Behold, the Lord the Ruler is come
MASS Ecce, advénit
LESSON Isaias 60: 1-6
GOSPEL St John 1:29-34
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Beloved in Christ,
On this Octave Day of the Epiphany, the Church deliberately turns our eyes away from Bethlehem and leads us to the Jordan. She moves us from the stillness of the crib to the living waters; from the silence of adoration to the public revelation of authority. What we contemplate today is not a lesser mystery, not a footnote to Christmas, but the second great manifestation of Christ’s divinity — solemn, unmistakable, and Trinitarian.¹
The Introit proclaims it with sovereign clarity: Ecce advenit Dominator Dominus — Behold, the Lord the Ruler is come.² Yet He comes not enthroned, but standing in a river. Not issuing commands, but submitting to a rite. Not surrounded by power, but numbered among sinners.
This is the scandal and the glory of divine kingship. The Ruler stoops. The Judge takes His place among the judged. The Creator steps into His own creation in order to remake it — not by force, but by obedience; not by domination, but by sanctification.³
Epiphany is not a single burst of light that dazzles and fades. It is a gradual unveiling. First, the star leads the Magi — the Gentiles adore. Then, at the Jordan, Israel is confronted with the truth: this is not merely another prophet, not another preacher of repentance, but the Son of God Himself. Soon, at Cana, His disciples will believe. And all of it begins here, at the threshold of His public life.⁴
The Collect gives us the rule by which this mystery must be read: that we who acknowledge Christ’s outward likeness to us may be inwardly refashioned in His image.⁵ God does not redeem from afar. He does not save by exhortation alone. He saves by contact. He assumes what is ours so that He may impart what is His. The Incarnation is not a moral example first; it is a divine invasion of human nature.⁶
Our Lord does not enter the Jordan to be purified. He is holiness itself. He enters to purify the waters — and through them, the world. From this moment forward, water is no longer merely natural. It has been touched by God. It has been claimed by grace. The most common of elements becomes the bearer of eternal life. Creation itself is drawn into the work of redemption.⁷
The Epistle from Isaias announces the consequence with prophetic grandeur: Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come.⁸ The light that once shone in the heavens now descends into the depths. The Gentiles who followed the star will soon follow the waters. Kings once brought gold and frankincense; now nations will bring their children to the font. The promise made to Abraham begins to take visible, sacramental form.⁹
Then comes the Gospel, sober and uncompromising. Saint John does not flatter the crowd. He points — and he names. Behold the Lamb of God.¹⁰ Before a miracle is worked, before a sermon is preached, Christ is revealed as Victim. The Jordan already bears the shadow of Calvary. The waters that close over Him foreshadow the tomb; the Spirit descending anticipates the Resurrection; the voice of the Father prepares the world for the Cross.¹¹
Here the heavens are opened. The Son stands in the water. The Spirit descends as a Dove. The Father speaks. This is no religious tableau, no symbolic drama. This is divine intervention. Christianity is not a philosophy constructed by man. It is an event initiated by God, by which history itself is altered.¹²
And mark this well: the Father’s voice is heard over the waters. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.¹³ From this day onward, every baptism echoes that voice. Every soul washed in Christ is claimed, named, and sealed — not metaphorically, but truly — as a child of God.¹⁴
The Fathers speak with startling realism: when Christ rose from the Jordan, He raised the world with Him. The old creation was submerged; the new creation emerged. Sin was drowned; grace began its reign. This is not devotional exaggeration. It is sacramental fact.¹⁵
And what followed was not an abstraction. It was history. Whole nations — and at one point the whole known world — heard of Him and turned toward Christ. Christendom was not a dream or a metaphor; it was a lived reality. For centuries, belief in Christ shaped laws, sanctified cultures, ordered time, restrained power, educated conscience, and taught peoples how to live and how to die.¹⁶ The Incarnation proved itself effective, real, tangible.
But — and here we must speak plainly — that power has not diminished. Christ has not withdrawn. The grace of Baptism has not weakened. The Jordan still flows through the Church. What has failed is not Heaven’s generosity, but man’s fidelity.¹⁷ The world has not outgrown Christ; it has forgotten Him.
The Postcommunion therefore prays that the heavenly light may go before us at all times and in all places.¹⁸ The star has not vanished; it has entered the soul. The Jordan has not dried up; it runs through the sacraments of the Church. Baptism is not a childhood memory. It is a permanent consecration.
And so the Church speaks with clarity and urgency. If we are baptised, we are no longer our own. We have renounced Satan, his pomps, and his works — not sentimentally, but irrevocably.¹⁹ We have been claimed for Christ’s Kingdom in a world that increasingly denies His rule.
Ecce advenit Dominator Dominus.
Behold, the Lord the Ruler is come — not only then, but now.
- St Augustine, Sermon 29; St Leo the Great, Sermon 36 (On the Epiphany).
- Introit of the Epiphany, Malachias 3:1; Psalm 71:2.
- Philippians 2:6–8; St Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 39.
- Matthew 2; Matthew 3; John 2; traditional Epiphany triad.
- Collect of the Mass, Octave Day of the Epiphany (Missale Romanum, pre-1955).
- St Athanasius, De Incarnatione, §54.
- Blessing of the Font, Holy Saturday; St Ambrose, De Sacramentis.
- Isaias 60:1.
- Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8.
- John 1:29.
- Romans 6:3–4; St John Chrysostom, Homily on the Baptism of Christ.
- St Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, Book III.
- Psalm 28(29):3.
- Galatians 3:26–27.
- St Maximus of Turin, Sermon 100; St Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ.
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History; Pope Leo XIII, Immortale Dei.
- Matthew 24:12; Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas.
- Postcommunion, Octave Day of the Epiphany.
- Roman Ritual, Traditional Rite of Baptism.
Homilies Archive
Mass Propers
DAILY MASS ONLINE
One of the earliest online apostolates dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass, Old Roman TV began broadcasting the Holy Sacrifice on the Feast of the Assumption, 15 August 2008. During the COVID-19 pandemic, additional programming — devotions, catechesis, and conferences — was added to support the faithful in prayer and formation.
Support the daily Holy Mass on Old Roman TV by offering a Mass intention — for loved ones, thanksgiving, or the repose of souls. Your intention helps sustain the sacred liturgy and brings grace to those you remember before God’s altar.
SUPPORT THE DAILY MASS ONLINE
Likely the world’s longest-running daily online broadcast of the
Traditional Latin Mass, streaming faithfully since the
Feast of the Assumption 2008.
This apostolate cannot continue without immediate help
Please support us with a contribution toward
chapel rent, sacristy supplies, operating costs, and web-hosting.
Our essential monthly costs reach £1,000.
Leave a Reply