As we celebrate today the mystery of Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan, renew in us our own baptism: pattern our lives on this Christ, your chosen one, the Child on whom your favor rests, the Beloved with whom you are well pleased. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Some Thoughts on Matthew 3:13-17
"There is something very open-ended about Jesus' experience of baptism. Rather than closing his life, it opens him to a range of experiences that he will try to understand through the prismatic realities of Servant and Son."
Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 3:13-17, David Ewart, 2011.
Dylan's Lectionary Blog, Epiphany 1A. Biblical Scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary of the Episcopal Church.
"Water-Fellowship, Water Joy-Divine," Expository Essay, Dr. William R. Long.
"Fulfilling of righteousness requires letting go of our personal sense of what is right and proper in order to let it be God's will that is fulfilled. For Jesus, as at the end, so too at the beginning: a deep and profound aligning of his heart and will with the will and Spirit of God."
Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 3:13-17, David Ewart, 2011.
"When we say that Jesus is God's son, going about the family business, we are saying not only that Jesus is like God; we are saying that God is like Jesus."
Dylan's Lectionary Blog, Epiphany 1A. Biblical Scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary of the Episcopal Church.
The Gospel is one directly related to Mark's account and this connection helps us to understand the import of Jesus' baptism to the earliest of Christians. It is also important in continuing the theme we spoke of during Advent which is the increasing importance and role of the prime actor Jesus in the Gospel narrative and the ever-shrinking role of John the Baptist.
Certainly, the connection between Jesus' baptism and our own has brought with it questions about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism by water. But I am not interested in this debate, but rather the importance and meaning this story has for the person of Jesus. We are able through the lens of Jesus' baptism to understand how he was viewed by his first followers. It is all too easy to get focused on us and to preach this Sunday on the meaning of our baptism. This gospel lesson is essentially a lesson about Christology.
It is the heavenly voice who makes clear that this is God's Son.
Daniel Harrington writes and gives an explanation for naming this passage the "Jesus made manifest":
...an attempt has been made to be faithful tot eh focus of the biblical account -- the manifestation of Jesus' identity at the very beginning of his public ministry. The baptism of jesus by John in the Jordan River is the occaion for the identification of Jesus by the voice from heaven. Matthew agreed with the other evangelists in this Christological emphasis.We are given here several other ways to understand the person of Jesus: Son, servant, inaugurator of the new exodus and creation, and the one who fulfills all righteousness.
In our passage today we see these themes continued. Jesus who climbs out of the water is the new Adam (John of Nazianzus -Davies, Matthew, vol 1, 345) and like the creation narrative itself, he rises out of the waters of chaos. Jesus' own Red Sea deliverance in baptism reminds us too of the Exodus story. Remember, this story exists in between the flight to Egypt and his journey into the desert to be tested.
We have a unique opportunity in this cycle to read the story of Matthew's Gospel and to recognize that our baptisms and life as Christians are unique only in that they are deeply connected with the very person of Jesus Christ. It is in his identity, in our own Christology that our lives and our ministry have meaning. It will be all too tempting to move quickly into our own baptismal imagery in our preaching. However, we may miss an incredible opportunity to speak to the personhood of Christ and his mission in the world.
I draw our attention to our own Catechism and invite you to consider the questions and answers as they relate in a clear line from Jesus' own personhood and mission to our understanding of ourselves in the waters of baptism.
Q. What do we mean when we say that Jesus is the only
Son of God?
A We mean that Jesus is the only perfect image of the
Father, and shows us the nature of God.
Q. What is the nature of God revealed in Jesus?
A. God is love.
Q. What do we mean when we say that Jesus was
conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became
incarnate from the Virgin Mary?
A. We mean that by God's own act, his divine Son received
our human nature from the Virgin Mary, his mother.
Q. Why did he take our human nature?
A. The divine Son became human, so that in him human
beings might be adopted as children of God, and be
made heirs of God's kingdom.
Q. How can we share in his victory over sin, suffering, and
death?
A. We share in his victory when we are baptized into the
New Covenant and become living members of Christ.
Q. What is Holy Baptism?
A. Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us
as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body,
the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.
My hope is that we might this Sunday lift our eyes from our own waters of baptism to the heavens and draw apart the veil and explore with our members who we say Jesus is and how his uniqueness in the family of God provides the salvific Good News of God's loving embrace for all people.
