Sermon: Beginning of Epiphanies

Lectionary: Epiphany 1(C)
Texts: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

The Nativity Creche is Wrong

There is a Christmas meme that has popped up in my social media feeds this season. If you’ve seen it, you will know exactly what I am about to describe where this is going.

The meme is a picture of a nativity set – the stable, Mary and Joseph, shepherds, and the magi – with a cat sitting in the middle of the set where the manger and Jesus should be. In the caption for the meme, a question is asked, “What is wrong with this picture?”

The obvious answer is, of course, “The cat.” But the humor and comedy is presented in the answer given, “There were no magi at Jesus’ birth.”

Now, there is plenty more that is inaccurate and “wrong” about the popular narratives of Christmas that we have been handed, but that is for another time. For today, we will focus on the arrival of the magi to honor Jesus.

In the Matthew account of Jesus’ birth and infancy, the magi enter a house in Bethlehem in which Mary and Joseph are living. Not some cave or a stable with a manger. And after the magi arrive and when they do not return to Herod, Herod orders the murder of all male infants under two years of age. Thus, we should understand that some time has passed between the birth and the time the magi arrive – as long as two years.

Epiphany Is Supposed to be Important

And that introduces us to the difference and separation between Christmas and Epiphany. Epiphany is supposed to be one of the most important holy days, holidays, or feast days in the Christian calendar, but in most of our experiences and memories, it is treated more as an afterthought to Christmas – the day when Christmas officially comes to an end. In churches that don’t follow the liturgical calendar, like the one I grew up in, Epiphany may not even be in their vocabulary.

Another interesting tidbit about Epiphany is that its official date falls on January 6. Which means it will occur tomorrow; not today. Today is the twelfth day of Christmas. But because Epiphany is so important, or because it is supposed to be, most liturgical churches move and observe it on the first Sunday after the New Year. Which it is today.

I became curious to see when Epiphany and Sunday coincide, and it turns out, not very often. The last time the two came together was in 2020. The next occurrence takes place in 2030.

Why is Epiphany Important?

Each Sunday during the season of Epiphany reveals something about Jesus and what he reveals about God and the gospel of God’s kingdom. The beginning of Epiphany starts with the arrival into Judea of non-Jewish seekers of God’s Anointed, the Christ. Next Sunday we remember the baptism of Jesus. The Sunday after that we will encounter Jesus performing his first sign. And so on.

Today we focus on the arrival of the magi to worship Jesus. The day of Epiphany, the day marking the beginning of the season of Epiphany, is considered one of the high holy days in the Christian calendar. It is on the same level as Christmas and Easter. So, what does this reveal about Jesus Christ that is so very important? The lections assigned for today give us clues that point in the same direction.

The Isaiah reading includes, “Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance.” (60:3) From the Psalm reading, we heard, “Let all the kings bow down before him; let all the nations serve him.” (72:11) The author of Ephesians wrote, “His plan is that the Gentiles would be coheirs and parts of the same body, and that they would share with the Jews in the promises of God in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (3:6) And in the gospel reading from Matthew we heard, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem.” (2:1).

Prophecy: descriptive, not predictive

It is easy and maybe natural, especially for modern Christians, including us, to interpret these and other additional texts and conclude that the older testament predicted the arrival and birth of Jesus. And in fact, that is what has happened.

Especially when reading Matthew, where the author uses phrases such as, “This fulfilled,” and points to a text from the older testament, we as moderns assume that this means that the older prophecies predicted what was going to happen in the future.

But that is not how prophecy in the Bible works. Prophetic oracles and texts found in the Bible are descriptive, not predictive. Even where the text could be seen as predictive, the timeframe for the prediction is short term, no more than a single lifetime in most cases.

Prophetic texts describe a better future, an idealized ruler, and how a fully reformed and restored people act toward one another. When seen this way, when Matthew and other writers say that Jesus “fulfilled” some prophetic text, what they mean is that Jesus fits the description of the idealized and better that was written and spoken about. They do not mean that the prophets anticipated a specific individual at a particular point in history.

This interpretation is prophecy needs to carry over to how we read and understand prophetic texts today. It cannot be overstated that we should not be reading prophetic texts and interpreting them as predicting specific events and persons in the future. I realize this is a very common way of reading and interpreting in certain traditions, and it is one that I was raised in. But in broader Christian history and in more mainstream biblical scholarship, that is not how biblical prophecy was and is understood.

