On the Baptism of the Law and on the Baptism of John and on the Baptism That Our Lord Gave to the Apostles

On the Baptism of the Law and on the Baptism of John and on the Baptism That Our Lord Gave to the Apostles — Jacob of Serugh Again Memra 7. On the Baptism of the Law: And on the Baptism of John: And on the Baptism That Our Lord Gave to the Apostles: His own, as it is his own, of Mar Jacob the Teacher. In his rising, the son of the virgin dawned over the regions of darkness that were: And he saw the light, the blind world that did not see. A brilliant shoot of essence blossomed in the world and dawned: And like the day it drove away the shadows from the faces. Our Lord showed his light in the house of darkness: And the night in which the whole world was hidden fled. He sprang from the father in the virgin, the daughter of Abraham: And he began on the path to cast into the world his wayfaring. In the womb of the virgin he dwelt, the holy light, in holiness: And he made a beginning of his path from there, in a fleshly manner. He came forth from the womb and did not break the virgins in his birth: A new thing that had never been in the world like it. He came forth to creation and uprooted the thorns from the lands: And sowed peace in the land where the great serpent had laid waste. He came forth to renew the old things that had been corrupted: And set up in the land a new creation that is not dissolved. The birth that was in the sanctuary was proclaimed: And he pleased the race of his wife to Adam, the house of the gods.

The father said to his companion, "He was running like a merchant who had lost the life that he was distributing among the dead." That first father, who is Mary, began and came to the one who gave birth as a human to the world, the Savior. The second father, which is baptism, came and began, and put on armor for the battles. John the Baptist raised his voice in the wilderness to prepare the way and opened the door for the Spirit to enter the house of God. Where the water was, he stood like a hunter who hunts the Spirit through repentance for the new world. John came to betroth the bride to the Son of God and was preparing to adorn her and to make her ready. He brought her down to the water and through repentance purified her, so that she might be pure and then see the sinful king. He adorned her with light and took away her shame, so that when the sinful lover of beauty saw her, he would not be ashamed. Through baptism he made her a covenant and a prayer, and even introduced her to the bridal chamber of the sinful one while she was holy. For this reason, the son of the Levites ran to the river, so that from within the water the bride full of beauty might be hidden, adorned, sanctified, and made beautiful, so that the sinful one might see her when she was fair. He proclaimed to her the greatness of her lord the king, and without ceasing he preached that she was heavenly.

He was saying to her, "I am not worthy, nor are my baptisms." By the humility of her Lord, the sinner cast himself down as he was. The baptisms of the sinner were above his head, loving to go. So that the bride might hear and become worthy of what she had been betrothed. And as he proclaimed to her, he was teaching her that this one was from the earth. And because of her Lord, he was teaching her that he was heavenly. In his love, every day he was urging her to ascend to him. And the sinner was hidden, and the bride did not know who he was. For she was learning great and glorious things from John. And the Messiah was hidden, and burning in his love, the creation would see him. The priests were asking, one to another, with great trembling: "Where is he? Where is he, the one who was announced by John?" And when John was like thunder in his proclamation, and he was casting down: the bride and he was casting down in her love for the Son of God. And the priests were asking about his reasons, because he was hidden. And baptism was waiting to receive holiness from him. Then the sinner shone like the sun and a great light, and John cried out to show the bride his beauty. The Levite bowed and bent his head in great wonder, because he saw the light at the right hand of the greatness that had come to his side. For the one who shone was the shoot of the essence beside John, and with his flashes he was urging her to marvel at him.

Now our Lord had not seen the son of the Levites. In a fleshly manner, from his mother the virgin Mary, while she was pregnant with him, he saw her in the womb of his mother. And he received from him the Holy Spirit in a hidden place. But when the wicked ones came to the infant, Herod commanded to kill the children in Bethlehem while they were being sought. And the Son of God fled to Egypt from Herod. And the son of the Levites hid in the wilderness of Judah. For Elizabeth, when the children were being killed, took him, the son of her old age, and fled to a wilderness place. As for Zechariah, while the soldiers were pursuing him to bring his son, they shed his blood at the holy altar. Elizabeth, however, remained in the wilderness place, while he was being raised by grace, her son John. And from roots and from fruits and from locusts, he was sustained in the wilderness of Judah like wild beasts. And he saw no bread nor cooked foods. For thirty years he was raised in the wilderness. And by the prayers of the Holy Spirit he was raised, with the grace that guarded him like a nurse. Understand, O son of humanity, and see now: that John had never seen Christ. And this dispensation of the house of God was thus accomplished before the people who were full of stumbling.

