the water with sinners, but He is not a sinner. John himself trembles and says:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’” (Matthew 3:13–14, NKJV)

Beloved, He enters the water, not because He needs cleansing, but because we do. He steps into our place without sharing our corruption, so that He may lift us from it.

2: It was not to sanctify Himself. Christ is Holy by nature. He does not become holy by participation. He is the Holy One who makes others holy. The Coptic heart loves to say it simply: He did not enter the Jordan to become holy. He entered the Jordan to make the Jordan holy.

3: It was not to receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit did not descend to complete Christ, as if He lacked anything. The Spirit descended as a sign and a revelation, so that John and Israel would know the Son. Scripture says:

“And John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”’” (John 1:32–33, NKJV)

The Spirit rests to reveal, not to repair. The Spirit points, not because Christ is lacking, but because our eyes are lacking.

4: It was not because He took our sin in the Jordan. Some imagine that Christ “became sinful” in the water. This is not the faith of the Church. Christ bears our sins on the Cross, not in the Jordan. The Jordan reveals His Sonship. Golgotha reveals His sacrifice. We can say it strongly: He did not become sinful in the water. He remained sinless, and He carried our sins in His Passion.

So the first movement is correction: Christ does not come to be changed. He comes to change everything.

Point Two: What the Baptism of Christ IS For

Now the Feast turns from correction to revelation. If Christ did not need the Jordan, then why did He come? The answer is salvation, adoption, and the opening of heaven.

1: To fulfill all righteousness. The Lord answers John with words the Church repeats with awe:

“But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.” (Matthew 3:15, NKJV)

He fulfills obedience perfectly. He stands where Israel failed. He repairs what Adam broke. Adam fell by disobedience. Christ restores by obedience. The Second Adam enters the waters to begin the new creation.

2: To stand with His people and call them to repentance. He is the true Shepherd who does not shout from a distance. He steps into the river where the wounded are standing. Like Daniel who confessed among his people though he was righteous, Christ stands among sinners without being one, so that repentance becomes possible, not only as a command, but as a path walked with Him.

And here is a word for the anxious heart: when you feel ashamed, when you feel unworthy, when your mind tells you, “God is far,” the Jordan preaches the opposite. Christ stands with you. He enters your waters. He does not fear your wounds. He comes to heal them.

3: To reveal His identity as the Son of God. The Jordan is not only water, it is testimony. Heaven speaks:

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16–17, NKJV)

Before the Jordan, many saw a righteous man. At the Jordan, the Father proclaims the eternal Son. This is why we call it Theophany: God is made known.

4: To reveal the Holy Trinity. This is the heart of the Feast in the Coptic Church. The Son is in the water. The Spirit descends. The Father speaks. Not confusion, not mixture, not a changing God, but one divine glory revealed in Three Persons. In the Jordan, heaven opens, not just the water.

St. Gregory the Theologian says of this day, in one short line: “Christ is illumined; let us shine forth with Him.” The Theophany is illumination. It is divine light entering human life.

5: To sanctify the waters and open heaven for us. When Adam fell, the gates were shut. Humanity became exiled, thirsty, and afraid. In Christ, the heavens open again. This is not a decoration for the story. It is a proclamation for our life. The opened heavens mean: access is restored. Adoption is offered. Communion is possible.

St. Athanasius teaches the Church this pattern: the Son of God became man so that we might become sons by grace. In the Jordan, the Father says, “My beloved Son,” not only to declare Christ’s identity, but to begin revealing our adoption in Him. In baptism, the Church does not merely wash. She gives birth. She does not only clean the outside. She grants a new name, a new family, and a new Spirit.

Point Three: A Living Picture From Scripture and the Saints

Think of Israel at the Red Sea. They passed through water and slavery was broken. Pharaoh could not follow them into freedom. In the Jordan, Christ begins a greater exodus: not from Egypt, but from sin and death. And think of Naaman the Syrian who washed and was cleansed. The water did not heal by itself. Healing came by obedience and by the word of God. How much more now: Christ Himself enters the water, and the waters become a sign of the new birth.

In the lives of the saints, this Feast is not theory. Many of our martyrs went to death with unshaken peace because they knew their baptismal identity. They were not trying to “find themselves.” They had already been found. They had already been sealed.

Point Four: Practical Application for Today

1: Return to your baptismal identity. When the mind is overwhelmed and the heart is heavy, say with faith: “I belong to the Father. I am united to the Son. I am sealed by the Holy Spirit.” Anxiety often grows when identity feels unstable. The Church gives stability: you are not an accident. You are an adopted child by grace.

2: Do not treat sin lightly, and do not treat repentance as despair. Repentance in Orthodoxy is not self-hatred. It is coming into the light. If Christ stood in the Jordan with sinners, then do not run from Him when you fall. Run to Him.

3: Make the sign of the cross and pray before you react. Many conflicts in the home begin with a storm inside the heart. Before replying to a spouse, a child, a servant, pause for one breath, make the sign of the cross, and say quietly: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This small practice opens heaven inside the moment.

Conclusion: The Jordan Needed Christ

Beloved, Christ did not need the Jordan. The Jordan needed Christ. He entered our waters to sanctify them. He entered our place to lift us. He opened heaven so we would stop living as orphans. He revealed the Holy Trinity so our faith would be worship, not philosophy.

So today, let every soul hear the Father’s voice, not as a distant sound, but as a call back to life: in Christ, the heavens are opened. In the Spirit, the heart is renewed. And in the Church, the child of God is born.

May the Lord bless us, transform our hearts and minds, that our homes may stand on the Rock, our hands serve in the harvest, and our hearts long for Heaven. Amen.