“Chosen” does not mean better or more privileged

Another potential pitfall in interpreting prophetic texts is when we discern what it means for God to “choose” someone or a group of people. Who were chosen by God? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Israelites, David, and according to Paul, Christians, too, were chosen by God.

It is easy to then conclude that chosen individuals and groups are therefore privileged in some way. However, God chooses out of God’s own prerogative. According to the prophets, God often chooses those that have no merit of their own, and often the ones that are cast aside by peers and viewed as having no value or worth.

But it is natural, that after one is chosen by God, to assume that it is deserved and with being chosen, it brings special privileges. However, nothing more is deserved. And instead of privileges, it comes with responsibilities. God chooses so that those chosen by God will be God’s instruments in carrying God’s message to the rest of the world.

When one combines the misunderstanding of prophecy as predictive and the misunderstanding of God’s choosing as a deserving act, we end up with a toxic mix. When a person or a group interprets scripture as specifically predicting God’s selection of them, it is nearly impossible to avoid pride, arrogance, exclusivism, and intolerance that arises from the sense of assumed “specialness.”

It cannot be overstated that any choosing of God is for God’s purposes so that God’s grace, and mercy, God’s care for all the world, and God’s character of self-sacrificing love can be demonstrated through the ones God chooses.

Any attempt to use God’s choosing to acquire power and privilege, to assert power and control over others, to exclude and create hierarchies, to force others to believe and act in certain ways is wrong and entirely opposed to God’s ways.

God’s Ways

Psalm 72 reveals several ways that God expects God’s chosen ones to act. Among them: emulate God’s way of righteousness and justice (vv. 1, 2), show concern for the poor (vv. 2, 4), work for peace (v. 3), care for children (v. 4), and work to stop oppressors and oppression (v. 4).

When these things are done, then God is manifest among those who do not yet fully know God. This is the epiphany that attracts people to God. It is important to emphasize that the attraction is to God and not to the people or groups that are doing these things. As Christians and a church, our only concern is to demonstrate God to the world to bring people to the knowledge and love of God. We should be wary of any program or activity that seeks to promote our own existence. This goes against all types of branding and marketing maxims, but I believe that however well-intentioned they may be, they are still tools of this world. If we are faithful to God and seek to uplift God only, if God would like to bless us, God will. It is entirely God’s choice as to what people and groups God will use now and in the future.

Conclusion

On this day in which we commemorate and celebrate God’s epiphany of Godself through Jesus Christ, let us remember that we are merely tools that God has chosen to reveal Godself through. Too many times and for too long, we have thought of our specialness to God as something to be flaunted instead of something to accept with humility and awe. We have used our specialness to exclude, judge, and condemn rather than to accept, embrace, and include.

Let us commit to being epiphanies of God that point to God through our words, thoughts, and actions that imitate God’s love, mercy, grace, and justice.

Sermon: The Little Things

Lectionary: Epiphany 6A

Text: Matthew 5:21-37

Introduction – Global Concerns

On Monday [Feb. 6, 2023] a violent and catastrophic earthquake hit the region of Turkey and Syria, causing major devastation and thousands of lost lives. Global aid has been quick to respond, but the magnitude of the destruction and difficulties with the terrain and logistics have made it difficult for aid workers.

Later this month will mark the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war continues and the best analysis is that Russia will try to escalate the conflict. Several million residents have fled their homes; many thousands, both military and civilian, have been killed. Cities and villages have been destroyed, and those who remain suffer from lack of sufficient infrastructure, lack of basic necessities, and the cold. Aid from many quarters and organizations continue to pour in, yet there is still no end in sight.

These are, but just two of the more recent catastrophic global incidents that take up our attention. It doesn’t take much effort to come up with other incidents that vie for our attention and concern. Go to a site like Global Giving and one can find scores of needs around the globe: from disaster response, climate action, educational needs, food security, and more.

In this kind of present-day context, we encounter the text for today. To be frank, I struggled with this text’s relevance for me in February 2023. What relevance does Jesus’ midrash, or commentary, on Jewish law have for any of us right now? How does a stricter interpretation of ancient laws relate to the 21^st century?

