'For the heavens open too upon us': the classical Prayer Book tradition and the Baptism of our Lord
Such questions are to be answered by pointing out how the classical Prayer Book tradition does commemorate the Lord's Baptism but does so in a different manner to the contemporary observance on the First Sunday after the Epiphany. The focus for the classical Prayer Book tradition's commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord is the Sacrament of Holy Baptism itself. The opening prayer of the Prayer Book Baptismal rite declares:
by the Baptism of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan, didst sanctify Water to the mystical washing away of sin.
Each and every time Holy Baptism was and is administered in the parish according to the Prayer Book rite, the Baptism of our Lord is proclaimed. What is more, the Lord's Baptism is not held before us merely as an example to be followed. Rather, its salvific and sacramental meaning is set forth: water is consecrated and sanctified for the Sacrament by the Lord's Baptism in the Jordan. The later petition in the rite, "sanctify this Water to the mystical washing away of sin", is a recognition of this grace and reality, a setting aside of this water in light of the Lord's Baptism.
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism, therefore, flows from "the Baptism of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan". This Sacrament, "whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed" (Article XXVII), is our incorporation into the Lord's Baptism, into His Sonship and communion with the Holy Spirit. This is clearly reflected in the post-Baptismal thanksgiving:
We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this Infant with thy Holy Spirit, to receive him for thine own Child by adoption, and to incorporate him into thy holy Church ...
This understanding was also very evident in Jeremy Taylor's reflection on the Baptism of our Lord in The Great Exemplar:
After the holy Jesus was baptized, and had prayed, the heavens opened, the Holy Ghost descended, and a voice from heaven proclaimed him to be the Son of God, and one in whom the Father was well pleased. And the same ointment that was cast upon the head of our high priest, 'went unto his beard' and thence 'fell to the borders of his garment ' for as Christ our head felt these effects in manifestation, so the church believes God does to her and to her meanest children in the susception of the holy rite of baptism in right, apt, and holy dispositions. For the heavens open too upon us, and the Holy Ghost descends to sanctify the waters, and to hallow the catechumen, and to pardon the past and repented sins, and to consign him to the inheritance of sons, and to put on his military girdle, and give him the sacrament and oath of fidelity.
At the font, therefore, in the ministration of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the classical Prayer Book tradition holds before us the Baptism of our Lord, declaring the mystical, sacramental relationship between the waters of the Jordan into which the Lord descended and the water of the font. The Lord's Baptism is our Baptism, for in the Sacrament we participate in His Baptism, Christened in Him, through Him, with Him.
What is more, this salvific character of the Baptism of our Lord is also held before us not only in the regular administration of Holy Baptism but also in the thrice weekly praying of the Litany:
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation, Good Lord, deliver us.
The fact that the Lord's Baptism is here placed alongside the Incarnation and Nativity, and that the subsequent petition has reference to the Lord's Passion and Resurrection, invoking them in the same manner, underlines the significance and saving character of our Lord descending into the Jordan - it, too, is "for us men and our salvation".
It is also worth noting the sequence of the Lord's Baptism in the Synoptic accounts, here from the Gospel according to Saint Mark:
And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ... Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Anointed by the Holy Spirit (Christos), declared beloved Son, then the proclamation of the Kingdom. Now consider how the Prayer Book Catechism describes the grace of our Christening:
My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism; wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.
Mindful of the significance of the Baptism of our Lord in the Prayer Book Baptismal rite, there does seem to be good grounds for suggesting that this description in the Catechism reflects the Synoptic accounts and sees in them the meaning of Holy Baptism.
The absence, therefore, of commemoration to the Baptism of our Lord on the First Sunday after the Epiphany in the classical Prayer Book tradition does not at all equate to a failure to recognise this event in the Incarnate Word's saving work. Each time Holy Baptism is administered according to the Prayer Book rite, and each time - every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, according to the rubric - the Litany is prayed, the salvific nature of the Lord's Baptism is proclaimed. What is more, the Baptism of our Lord defines our Baptism, for it is from His Baptism that our Baptism flows, as implied both in the Baptismal rite and the Catechism. There is, then, in the classical Prayer Book tradition a rich mystical, sacramental understanding of the Baptism of our Lord, celebrated each time Holy Baptism is administered, invoked each time the Litany is prayed, and expounded each time a candidate is prepared for Confirmation.
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