Post-feast of Theophany; the Synaxis of the Holy and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John
Acts 19:1-8; John 1:29-34
Read Acts 19:1-8
Christ is baptised!
Today, we remember and celebrate the last and greatest of the prophets: John the Baptist. He preached repentance, turning back to God, and he baptized unto the forgiveness of sins. His baptism, however, was not one that could grant salvation. Like the reparatory sacrifices of the Old Law, John’s baptism could forgive sin, but it could not bring about regeneration and eternal life. John was firmly of the Old Testament, but stood at the cusp of the New Testament, proclaiming the imminent coming of the Anointed One.
And so, when the Apostle Paul came to Ephesus and found people who had been baptized into John’s baptism, he immediately offered them baptism into Christ. This baptism, unlike John’s, brings about our regeneration and eternal life. This baptism clothes us with Christ, so we become Sons and Daughters of the Most-High God. Our baptism makes us heirs of the inheritance promised to us: eternal blessedness.
John knew that his baptism would be surpassed by the baptism that would come from the Christ. However, he remains a key figure in salvation history because he prepared the hearts and minds of the world around him, preaching repentance, which is necessary for salvation, and also the coming Christ who would win salvation.
I invite you to look into your own life and consider how you can be a prophet in your particular situation. You won’t be another John the Baptist, but you can still make way for the Lord in those around you. Do you live your life in a way that, when others look at you, they see Jesus Christ? Start your self-examination there, and strive to live that way.