addressed to the son and john the baptist, indicating the divinity of jesus christ. we see the image of the lord, the second person of the most holy trinity, receiving baptism at the hand of john the protestant. and we hear the testimony, the greatest among the prophets, of the holy spirit, the third person, of the most holy trinity. seeing a dove, the savior descended to rest, so briefly at the same time the gospel succinctly tells about the wondrous appearance of the most holy trinity to the human race. yes, at the birth of christ, god appeared righteous and chosen, but secretly, for example, moses was honored see god, but not face to face, from behind. not because. god wanted to distance himself from people,

because everything he did for them was done with the goal of bringing them closer to himself. god revealed himself to moses as much as his mind, body, and soul could contain without being damaged. this was enough for a light to emanate from the face of the goddess, which was painful for others to look at, like... a person who has been in darkness for a long time is painfully looking at the sun, so moses had to cover his head with a veil, hiding the divine light. nativity marked a new stage in the relationship between god and man. god incarnated, became a man and lived like all people; to those not initiated into the secret of his birth, almost nothing was revealed.

among you, he said, there is someone you don’t know, until the age of 30 he was an ordinary resident of his city, only the event of theophany testified that jesus is the promised christ, the son of god, fulfilling...

and for the entire time of the savior’s preaching, not all people saw god in him, because in christ the divine nature was hidden behind the human. he was like a gospel parable, which contains deep meaning. ready to accommodate it, the holy spirit reveals the essence of the parable, and not ready understands only the verbal image. he was in the world, but the world did not recognize him. that's what he says. theologian, about those whose hearts were occupied only with worldly concerns and did not strive to know god. the feast of the baptism of the lord in the waters of the jordan physically reveals to us the presence of god's grace in consecrated water. saint john chrysostom also said in his homily on the day of epiphany: “on this holiday, everyone has drawn water and brings it home.

kept throughout the year, since today the waters are illuminated, and a clear sign occurs, this water in its essence, the words of st. chrysostom... before baptism we were old people, and after baptism a new man was born to us in the image of christ. this does not mean that we

are splitting into two. this means that the human essence before baptism is different in comparison with the spiritual essence of man. after baptism, as we grow in the knowledge of god, as we strengthen ourselves in the spiritual christian life, strengthened by divine power, a new person it grows in us, and the old one dies, st. theophan, the recluse of vyshensk, spoke about this very well and vividly, and the final stage of our path will be the death of the old man, and the transition of the new man to eternal life. we all live in hope of the promise that the savior gave to his disciples, saying that those who are baptized will inherit eternal life. today we need to talk about one more

very important aspect, which we usually forget, because it scares us and breaks our sometimes incorrect attitude towards god. priests who ask a question about the purpose of baptizing children sometimes hear the following answers from their parents: so that they don’t get sick, so that everything will be fine, but what does the gospel tell about after the festive reading. in the next two verses we read. immediately after that, the spirit led him into the desert, and he was there in the desert for 40 days, tempted by satan. only after christ had overcome all temptations did the devil leave him, and angels came to jesus and served him. but you need to understand that, having been baptized, becoming a christian, a person gives up

the challenge begins the fight against temptations from the enemy of the human race. and the goal of this struggle is to become an artificial executor of god's will. will be renewed, and you will have to make a lot of effort to succeed on this path. on the feast of the baptism of the lord, it is useful to remember our baptism and the vows that we made to god, or those who succeeded us made them for us. let us ask the lord to confirm us in the christian life, so that now he will open for us the doors of the kingdom of heaven, which... as he himself testifies, is within us, however, we can say that these doors are already open, the lord calls us, so that we see open doors and strive to enter through them. the gates

of the kingdom of god open for man already in earthly life, therefore, through worship, through communion of the holy mysteries of christ, through... we will join in eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. happy feast of the holy epiphany, dear brothers and sisters, with the saint.