On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, as on all the feasts of the Church year, many liturgical texts present the event of the Baptism of the Saviour Christ by John in the waters of the Jordan as a current event, an event in which the faithful of the Church actively participate as eyewitnesses. All of us have a lot of questions about Jesus’ Baptism.

The believer participates in the event unfolding in the Church’s service as if it were today because, in the liturgical dimension, all events take on the sense of presence, of the descent of eternity into time. All the events described in the liturgical hymnography are not moments past and over in history. The One who has accomplished them, although he has completed them in time, is the One who is above time and outside time. Reading this article, you will find answers to all the questions about Jesus baptism.

When is the Baptism of the Lord celebrated?

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is also called Epiphany or Theophany. And it is celebrated on 6 January. It is the day Christ receives Baptism in the Jordan River from St. John the Baptist. And Theophany because of the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity at His Baptism. They also revealed themselves: the Father testifying that Christ is His eternal Son. And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, telling the Father’s words.

With the event of the Baptism of the Lord in the waters of the Jordan, a new moment begins in the history of humanity. And especially in the life of the newly born through the Holy Spirit. In the sense that the Epiphany becomes a prefiguration of the Christian Baptism.

Christian Baptism is the foundation of the new spiritual life that Christians begin in the Church. Christian Baptism cleanses and destroys all sins. The Christian’s spiritual life begins with the celebration of this sacrament, just as the work of salvation of the world began with the Baptism of the Lord in the water of the Jordan.

Referring to the theology of the Baptism of the Lord as a saving and redemptive act, the Holy Fathers of the Church show that it is nothing other than a prefiguration of the Mystery of Baptism, to which Christ calls all who will believe in Him, to receive the cleansing and renewing bath.

Sea of Galilee baptism

Jesus was baptized in the Sea of Galilee, in the Jordan River. By John the Baptist. The Baptism of the Lord is an image of the renewal of the human race. It is, therefore, the image of Christian Baptism, which places us in the dimension of life in Christ.

The link between the event of the Baptism of the Lord and the Mystery of Holy Baptism lies in the fact that the Lord, in baptizing Himself, sanctified the water, making it cleansing water, as a sign of man’s reconciliation with God. Thus, the Baptism of the Lord opened the door to the Mystery of Baptism.

The beloved Son of God

When Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, and God proclaimed Him in front of everyone. He said that Jesus is His beloved Son. Through the Baptism in the Jordan, the Saviour Jesus Christ declares that he will deliver the world from the bondage of death brought to humankind by the sin of the forefathers Adam and Eve. Our Church Fathers interpret Christ’s sinking in the waters of the Jordan as a sign of His future descent with His soul into hell after His sacrifice on the Cross and His bodily stay in the tomb.

His immersion in the water shows the breaking of Satan’s power through His death and burial. And His emergence from the waters of the Jordan proclaims His resurrection. And the ascension of the sinless human race to Heaven. At the Baptism, the hitherto closed heavens open to reveal to the world. And he was immediately coming up out of the water. He saw the heavens open and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And a voice came from Heaven: You are my beloved Son; I am well pleased in you.

To whom did Jesus compare John?

Jesus compared John to Elijah. Because he was similar to Elijah only in work entrusted to him by God, he shall go before God in the Spirit and power of Elijah, that he may turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. The same is said of Elijah in Malachi 4:6, “He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest at my coming I smite the land with a curse.
Elijah must return in the future. But John the Baptist is not Elijah, who is to come on the day of the Lord of the apocalyptic age. This is why John is an Elijah, to put it this way. Now, if you understand all the main things about Jesus baptism, let’s see some questions about your act of baptism.

When should you get baptized?

It would help if you got baptized when you felt you could make fruits worthy of your repentance. Because let us think, what did John the Baptist ask to happen before someone was baptized? He demanded, and it was necessary that those being baptized must have repented of sins and the old life, and it was said to make fruit worthy of your repentance. John rejected all who would not regret it because it was the Baptism of repentance.

All Christians know from the pages of the Holy Scripture the moment in salvation history about the Baptism of Jesus Christ. On the feast day, that reminds us of this biblical episode, the Epiphany, as we read through the pages of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. We learn that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, came to the Jordan River. After Christ, the Lord had not appeared to the world as Messiah for 30 years. This is why the theological name of the feast of 6 January is the Epiphany of the Lord. The Revelation of the Saviour Jesus Christ as the Son of God. According to the confession of the Father in Heaven.

Is infant baptism wrong?

Do some people ask which is a valid baptism, adults or children? Or if infant baptism is wrong. It is terrible because people need to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour under the Baptism Act. According to the Word of God, the answer is that those who have believed and repented and understood the Gospel message are allowed to be baptized. So those who believe, and for some to think, must come to a reasonable age to understand the Gospel. Feel and repent, and only then follow Baptism.

Those who baptize young children have not understood and will not accept the Word of God as given concerning Baptism. Nowhere do we find in the Bible that any infant was baptized. But we see in the Bible that only those who believe in Christ and repent of their lives are baptized. So only those who understand the Gospel message and accept it can be baptized. So, how could an infant understand or believe the message proclaimed by Christ if he doesn’t have any questions about Jesus baptism?