In the wisdom of the Holy Fathers, our Holy Church ordained that before and after the great royal feasts dedicated to the Savior Jesus Christ and the Mother of God, there should be certain periods of spiritual preparation, precisely to truly understand the meaning of these feasts.
For example, today is recorded in the calendar the Sunday after the Baptism of the Lord; of course, there was also the Sunday before the Epiphany, respectively the Nativity of the Lord, and we will notice that the series of these significant days before and after the holidays will not stop here; by the grace of God, all these are part of the economy of our salvation.
According to some Holy Fathers, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, that is, of the Divine Manifestation, would be more important than the Resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ. Why? For the fact that if there was no Birth and Baptism we would not be able to talk about the Resurrection. The icon of the Feast of the Epiphany is placed on the iconostasis, during worship, next to the icon of the Resurrection of the Lord. The very Baptism of Christ descending into the waters of the Jordan is like a grave and when he comes out of the water it is like a Resurrection. Thus, baptism foreshadows and anticipates the death and the life-giving Resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ.
At the age of 30, Christ is baptized by John the Forerunner in Jordan, being confessed and recognized by the Heavenly Father. Such confession and recognition of the Son of God will exist only a few months from now at the time of the Transfiguration of the Lord, on Mount Tabor.
After the time spent in the wilderness of 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus is tempted by the devil three times, but he overcame each time and remained our Savior, thus beginning the activity of preaching the Kingdom of God with the words: ” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” An analogy can be made between the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of Confession, as gateways to the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is the pure and unique Kingdom, it is the ancient place from which Adam and Eve were cast out because of disobedience.
Today’s outing of the Lord to preach can be understood as a missionary outing, in word and deed of the priests in the field of each parish that was entrusted to them for shepherding at the ordination, to attract the faithful to the holy church, to participate in the way regularly at the holy services, to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries.
Now, at the beginning of the year, each of us, pastors and believers, must make a good start, to understand and fulfill with more zeal the Gospel of Christ, in order to share in the eternal Kingdom of God that has been prepared new since the foundation of the world!
Rev. Adrian Dobreanu