Some Thoughts on Acts 10:34-43
"Beyond stereotypes, beyond deeply seeded religious segregation, Peter obeys his command, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. In a gesture of faith, a movement of complete trust, a posture of submission, Peter tells the story of Jesus, a story in which he knew very well."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 | Levi Holland | Post Coffee Co. A Plain Account | A Plain Account, 2017
"Our attempts to control God and keep God safely within our predetermined categories are contradicted by the early Christian preaching about Jesus."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, Mark Tranvik, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, Mark Tranvik, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
"On the day when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, it may, therefore, be particularly appropriate for the church to consider how the Spirit may be moving amongst us in unexpected and challenging ways and to ask how the reverberations of the resurrection continue to be manifest around us."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, Eric Barreto, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, Eric Barreto, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
"May we live and work in our challenging world today--still beset by overwhelming poverty, oppression, violence, death, and much that defies God's goodness and grace--in the Easter hope of Christ's resurrection and restorative justice for all."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, F. Scott Spencer, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, F. Scott Spencer, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
"The goal is that people might be released from sin. The Greek word usually translated "forgiveness" is aphesis, which literally means "release." A pattern of sins often brings people to a point where the sins define the present and limit the future. For a person to have a different life, the sins must no longer define the person's situation."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 (Baptism A), Craig R. Koester, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
This is a big Gospel kind of moment! Cornelius walks into the house and it is clear that the Gospel and its messengers are shown by God that they are not to call others "common or unclean." (10.28) Cornelius then offers a vision of the kingdom of God and shows himself to be a Godfearer and Jesus follower.
Peter then responds "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." And, "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Peter is in some very real way summarizing the theme of the Gospel of Luke and Acts: the living out of the message of God to his people. It is a miniature Gospel if you will.
Peter says:
God shows no partiality.
The story of Acts 10 illustrates the difficulty the church has all the time with accepting the movement of the Holy Spirit and God's willingness to accept people into the family. This is powerful good news. Especially since without this particular moment, I would not be here myself and would not have discovered this good news of God in Christ and his love of humanity and desire to reconcile us to him.
"As the divide between church and state grows here in America (and even among each other), we too may need to reimagine what it is to be a faithful people while living in an unfamiliar place."
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9 | Christopher Reiter | Church Planter, Jacob's Well church Boise, Idaho | A Plain Account, 2017
"This passage in Isaiah shows God speaking into the pain of exile to send a servant who will bring justice, and not to Israel only but to all nations."
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9, Amy Oden, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 (Baptism A), Craig R. Koester, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
This is a big Gospel kind of moment! Cornelius walks into the house and it is clear that the Gospel and its messengers are shown by God that they are not to call others "common or unclean." (10.28) Cornelius then offers a vision of the kingdom of God and shows himself to be a Godfearer and Jesus follower.
Peter then responds "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." And, "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Peter is in some very real way summarizing the theme of the Gospel of Luke and Acts: the living out of the message of God to his people. It is a miniature Gospel if you will.
Peter says:
God shows no partiality.
Those who follow God are acceptable to God.
God is lord of all and that message is spreading even now.
God appears as Jesus Christ and his ministry is one of the Holy Spirit and one of power.
Christ did good work: healing people, freeing people, and releasing people from bondage.
Salvation comes from the cross and resurrection.
Salvation is open to all people.
God's family is made up of every kind of person.
The story of Acts 10 illustrates the difficulty the church has all the time with accepting the movement of the Holy Spirit and God's willingness to accept people into the family. This is powerful good news. Especially since without this particular moment, I would not be here myself and would not have discovered this good news of God in Christ and his love of humanity and desire to reconcile us to him.
Some Thoughts on Isaiah 42:1-9
"As the divide between church and state grows here in America (and even among each other), we too may need to reimagine what it is to be a faithful people while living in an unfamiliar place."
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9 | Christopher Reiter | Church Planter, Jacob's Well church Boise, Idaho | A Plain Account, 2017
"This passage in Isaiah shows God speaking into the pain of exile to send a servant who will bring justice, and not to Israel only but to all nations."
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9, Amy Oden, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.
The ministry of the Servant signifies the dawn of a new era of salvation for the people of God (42:9).
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9, Bo Lim, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
The Rabbinical reading of this passage finds that the subject, the servant, is Israel itself - the people.
"Here is my servant" is a direct reference to God's people. The prophet is telling the people (who are in exile) that God will not forget them and that God loves them. God has put God's spirit upon God's people and has watched them as they have suffered. The people of God in captivity have not lost their faith but instead, their faith has grown. God will bring about justice for them. Moreover, their life lived together will itself bring about justice on earth. Just as in previous texts, the prophet is telling them that God will make them a great city on a hill and the whole of the land will look towards their teaching.
So then we read the following in light of the people. We hear the prophet's words as promising. They will all be redeemed, they will see great things, and miracles will be worked. Imagine the prophet before the lost and suffering servants under the oppression of Babylon hearing these words:
As the messianic movement grew in Israel over some 500 plus years. It would, of course, grow as other kings took possession of Israel and ruled as foreign powers over the people. One can easily imagine how the image of the servant in the passage we have today began to morph and people hoped perhaps the prophet was speaking about an actual person who might come to save the people of God.
As the first disciples looked back at this passage and inherited the messianic hopes of their time, one can imagine it is not hard to see that the person of Jesus fit the description.
