Women's Prayer Group In Christ

The preaching of John: Christ is baptized.

John preached a baptism of repentance. Our Lord’s baptism, which he sanctified, is a new birth in Christ.

“The baptism that was given afterwards; for in this we are buried with Him, and our old man was then crucified with Him, and before the cross there does not appear remission anywhere; for everywhere this is imputed to His blood. And Paul too says, ‘But you are washed, but you are sanctified, not by the baptism of John, but in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.’ (1 Corinthians 6:11) And elsewhere too he says, ‘John verily preached a baptism of repentance, (he says not of remission,) that they should believe in Him that should come after him.’”(4) -St. John Chrysostom

We are called to practice great virtue and bring to God fruits of our repentance.

“Bring forth, says he, fruits meet for repentance. For to flee from wickedness is not enough, but you must show forth also great virtue. For let me not have that contradictory yet ordinary case, that refraining yourselves for a little while, you return unto the same wickedness.”(4) -St. John Chrysostom

Jesus becoming man, humbled himself unto death on the Cross.

“With the servants the Lord, with the criminals the Judge, comes to be baptized. But be not troubled; for in these humiliations His exaltation does most shine forth. For He who vouchsafed to be borne so long in a Virgin’s womb, and to come forth thence with our nature, and to be smitten with rods, and crucified, and to suffer all the rest which He suffered—why do you marvel if He vouchsafed also to be baptized, and to come with the rest to His servant. For the amazement lay in that one thing, that being God, He would be made Man; but the rest after this all follows in course of reason.”(4) -St. John Chrysostom

Our own dignity contains the Trinity.

“And no wonder that the mystery of the Trinity is not wanting to the Lord’s laver, when even our laver contains the sacrament of the Trinity. The Lord willed to show in His own case what He was after to ordain for men.”(4) -St. Ambrose