Homily XII.
Matt. III. 13.
“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan,” etc.
the servants the Lord, with the criminals the Judge, cometh to be baptized. But be not thou troubled; for in these humiliations His exaltation doth most shine forth. For He who vouchsafed to be borne so long in a Virgin’s womb, and to come forth thence with our nature, and to be smitten with rods, and crucified, and to suffer all the rest which He suffered;—why marvellest thou if He vouchsafed also to be baptized, and to come with the rest to His servant. For the amazement lay in that one thing, that being God, He would be made Man; but the rest after this all follows in course of reason.
For this cause, let me add, John also by way of
anticipation said all that he had said before, that he “was not
worthy to unloose the latchet of His shoe;” and all the rest, as
for instance, that He is Judge, and rewards every man according to his
desert, and that He will bestow His Spirit abundantly on all; in order
that when thou shouldest see Him coming to the baptism, thou mightest
not suspect anything mean. Therefore he forbids Him, even when He was
come, saying,
“I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest
Thou to me.” For, because the baptism was “of repentance,” and led men
to accuse themselves for their offenses, lest any one should suppose
that He too “cometh to Jordan” in this sort of mind, John
sets it right beforehand, by calling Him both Lamb, and Redeemer from
all the sin that is in the world. Since He that was able to take away
the sins of the whole race of men, much more was He Himself without
sin. For this cause then he said not, “Behold, He that is without
sin,” but what was much more, He “that beareth the sin of
the world,” in order that together with this truth thou mightest
receive that other with all assurance, and having received it mightest
perceive, that in the conduct of some further economy He cometh to the
baptism. Wherefore also he said to Him when He came, “I have need
to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
And he said not, “And art Thou baptized of
me?” nay, for this he feared to say: but what? “And comest
Thou to me?” What then doth Christ? What He did afterwards with
respect to Peter, this did He then also. For so he too would have
forbidden Him to wash his feet, but when he had heard, “What I do
thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter,” and
“thou hast no part with me,”he speedily withdrew from his determination, and went over to the contrary. And this man again in like manner, when he had heard, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,”straightway obeyed. For they were not unduly contentious, but they manifested
both love and obedience, and made it their study to be ruled by their Lord in all things.
And mark how He urges him on that very ground which
chiefly caused him to look doubtfully on what was taking place; in that
He did not say, “thus it is just,” but “thus it
becometh.” For, inasmuch as the point unworthy of Him was in his
mind chiefly this, His being baptized by His servant, He stated this
rather than anything else, which is directly opposed to that
impression: as though He had said, “Is it not as unbecoming that
thou avoidest and forbiddest this? nay, for this self-same cause I bid
thee suffer it, that it is becoming, and that in the highest
degree.”
And He did not merely say, “suffer,” but He
added, “now.” “For it will not be so forever,” saith He, “but thou shalt see me such as thou desirest; for the present, however, endure this.” Next He shows also how this “becometh” Him. How then doth it so? “In that we fulfill the whole law;” and to express this He said, “all righteousness.” For righteousness is the fulfilling of the commandments. “Since then we have performed all the rest of the commandments,” saith He, “and this alone remains, it also must be added: because I am come to do away the curse that is appointed for the transgression of the law. I must therefore first fulfill it all, and having delivered you from its condemnation, in this way bring it to an end. It becometh me therefore to fulfill the whole law, by the same rule that it becometh me to do away the curse that is written against you in the law: this being the very purpose of my assuming flesh, and coming hither.”