...that the Levites were not saying in his presence concerning John. When he became a witness for the son of his beloved. And from love and from the help that was before the time. They placed a sign that he would testify concerning him when he was able. And upon them he stands when he did not see the labor of his years. And immediately upon seeing him, he showed the bride that this is the one who takes away sin. The Holy Spirit reveals mysteries, full of splendor. And by him he was moved concerning the revelation of the Son of God. He said to the bride: This is the one who takes away sin, the one who is proclaimed, he has come. This is the lamb that takes away the sin of Adam. This one passes over all the sacrifices of the sons of Levi. So that in his place there would be a sacrifice on behalf of sinners. John cried out when he saw his Lord coming toward him. And he desired to be baptized with the penitents in the baptism. The servant said: My Lord, it is necessary for me to be baptized by you. For you are the sanctifier and the one who absolves the whole world. You give holiness to the priests of the holy one. And behold, for you the baptism that is to be sanctified by you is waiting. Then our Lord silenced the servant so that he would not speak. But that he might fill... the baptism. Leave now (it is not the time: reveal the mystery. So that the chief of the sons of the priest may not perceive in me. I do not want the demons of the son of the priest to know that they exist. But his arrival at the great censer of the crucifixion.

Be silent now and cease; let him be baptized with the repentant. For the slanderer was deceived and thought that he was a weak man. The way of the child cast him down; he came to the baptism. And because he was born, behold, he is baptized, a man; be silent and baptize them. John was silent and kept the mystery as he was commanded. And he lowered the seal that the baptism might be sanctified by it. The rich son hid his wealth in poverty, so that like a poor man he walked in his way humbly. John was silent, for he was commanded to conceal the mystery. And the father spoke openly to the priests about his beloved. He poured and sent down the Holy Spirit upon the Only-begotten, so that the Father and the Spirit might be witnesses to the baptism. The Spirit did not descend to sanctify the water, and then he was baptized, the holy Son from whom holiness flows. After Christ was immersed and came up from within the water, the Spirit descended to show who it was that sanctifies. For it was not that Christ was sanctified by the baptism; his way is clear: for whomever wishes to walk in it. The baptism of John’s house is that of repentance, and it called sinners to baptism to cover their sin. But for Christ, what sin or deficiency was there that the baptism might cover him, when it was perfected? The Son of God was not likened to a sinner for me, that like a sinner he would be covered by baptism.

And it is evident that this one, when he had not yet come to baptism, would have fulfilled the deficiency of the Law. Walk and come in the way of the child, in a legal manner. And in the middle of the way, the baptism encountered him. And if he had turned aside and not descended to it when he was passing, he would have disturbed the order of the way that he had begun in it. And it is not the deficiency that, as he had begun, he did not complete. And our Lord baptized to repay the deficiency of its own. He was baptized in water, not having become rich, nor sanctified. But he fulfilled that deficiency of the Law. John, however, did not baptize with fire and spirit. Nor did his baptism give the Holy Spirit. He baptized in water for repentance, as it is written. And his baptism was for the purpose of cleansing it. The Son of God gave his baptism to the apostles, which has in it fire and the Holy Spirit for the purpose of cleansing it. And it has in it power, and it gives birth to spiritual children. And from its birth, it calls the heavenly Father. It gives birth to the Father in new and not dead children. This baptism that the Son of God opened. With fire and spirit mingled, and it gives birth in a divine manner, so that from it they become living beings in the children of God.

The Law also gave baptisms to the circumcised. And they did not give the Holy Spirit to all who were baptized. The Law commanded that whoever enters a dead body, he should wash in water and be unclean all day. And whoever touches a bone of a dead body in water, he should wash. And he who touches a corpse that is carried out at night, he also should wash. In every variation, the Law gave baptisms, to fashion a type for the baptism of the Firstborn Son. The baptisms of the Law were shadows, and whoever was baptized did not attain perfection. And the baptism of the Son of God is much greater than them, and as much greater as the body is than its shadow. Now then, three baptisms are to be considered, which exist in baptism for those who were baptized as we have said: one of the Law, and another of John, and this third one which the Son of God opened. The baptism of the Law is shadowy, and the baptism of John is of repentance, and the baptism of the Son of God, the Firstborn Son, who makes those who were his brothers into a single one. Moses in the wilderness fashioned an image for baptism; John, however, opened it so that it might be of repentance; and then Christ came and with the Holy Spirit and fire kindled it, so that it might give birth to children in new waters, and not in dead ones.

