that time, is to be distinguished from the baptism of Christ himself, which his
SERMON 210 119 throughout the year, as people may either need or desire, this being granted them by the one who gave them the right to become children of God (Jn 1:12); while it is not permissible to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's passion except on one particular day of the year, which is called Easter.4
The sacrament of baptism, therefore, is beyond all doubt to be distinguished from Easter. Baptism, you see, can be received on any day; Easter may lawfully be kept only on one particular day.5 Baptism is given so that life may be imparted anew; Easter is celebrated to keep the memory of our religion fresh in our minds. But the fact that far and away the greater number of those seeking baptism converge on this day only means that the greater joy of the feast attracts them, not that a richer grace of salvation is to be had then.
Christ's baptism and John's baptism
3. Then there is the point that the baptism of John, which Christ received at that time, is to be distinguished from the baptism of Christ himself, which his faithful now receive;6 nor is the one Christ was baptized with better than the one a Christian is baptized with, simply because Christ is better than the Christian; but on the contrary, this baptism is to be preferred to that one, precisely because it is Christ's. John, you see, baptized Christ, while admitting that he was less than Christ; Christ, on the other hand, baptizes the Christian,7 and shows himself to be greater than John as well.
It's the same with the circumcision of the flesh; although Christ received it then, and no Christian receives it now,8 still the sacrament of Christ's resurrec¬ tion surpasses it, by which the Christian is circumcised for the stripping off of the old, flesh-bound life,9 in order to heed the apostle when he says, As Christ has risen from the dead through the glory of the Father, so let us too walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4). Again, take the old Passover, which they were commanded to celebrate by killing the lamb;10 just because Christ celebrated this with his disciples, it doesn't mean that it is better than our Passover, or Easter, in which Christ has been sacrificed.11 You see, it was all part of his giving us an example of humility and devotion,12 that when he came he should conde¬ scend to receive even those sacraments which symbolically foretold that he would come; thus showing us with what religious devotion we should receive these sacraments which proclaim that he has come.
So just because Christ fasted immediately after receiving the baptism of John, we don't have to believe that he was laying down a kind of rule to be observed, that it is obligatory to fast immediately after receiving Christ's baptism. Clearly, what he was teaching by that example is that we should fast whenever we happen to lock horns with the tempter in a more than usually fierce struggle. The reason, you see, why Christ, who was willing to be bom as a human being, did not refuse to be tempted as a human being, was to enable Christians, trained under his direction, not to be defeated by the tempter. So whether immediately after baptism, or after any interval of time you like, whenever a similar war of temptation is waged against one, one should fast, so that the body by being