If we look at how the New Testament authors used the texts we see that it is clear they have this very thing in mind. Luke, in particular, has in mind the person of Jesus as representing in himself the people of Israel. In the opening of the gospel, Jesus is very quickly not merely as fulfilling this role but filling it as he himself is the culmination of the people of Israel. It is as if to say in Christ Jesus the people of Israel themselves are brought together in a unified offering of the suffering servant Jesus. He is both the highest offering, their greatest servant (prophet, leader), and he is at once in his body their totality. (See Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, 242) It is as if for Luke this is not a denial of the people of Israel being referred to in this prophecy, but that the people of Israel culminating in the ministry of the person of Jesus. Both are to be God's suffering servant just as Isaiah prophesied, but in Christ, there is one last and final act such that no other sacrifices need be made.
Matthew in his Gospel will take this further. Not only will he see as Luke sees, but he sees the message of this passage as a message for the whole world - for the gentiles. Matthew seemingly understands as Luke that Jesus is the suffering servant within the messianic tradition and that he himself is the one mentioned here in relationship to Israel itself. In Christ are all the people. Yet, Matthew is saying ALL the people are in Christ. There is clarity here that the good news is not mere deliverance by God in Christ Jesus to the people of Israel but that the good news of deliverance is for the world. Moreover, these are themes that emerge in the baptismal imagery of Matthew. (See Hays, 177.)
Christ is God, the Lord, who created all things. Christ is the one who gives breath and who walks in the spirit. Christ is our righteousness and is the one who takes us by the hand. It is Christ who saves us. Christ is the new covenant, and light to nations. All people will see that the blind are healed, prisoners are freed, and those who sit in darkness do so no longer. In this way, all the former things are passing away and a new story of God's people, all of God's people, is beginning in the person of Jesus.
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9, Bo Lim, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
The Rabbinical reading of this passage finds that the subject, the servant, is Israel itself - the people.
"Here is my servant" is a direct reference to God's people. The prophet is telling the people (who are in exile) that God will not forget them and that God loves them. God has put God's spirit upon God's people and has watched them as they have suffered. The people of God in captivity have not lost their faith but instead, their faith has grown. God will bring about justice for them. Moreover, their life lived together will itself bring about justice on earth. Just as in previous texts, the prophet is telling them that God will make them a great city on a hill and the whole of the land will look towards their teaching.
So then we read the following in light of the people. We hear the prophet's words as promising. They will all be redeemed, they will see great things, and miracles will be worked. Imagine the prophet before the lost and suffering servants under the oppression of Babylon hearing these words:
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.This then is good news indeed.
As the messianic movement grew in Israel over some 500 plus years. It would, of course, grow as other kings took possession of Israel and ruled as foreign powers over the people. One can easily imagine how the image of the servant in the passage we have today began to morph and people hoped perhaps the prophet was speaking about an actual person who might come to save the people of God.
As the first disciples looked back at this passage and inherited the messianic hopes of their time, one can imagine it is not hard to see that the person of Jesus fit the description.
If we look at how the New Testament authors used the texts we see that it is clear they have this very thing in mind. Luke, in particular, has in mind the person of Jesus as representing in himself the people of Israel. In the opening of the gospel, Jesus is very quickly not merely as fulfilling this role but filling it as he himself is the culmination of the people of Israel. It is as if to say in Christ Jesus the people of Israel themselves are brought together in a unified offering of the suffering servant Jesus. He is both the highest offering, their greatest servant (prophet, leader), and he is at once in his body their totality. (See Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, 242) It is as if for Luke this is not a denial of the people of Israel being referred to in this prophecy, but that the people of Israel culminating in the ministry of the person of Jesus. Both are to be God's suffering servant just as Isaiah prophesied, but in Christ, there is one last and final act such that no other sacrifices need be made.
Matthew in his Gospel will take this further. Not only will he see as Luke sees, but he sees the message of this passage as a message for the whole world - for the gentiles. Matthew seemingly understands as Luke that Jesus is the suffering servant within the messianic tradition and that he himself is the one mentioned here in relationship to Israel itself. In Christ are all the people. Yet, Matthew is saying ALL the people are in Christ. There is clarity here that the good news is not mere deliverance by God in Christ Jesus to the people of Israel but that the good news of deliverance is for the world. Moreover, these are themes that emerge in the baptismal imagery of Matthew. (See Hays, 177.)
Christ is God, the Lord, who created all things. Christ is the one who gives breath and who walks in the spirit. Christ is our righteousness and is the one who takes us by the hand. It is Christ who saves us. Christ is the new covenant, and light to nations. All people will see that the blind are healed, prisoners are freed, and those who sit in darkness do so no longer. In this way, all the former things are passing away and a new story of God's people, all of God's people, is beginning in the person of Jesus.
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