In his twelfth homily on the Gospel of Matthew, St John Chrysostom reflects on one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith: why Christ, who is without sin, submits to baptism. Writing in the late fourth century, Chrysostom addresses an obvious question raised by the Gospel narrative itself—John the Baptist’s hesitation to baptise the one he knows to be greater than himself.
Chrysostom’s answer is both theological and pastoral. Christ is baptised, he explains, not for His own purification but to “fulfil all righteousness”: that is, to complete the law perfectly and to inaugurate the sacrament that would cleanse others. By entering the Jordan, Christ does not receive holiness from the waters; rather, He imparts holiness to them. In this act, the waters of baptism are sanctified, the Trinity is revealed, and the path is opened for Christian baptism as a real participation in Christ’s saving work.