Sermon on the Mount, an Overview

Today’s text is from a portion of Matthew’s gospel frequently referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. When the entirety of the Sermon is examined, it addresses mostly relationships within the kingdom of heaven that is being inaugurated by Jesus. It has almost nothing directly concerned with larger global, or even national affairs. It is mostly about how citizens of this new society or community are to live.

I will be taking a somewhat different approach today. Instead of focusing this time specifically on today’s text, I want to get a higher altitude look at the overall Sermon on the Mount and in doing so, perhaps better understand how all the pieces fit together.

The Sermon as Vision-Casting

I’m sure that most of us are familiar with vision and mission statements. If you’ve worked or volunteered for any kind of an organization, including churches, you probably have seen them. And I suspect many of you have been involved in forming or revising such statements. And some of you may even have taken the initiative to form personal vision and mission statements. These vision and mission statements are supposed to act as guides in forming organizational policies and personal behaviors.

I see in the Sermon on the Mount some similarities. The Beatitudes, which form the very beginning of the Sermon, could be likened to the vision statement of the kingdom of heaven, the new society, the community that Jesus is forming. The Beatitudes describe the characteristics that those who are part of this community will display.

At this point this community is still tiny. The Sermon is addressed directly to Jesus’ disciples, and at this point only four have been named explicitly (in Matthew 4:18-22).

Mission Statement for the Kingdom of Heaven

The next section of the Sermon is where Jesus equates the community to salt and light. I see this as the mission statement of the kingdom of heaven. The mission is not for the community to go and try to change the world, but to simply display the characteristics of the new society and by doing so perhaps those outside might be attracted into the community.

An Ideal Vision of Kingdom Life

The next section, which is not part of this year’s lectionary sequence, reveals that Jesus is not replacing the Law and the Prophets, but he is expanding on already established authorities and providing his stricter interpretations of them. Beginning with this section and the rest of the Sermon could be seen as how the vision and mission takes on more concrete forms of relational behaviors within the kingdom of heaven. These offer examples of and an aspirational look at what “love for another” looks like in action. In modern corporate-speak, these statements might be called policy statements. Our gospel text this morning forms the first few such statements.

The rest of the Sermon deals with specific topics on personal piety and how that ought to be practiced, how prayer ought to be offered, the pitfalls of wealth and what genuine treasure is, dealing with anxiety, the tendency to be judgmental, taking care of one another in the community, and what it means to live as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

The Sermon as a Gospel Framework and Pattern

The Sermon provides the major themes and framework for the entire gospel of Matthew. In Matthew, Jesus is meant to be seen as a new Moses. Hence just as Moses went up Mt. Sinai to receive the Law, Jesus is seen going up a mountain to offer a new interpretation of the Law for his new kingdom. The portion of Matthew preceding the Sermon offer foreshadowing of themes that will be revealed in the Sermon. The rest of the gospel account after the Sermon offer examples of how Jesus lives out the Sermon.  

Seen in its entirety, the Sermon is about how member of the new kingdom, the new society, the community, relate to one another. The community consists of those who make it a priority to look after one another’s needs. For those who have the means, to pay it forward to those who are unable. A community where authority is not lorded over another, but rather where authority is accompanied by responsibility to care for those under authority. Where justice and mercy are found in balance. A community where none strive for fame, power, or status. Where all are willing to sacrifice their own self-interest for the good of another and the community. Where each member values their own integrity and honesty such that the community has no reason to doubt the integrity of one another.

“Big” Things vs. “Little” Things

I want to return to the questions I posed toward the beginning of my sermon. Restating them with some of what I have mentioned so far: considering the huge, global concerns and needs, what relevance does the instructions for the kingdom of heaven, with its focus on relationships in the immediate community, have for me? For us?

As I thought about this question, I began to realize that in many ways it is much easier to be concerned about far-off places, about groups of people I don’t personally know and will never interact with. It’s easy to write a check and offer a prayer about a big, global concern.

But what about our family, neighbors, those with whom we work alongside, our bosses, our employees, our fellow church members?

A few verses near the end of the Sermon on the Mount grabbed my attention.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’ (Mathew 7:21-23 NRSVue)

This text is frequently interpreted in terms of self-righteousness; i.e., those who loudly and visibly profess to be Christian, may be leaders in Christian ministries and churches, but are only performing good works to be praised and admired by others or to fatten their wallets. None of us would ever be tempted to do that, would we?

