Today my Church celebrates one of the Great feasts of the Church. The Baptism of Jesus or “Theophany.” Like all Great Christian feasts it points back to the saving work of God through Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. In the baptism of Christ we see a prefigurement of his death as he enters the water, and a promise of his and our own resurrection in his emersion from the water. I thought it might be fun to take a look at the icon of Theophany today as we celebrate this feast.
In the Icon:
We see water as Dark. This represents the darkness of the world and death.
We see a tree with an Axe at it’s base. This represents God is making a complete renewal in His people. It is a reference to the Words of John the Baptist in Mat. 3:10. We must also keep in mind the passage where Jesus says every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down.
The mountains are pointing toward a blue semi-circle with gold light. This light represents God in heaven. Just like any icon the background points to what is important.
The three rays coming out from the semi-circle around the dove (which represents the Holy spirit) symbolize the three persons of the trinity.
One of John’s hands is on Jesus’ head. This represents Jesus’ Humanity. Another hand is pointed to the heavens. This represents Jesus’ divinity.
There is a little man in the water. This is the fallen angel satan. He is defeated so he is under Christ’s feet.
The fish are an early christian symbol. The greek letters that make up the word for fish (Icthus) opporate as an accrostic which when translated from Greek mean “Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Savior.”
The angels on the right are in a position of submission. Ready to serve Jesus. The presence of angels points back to the nativity, another great Christian feast we just celebrated December 25th.
In Jesus’ halo you can see the letters Omega and Nun. This asks us the question “who is he?” Take a look at LXX Ex. 3:14 and Rev. 1:8. These letters point toward the divinity of Jesus.
I hope you all enjoyed that little trip through the icon. Let me close today with a
troparion sung by the Orthodox on the day they celibrate the baptism (January 6th). This song is sung in Orthodox homes throughout this season:
When Thou O Christ wast baptized in the Jordan,
the worship ofthe Trinity was made manifest.
For the voice of the Father bear witness to Thee,
and called Thee His beloved Son.
And the Spirit in the form of a dove,
confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ, our God who hast revealed Thyself,
and hast enlightened the world glory to Thee!
Grace and Peace…
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