The word Baptism comes, to no surprise, from Greek: baptisma, meaning immersion into water. So baptism is linked with water by definition. It is the general understanding that through the baptism the person that is baptized is receiving a blessing. In Christ case however the things are different. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, but Christ had no sin. Here is what a troparion form the Orthros service of the feast says:
Christ is baptized with us, even though He is above all purity; and thus He infuses sanctification into the water, which then becomes the purifying agent of our souls.
Through the baptism of the Lord the waters received God’s blessing, being transformed in… Continue reading