The appearance of the Trinity:

The baptism of Jesus is not only his appearance in the world as Christ, his immersion: baptism reveals him as the Son of God. And it is, therefore, “the transfiguration,” meaning the appearance of God, because he revealed to us the great mystery of God, that is, the Holy Trinity.

John saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove and settling upon him. The word “settling” indicates that from eternity the Holy Spirit had been resting upon him, and His voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son.”

This is why Saint Cyril of Jerusalem tells us: By the appearance of Jesus as the Messiah, the baptism of Jesus reveals to us at the same time the mystery of the divine Trinity. He says that in order for there to be a Messiah and an anointed one, “the Son,” someone must anoint Him, “the Father.” And from someone comes the anointing, the Holy Spirit who descends upon Him. Thus, we cannot think of Christ without thinking of the Father and the Holy Spirit, without whom the word Messiah would have no meaning. We cannot acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah without acknowledging the one God as God in three persons.

It is common to have a wrong idea of God: it sometimes seems to us that the Father is the God of the “Old Testament”, then the Son comes to replace him in the “New Testament” throughout the life of Jesus, finally the role of the Holy Spirit comes in the present time of the Church, and the memory of Jesus is only celebrated as a historical past. Yes, we must often imagine the three Persons in one God who acts in the world with one will. How can we approach the mystery of the Holy Trinity?

Let us return to the baptism of Jesus when he came up from the water. John the Baptist sees Christ, the Spirit descends upon him, and hears the voice of the Father calling Jesus “the beloved Son.” John recognized one God in three persons. In the Jordan, the Trinity appeared for the first time. This is what the Church tells us through the icon and the hymn of the feast of the Epiphany (or the Feast of the Theophany).

If we contemplate the icon of the “Divine Theophany”, we will find Jesus clothed in water as if he were penetrating the entire universe to wet it with his presence, to illuminate it with his light, to illuminate it and sanctify it. Right above is a hand representing “the one” who anoints: that is, the Father, invisible, but whose voice came forward in testimony to Jesus, calling him “the beloved Son”. The dove represents the Holy Spirit who confirms the truth of the testimony by descending upon Jesus’ head and resting above him: it is the anointing. Finally, the “Son” who anointed, Jesus clothed in water.

The appearance of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove:

Why did the Holy Spirit appear in the form of a dove? The dove is a pure, tame animal. Since the Holy Spirit is a spirit of meekness, He appeared in the form of a dove. On the other hand, this reminds us of an ancient historical story, when the flood covered the entire inhabited world, and the human race was about to perish, the dove was the bird that clearly showed the end of the divine wrath, carrying in its beak an olive branch, as good news announcing universal peace. All of this was a sketch of what would happen later. The condition of the people was much worse than their present condition, and they deserved greater punishment. So that you will not despair now, He reminds you here of that ancient incident: when hope was lost, a solution and a remedy were found. The flood at that time was a chastisement, but now the solution has come through grace and abundant gift. Therefore the dove appeared, not carrying an olive branch, but pointing to the One who will save from all adversity, and spreading before us good hopes; For she does not take a man out of the ark, but by her appearance leads the whole inhabited world to heaven. She does not carry an olive branch, but sonship to all mankind.

Now that you have understood the value of the gift, do not think that the value of the Spirit is lacking because He appeared in the form of a dove. I hear some say that just as man differs from a dove, so Christ differs from the Spirit. Christ appeared in the form of our human nature, while the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. How do we answer all this? The Son of God took on the nature of man, while the Holy Spirit did not take on the nature of a dove. Therefore the evangelist did not say that the Spirit appeared “in the nature of a dove,” but rather “in the form of a dove.” And the Spirit did not appear in this form after that. Truth is one thing, and provision is another, condescension is one thing, and a passing appearance is another.

The moral and spiritual benefit:

So what can be said about the Trinity? How do we explain this mystery – the manifestation –? Perhaps no book, no book or Christian teaching can “explain” the mystery of God in three persons. The risk is too great to distort the incomprehensible with words, and to belittle the eternal God with human and rational statements. Only prayer and worship can make us realize a small part of the “truth” about the one God in three persons.
Let us end our topic with the purest prayer, that is, the prayer of worship, the prayer of the angels, the Seraphim and the Cherubim, chanting the hymn of the Holy One three times, to the life-giving Trinity: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts!”

Quoted with some modifications from the bulletins of the Archdiocese of Aleppo and the Church of the Archangels in Cairo

Sermon by Saint Gregory the Theologian:

When I mention God, let one light enlighten you, and at the same time three lights in terms of properties, that is, three hypostases, if one of you wants to call the properties hypostases or persons (and there is no disagreement in the naming as long as these words mean one thing).

The divinity is one in essence, divided without separation or division, and united and remains divided because the divinity is one in three hypostases, and the three hypostases are one essence in the divinity.

We will avoid extremism and deletion, without making unity a confusion and division an act and alienation, so that our position will remain far from the doctrine of Sevilius in mixing the hypostases, and the doctrine of Arius in dividing and separating the hypostases. Both doctrines are steeped in error, and both are in one consideration of the doctrine and the evil of belief. For what is the reason for these two bad beliefs in mixing and separating?

We believe in one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom were all things made, and one Holy Spirit, in whom are all things. The three persons are one Godhead.

In order for God to connect heaven and earth, and for the world to be filled with the glory of God, He created man, whom He honored with the divine image. When man fell into sin, and turned away from his Lord through the envy of Satan, He did not ignore him or neglect him. What happened? What is the plan to remedy this fall? What is the terrible and wondrous secret that happened for our sake? Nature is renewed, and God becomes man and is called the Son of Man. This does not mean that He changed from what He is, for He is unchanging, but He took on what He was not (because He loves mankind), so that the unfathomable becomes encyclopedic, and He speaks to us in the flesh as He is from behind the veil. Because human nature, subject to corruption, cannot bear His divinity if it appears. Therefore, the two opposite things were united: birth with virginity, the impassible with pain, and the immortal with the mortal body! Since the inventor of evil thought that he could not be defeated since he had deceived us, he himself was deceived by the appearance of glory by attacking the new Adam and clashing with God. Thus the new Adam saved the old Adam and resolved the judgment of the body, killing death by death.

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