(Term nga Kodikët e Shqipërisë)
Shën Joan Baptisti, Shën Gjon Pagëzuesi, lajmësi i mbërritjes së Mesisë. “The baptism of John:There have been various suggestions as to the origins of Christian baptism-Jewish ceremonial washings, Qumran purification rites, proselyte baptism, the baptism of John. The last of these, the ritual act which gave John the Baptist his nickname, is the most likely candidate:as John is the forerunner of Jesus, so his baptism is the forerunner of Christian baptism. A direct link is established through Jesus’ own baptism by John; some of Jesus’ earliest disciples had almost certainly been baptized by John (Jn. 1:35-42); Jesus, or some of his disciples, seems to have continued John’s practice at the beginning of Jesus’ own ministry (Jn. 3:22f., 26; but 4:1f.); and in the cases of the disciples at Pentecost and of Apollos, it was evidently not thought necessary to supplement their Johannine baptism by baptism in the name of Jesus (Acts 2; 18:24-28). Most likely then it was this earlier practice which was resumed from Pentecost onwards, as ratified by the risen Christ and in his name (Mt. 28:19; Acts 2:38; etc.). John’s baptism itself is probably best understood as an adaptation of Jewish ritual washings, with some influence from Qumran in particular. John’s baptism was primarily a baptism of repentance (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 1:4; Lk. 3:3; Acts 13:24; 19:4). By accepting baptism at John’s hands the baptisands were expressing their repentance (Mt. 3:6; Mk. 1:5) and their desire for forgiveness. It was also a preparatory and symbolical act:it prepared the baptisand for the ministry of the Coming One; and it symbolized the judgment he would bring. In John’s vivid language that judgment would be like a pruning or a winnowing (Mt. 3:10, 12; Lk. 3:9, 17), or like a baptism in Spirit and fire (Mt. 3:11; Lk. 3:16). It is most unlikely that the Baptist was referring here to another ritual act much like his own. Rather he was probably drawing on the powerful imagery of such passages as Is. 4:4; 30:27f.; 43:2; Dn. 7:10 (possibly again under the influence of Qumran). If divine judgment could be likened to a stream of God’s fiery breath (Spirit-same word in Hebrew and Greek), then the Coming One’s ministry of judgment could appropriately be likened to an immersion in that stream. Those who submitted themselves to an act symbolizing that judgment, as an expression of their repentance in face of that judgment, would find it a judgment that purified and cleansed. Those who refused John’s baptism and refused to repent would experience the Coming One’s ‘baptism’ in all its fierceness and, like the barren trees and the chaff, would be burnt up by it (Mt. 3:10-12). Jesus’ baptism by John That Jesus should have undergone a baptism of repentance caused early Christians some difficulty (cf. Mt. 3:14 f.; Jerome, contra Pelag. 3. 2). At the very least it must have been for Jesus an expression of his dedication to God’s will and to ministry, perhaps too an expression of his wholehearted identification with his people before God. After his baptism the Spirit came upon Jesus (Mt. 3:16; Mk. 1:10; Lk. 3:21 f.). Many would see here the archetype of Christian baptism-baptism in water and Spirit”. Shllezhd/ër-i:Forma e sotme shqipe e idiomës me burim latin “Shën Aleksandër“. Shllezhdri festohet në Shqipërinë e Veriut dhe ka një kishë në Orosh. Sipas gojëdhënës, kjo kishë mban emrin e Shën Llezhdrit, sepse ka pasur një relikte të Shën Aleksandrit, një legjionar romak që u martirizua për shkak të pranimit të krishtërimit në Azi. Nuk ka dëshmi që Shën Aleksandri të ketë prekur fizikisht hapësirën shqiptare. Ippen mendon se një relikte të tillë mund ta ketë pasur vërtet kjo kishë, por e sjellë nga misionarë të mëvonshëm të këtij shenjti e martiri. Ndërkaq, dihet se Selia e Shenjtë i ka dhuruar kësaj kishe në shekullin e 18-të “kafkën e Shën Klementit“, që ruhej në një arkë të vjetër argjendi. Teodor Ippen, “Shqipëria e vjetër“, Tiranë 2002, f. 74.
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