Moses the Great, in his baptism, imprinted its sign. The baptism by which the whole world is hidden. John, however, refined the vessel in it for the sons of his people. He sanctified the sign, and they saw the Son of God. Then Christ came and opened baptism with his cross. So that instead of water, the mother of life might be for the world. Water and blood for the form of spiritual children. They pursued it, and the mother of life became baptism. The Holy Spirit never gave baptism. Except this one which the Son of God opened with his key. (With water and blood: she gives birth spiritually to children. And instead of the soul, the Holy Spirit is mingled in it. They were not sufficient to give the Spirit to baptism. Neither Moses nor John, son of Levi. The Son of God, from whom the Holy Spirit is received, he gave the Spirit so that baptism might be sanctified by it. And when he was not sufficient, he came to John's baptism. To the baptism that was not complete for his purification. John said, "I am not sufficient that I should be baptized by you." And he confessed openly how small his baptism was. To that insufficient one, the sufficient one was persuading him to be baptized by him. And he feared and trembled that the one who was not sufficient had baptized the Savior. John, however, confessed openly that he was insufficient. And the Son of God, who alone was silent, was saying to him.)

...it was not revealed to the crowds that stood upon his greatness. He said to him that the sign would not be abolished, that is, this baptism of repentance. See now to what it was opened by John. This man, before the person of the Son of God, set out to go and prepare the way before his coming. And thus he began to call the people to repentance, and to purify and cleanse them from evil deeds, so that the Son of God might find them when they are holy, when they are perfect, when they are far from evil deeds. And thus he began a proclamation in the land of Judah, that that heavenly kingdom might draw near, as if to say, "The Son of God has drawn near to come. Flee from iniquity, which is full of thorns for the doers of evil." John was the voice that cried out, "Prepare the way! Flee from iniquity and come, gather yourselves in repentance. The King is coming, that the way may be prepared for him to walk in, and straight paths of righteousness may be laid out in it. Smooth, smooth the way for the Lord, for he is arriving, that he may find his people in splendor and purity. That the Son of God may come and see the seekers of righteousness in a way filled with righteousness and rectitude." Because of this, that Levite was hastening to show the seekers among his people the fruits of faith.

And where it was constrained and pressed, it was also calling to the people, the child of the serpent’s eggs. And in heats and in chills and in all kinds of afflictions, it was striving that the people might come to repentance. And the path of the king was being smoothed from evils. Then the son of the kingdom who was to walk in it rejoiced. He washed in the water all who came to baptism. And he thought that the Savior had now arrived. After the Hebrews, who were asleep, a new thing came. And the weight of the age of iniquity fell upon her, and she did not perceive it. John, however, as a true one and as a mediator, was awakening her and making her hope that a new thing had come. And because she was pure, he was washing her in baptism, so that in her purity she might see the new thing when she received it. And he brought her to the river and was separating her from the error of the idols, which were in her face and were dyed. And as if for freedom, with good bridles he was restraining her, so that she might stand beautifully in the service of the Only One. Between the new thing and the bride, the herald was a voice, that the bride might tremble at the arrival of the new thing that had come to her. And as if between the mouth and the ear, a voice, the word is refined so that it may come in trembling towards the hearing. In an empty place, a voice cries out and shows itself, for it has no place either in a pit or in an abyss.

Also John, who is a voice in the desolate place: He who is the desert was crying out, and the crowds of Judah heard him. The Levite sang, and with his lamentations the bride was comforted. And the desert thundered from the tidings of the sinful king. The grooms were sad and were making the son of the kingdom to wait. And the bride was bathing and sitting in fear and looking for the sign. And the Lord dawned like the day upon the darknesses. And the voice was stirred by the fear of the Word to speak. And it showed the bride, the daughter of the free ones, how she was betrothed. And the father was a witness for his son with a loud voice. The father with a voice was a witness for his only one. And the Spirit of Holiness was showing his self toward the Saviour. In the likeness of a dove it was, and it descended perfectly, after it had bathed and ascended from the water of baptism. It stood and showed the manifest gift of the Lord without end, that baptism might be sanctified for him, and he also was bathing. When he ascended from within the water, the Spirit of Holiness descended, took him, and brought him out from within the crowds to the desolate place. The bride saw the sinful one who had come and knew what: and immediately she brought him out that he might contend with the wicked one. He left the bride, knowing him and trusting in him, and went and contended with the ruler who guards the air. He set his face to make a generation with the serpent, and when his body came, he showed the bride his wealth.

He who left the idols in the house of the father prepared his way, and then he ran in the deserts. When he was baptized and made a wilderness, he overturned it and fell. He showed himself in the powers of the hair, like a mighty man. When his contest with the wild beast became like lightning, he began with signs what the Son of God would do. The bride knew that the sinner was dead and would not remain with him; she rejoiced with him, but he went out to be tested. That rebel who had abandoned the bride was overthrown from his authority, and he took the daughter of the day. The spirit that was baptized and made a wilderness led him, and in victory he showed himself in the deserts. He made a contest, and the wild beast fell like lightning, and then he began on the path of powers to walk. The whole way of the solitary one was a full river. Blessed is the one who, by his coming, illuminated the creatures. The homily on the baptism of the law and on the baptism of John and on the baptism that our Lord gave to the apostles is completed, composed by the blessed Mar Jacob.