DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

St. Mark 11:27-33   (2/7)   For Thursday of the 37th Week after Pentecost (Thur, 32nd Week)

 

The Baptism of John: St. Mark 11:27-33, especially vs. 30: “The baptism of John - was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me.”  While historically the Lord’s question was addressed to the representatives of the Sanhedrin, the First Century high tribunal of the Jewish nation, He also expects those of us who count ourselves among His Disciples to answer His question.  We are accustomed to the icon of St. John adjacent to the icon of the Lord, to celebrating St. John’s Feast days, and to hearing his name mentioned in the prayers and hymns of the Church.  Thus, we might fail even to consider the question, or we say, “From God,” unthinkingly.  Nevertheless, we ought to speak confidently for three reasons: because of the nature of John’s baptism, because of what we know of John, and because God Himself revealed that his “baptism...was...from heaven” (vs. 30).

The baptism John practiced was solidly in the Tradition of God’s People from ancient times.  The deliverance of Noah and his family from the waters of the great flood (Gen. 6-9), the passage of Israel through the Red Sea with the attendant destruction of the hosts of Pharao (Ex.14), and the entrance of the Twelve tribes into the Holy Land reveal three elements that are manifest in John’s baptism: cleansing and renewal, repentance, and association with Divine Judgment (Jos. 1-4).

These three elements continue in the Orthodox rite of Holy Baptism received from the Lord Jesus Himself (Mt. 28:19).  As Father Alexander Schmemann says: “Baptism is defined ...as being the removal of original sin...as the sacrament of regeneration...as the passage from an old into a new life, and finally as an epiphany of the Kingdom of God.”  These elements are evident in the Priest’s Prayer that Christ will “show this water to be the water of redemption, the water of sanctification, the purification of flesh and spirit, the loosing of bonds, the remission of sins, the illumination of the soul, the laver of regeneration, the renewal of the spirit, the gift of adoption to sonship, the garment of incorruption, the fountain of life.”

Even more significant is the fact that the Baptizer John was attested by many witnesses as a man called by God: “Now his father, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying...And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest” (Lk. 1:67,76).  The people of the  ancient Covenant “counted John to have been a prophet indeed” (Mk. 11:32).  Even John’s enemies acknowledge that “he was a just and holy man” (Mk. 6:20).  In addition, the Forerunner himself confirmed these views (Jn. 1:19-27).

Most important of all, God the Holy Trinity revealed that John’s Baptism came from heaven.  The God-inspired Evangelists declare that the Forerunner “was a man sent from God” (Jn. 1:6).  God Himself directed John to go into the region around the Jordan and preach “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Lk. 3:3).  God the Father spoke openly to John at the Lord Jesus’ baptism: “This is My beloved Son in Whom I Am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17).

Earlier, the Angel Gabriel prophesied that St. John would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Lk. 1:15), which was confirmed even while he was a babe in the womb, for he leaped at the sound of the voice of the Theotokos as she carried God Incarnate (Lk. 1:44).  John himself declared that in his flesh he did not know Christ, but that “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.’  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God” (Jn. 1:33-34).

Let us not hesitate to reply, “Yes, John’s baptism was from heaven, not from men.”

O wise Forerunner, John, thou didst behold the ineffable glory of the Father from on high, and the Son in the waters, and the Spirit descending on Him: pray Him to save our souls.

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