On the Baptism of Christ.

 The time, then, has come, and bears in its course the remembrance of holy mysteries, purifying man,—mysteries which purge out from soul and body even

 Christ, then, was born as it were a few days ago—He Whose generation was before all things, sensible and intellectual. To-day He is baptized by John t

 Let us then leave the task of searching into what is beyond human power, and seek rather that which shows signs of being partly within our comprehensi

 As, however, examples always render an argument more vivid to the hearers, I propose to instruct the mind of the blasphemers by an illustration, expla

 I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but, even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the a

 Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham (whom Paul treats allegorically in reasoning with the Galatians ), being sent forth from her master’s house by the ange

 Again, at a later time, Isaac—the same for whose sake Ishmael was driven with his mother from his father’s home—was to be wedded. Abraham’s servant is

 According to the same force of the text, Jacob also, hastening to seek a bride, met Rachel unexpectedly at the well. And a great stone lay upon the we

 Again, the great Moses, when he was a goodly child, and yet at the breast, falling under the general and cruel decree which the hard-hearted Pharaoh m

 Even these instances might be enough to confirm our present position but the lover of good thoughts must yet not neglect what follows. The people of

 Now herein, by that wondrous sacrifice, Elijah clearly proclaimed to us the sacramental rite of Baptism that should afterwards be instituted. For the

 Let us for the rest consider the prophecies of it in words and language. Isaiah cried saying, “Wash you, make you clean, put away evil from your souls

 But do ye all, as many as are made glad, by the gift of regeneration, and make your boast of that saving renewal, show me, after the sacramental grace

 Therefore, also, it is that after the dignity of adoption the devil plots more vehemently against us, pining away with envious glance, when he beholds

 And now we have spoken sufficiently for the holy subject of the day, which the circling year brings to us at appointed periods. We shall do well in wh

 For all these things then let us sing to God that hymn of joy, which lips touched by the Spirit long ago sang loudly: “Let my soul be joyful in the Lo

According to the same force of the text, Jacob also, hastening to seek a bride, met Rachel unexpectedly at the well. And a great stone lay upon the well, which a multitude of shepherds were wont to roll away when they came together, and then gave water to themselves and to their flocks. But Jacob alone rolls away the stone, and waters the flocks of his spouse18    See Gen. xxix. The thing is, I think, a dark saying, a shadow of what should come. For what is the stone that is laid but Christ Himself? for of Him Isaiah says, “And I will lay in the foundations of Sion a costly stone, precious, elect19    Is. xxviii. 16 (not exactly from LXX.).:” and Daniel likewise, “A stone was cut out without hands20    Cf. Dan. ii. 45,” that is, Christ was born without a man. For as it is a new and marvellous thing that a stone should be cut out of the rock without a hewer or stone-cutting tools, so it is a thing beyond all wonder that an offspring should appear from an unwedded Virgin. There was lying, then, upon the well the spiritual21    νοητὸς. stone, Christ, concealing in the deep and in mystery the laver of regeneration which needed much time—as it were a long rope—to bring it to light. And none rolled away the stone save Israel, who is mind seeing God. But he both draws up the water and gives drink to the sheep of Rachel; that is, he reveals the hidden mystery, and gives living water to the flock of the Church. Add to this also the history of the three rods of Jacob22    Cf. Gen. xxx. 37, sqq.. For from the time when the three rods were laid by the well, Laban the polytheist thenceforth became poor, and Jacob became rich and wealthy in herds. Now let Laban be interpreted of the devil, and Jacob of Christ. For after the institution of Baptism Christ took away all the flock of Satan and Himself grew rich.

Κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ τοῦ λόγου δύναμιν σπεύδων καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἐπὶ μνηστείαν ἀδοκήτως ἐπὶ τοῦ φρέατος συνήντησε τῇ Ῥαχήλ. ἐπέκειτο δὲ λίθος μέγας τῷ φρέατι, ὃν πλῆθος ποιμένων συνιὸν ἀπεκύλιον εἶθ' οὕτως ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς προβάτοις ὑδρεύοντο, ὁ δὲ Ἰακὼβ μόνος ἀποκυλίει τὸν λίθον καὶ ποτίζει τῆς μνηστῆς τὰ πρόβατα. αἴνιγμα οἶμαι τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ σκιὰ τοῦ μέλλοντος. τίς γὰρ ὁ ἐπικείμενος λίθος ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός; περὶ οὗ φησιν Ἠσαΐας: Καὶ ἐμβαλῶ εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, ἔντιμον, ἐκλεκτόν: καὶ Δανιὴλ ὁμοίως: Ἐτμήθη λίθος ἄνευ χειρός, τουτέστιν ἐγεννήθη Χριστὸς ἄνευ ἀνδρός. ὡς γὰρ καινόν ἐστι καὶ παράδοξον λίθον πέτρας ἀποτμηθῆναι ἄνευ λιθοτόμου καὶ ὀργάνων λιθουργικῶν, οὕτω παντὸς ἐπέκεινα θαύματος ἐξ ἀνυμφεύτου παρθένου τόκον ὀφθῆναι. ἐπέκειτο τοίνυν τῷ φρέατι ὁ λίθος ὁ νοητὸς Χριστὸς κρύπτων ἐν βάθει καὶ μυστηρίῳ τὸ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λουτρὸν ἔτι χρόνου πολλοῦ δεόμενον εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ὡς σχοινίου μακροῦ: οὐδεὶς δὲ τὸν λίθον ἀπεκύλισεν εἰ μὴ Ἰσραήλ, ὅς ἐστι νοῦς ὁρῶν θεόν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνιμᾶται τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ποτίζει τὰ πρόβατα τῆς Ῥαχήλ, τουτέστι μυστήριον κεκρυμμένον ἀποκαλύψας δίδωσι ζωτικὸν ὕδωρ τῇ ἀγέλῃ τῆς ἐκκλησίας: καὶ τὸ τῶν τριῶν ῥάβδων τοῦ Ἰακὼβ πρόσθες: ἀφ' οὗ γὰρ αἱ τρεῖς ῥάβδοι τῇ πηγῇ παρετέθησαν, ἐκ τότε ὁ Λάβαν ὁ πολύθεος πένης ἐγένετο, πλούσιος δὲ καὶ πολύαρνος Ἰακώβ. ἀλληγορηθήτω δὲ ὁ Λάβαν εἰς τὸν διάβολον καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ εἰς τὸν Χριστόν: μετὰ γὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα Χριστὸς πᾶσαν ᾖρε τὴν ἀγέλην τοῦ Σατανᾶ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπλούτησεν.