On the Blessing of the Water
Sermon preached by His Grace Bishop John on Sunday, January 7, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA.
Jesus is called the lamb of God. This shows us that His incarnation and passion and suffering and death are all voluntary. He was willing because of His love for us, understanding how terrible it is that we are separated from God, to sacrifice himself so that he could share his very life with us.
During the Orthros of Epiphany, we hear in the Synaxarion reading that we use our senses in this revelation of God, this Theophany. We experience the incarnation and revelation of God in the blessing of the water. What does it mean to bless water? When we bless anything, we show it to be what God intended it to be. Water for us is life-giving.