But as I pondered the warning, I found another line of thought running through it. Perhaps it is also a warning for the rest of us against placing too much priority on working toward making a big impact on the world at the expense of taking care of those things and people that are right in front of us every day. Perhaps it is a warning against temptation to use our concern for making a big impact as a distraction and an excuse from taking care of the more immediate, little things.

The Kingdom is Relational

The Sermon on the Mount is about how members of the kingdom are to live and get along with one another, each and every day. The ones closest to us are often the ones that irritate and anger us the most. How we relate with those in our immediate circles, whether good or bad, likely won’t have a huge impact on a global scale, but it matters to God. And how we treat one another, how we handle the difficulties of relationships and differences of personalities and opinions will be seen by a slightly wider circle of those on the periphery. And that is how being salt and light works. Our mission is not to be the Great Salt Lake or a bank of searchlights. We are just a few grains of salt and perhaps a flame or a single light bulb. But that is how the relational gospel of Jesus spreads and attracts people to take a closer look.

Holding Things in Balance

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be concerned about bigger things and dismiss global needs. But what the world may view as little things – our individual relationships with one another – are as important as what the world sees as the big, important things. This is another reversal that is found in the kingdom of heaven – what the world considers less important, may be more important in God’s kingdom.

Here is how I might rewrite Matthew 7:21-23 considering today’s thoughts:

“Lord, Lord. I gave to relief organizations. I gave to missions. I tried to make a difference in the world for you.” And the Lord will answer, “But how were your relationships with family, those you worked with daily, and with others who are part of my family, the church?”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains that the principles of shalom, that is relational wholeness and peace, are timeless. He quotes selections from the Torah and refers to long-held Jewish traditions around the Law and explains how there are essential principles that carry into the new kingdom of heaven.

Let us be vigilant about tending to our close-in relational needs with as much vigor, care, and generosity as we are about caring for global needs.

Sermon: An Epiphany of Christ

Lectionary: Year A, First Sunday after Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord

Texts: Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17

Introduction

Baptism – an action that ought to unite Christians, but like many other facets in Christianity – is a source of controversy and division. Usually not within a denomination, but typically between them. Literally life and blood have been shed in arguing the proper time and form of baptism.[1]

I am not here this morning arguing whether one form is better than another, or if there is an age criterion, or anything along those lines. Because that argument ends up sounding quite like the argument about the necessity of circumcision among the early Christians. The Apostle Paul wrote an entire letter to the Galatian Christians on this topic. A good summary of where Paul and where he believes Jesus stands on the issue is summarized in Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.”[2] Therefore, I  think that is a good position to take in regards to the mechanics of baptism: that whether one is baptized as an infant, a child, or an adult, and whether one is sprinkled, poured over, or fully immersed, that the act is symbolic of something that is far deeper that is of greater importance. And that is where I would like to take this sermon this morning.

Jesus’ Baptism

Today’s gospel narrative begins with a “Where is Jesus 30 (or so) years[3] after we last heard about him?” From the miraculous birth of Jesus and the flight to Egypt and return, we jump to a mature, adult Jesus. And we find him in the wilderness, at the Jordan, asking to be baptized by John, who is the latest prophetic sensation that has shown up among the Jews.

In the text that comes right before what was read this morning, we read that John was baptizing people as they confessed their sins and committed to repentance. Even some of the leadership of the Jews came to him, but he accused them of hypocrisy, commanding them to show actual results of repentance, beyond merely going through motions. John then predicts that another individual will show up that is far more prestigious and powerful.

It is in this context that Jesus shows up, asking to be baptized. John recognizes Jesus immediately (after all, they are relations, and both had probably heard about their respective miraculous birth stories). It is a surprise that Jesus shows up and asks to be baptized, and therefore, knowing who Jesus is, it is no surprise that John is reluctant to go through with it.

Jesus responds, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)

Meaning of “Righteousness”

This is another of Jesus’ sayings whose meaning isn’t obvious, and where scholars have suggested several possibilities. The problem word here is “righteousness.” We are accustomed to hearing and using it in terms of morals and ethics. We use “righteousness” as the antonym for “sin.” But Jesus is without sin, so he could not have been baptized to be cleansed of sin or of any need to repent. So, in this respect, what Jesus said makes no sense.

“Righteousness” has a somewhat different usage and meaning in Matthew. It is still related to ethics, but “In the OT and early Jewish literature, when used for human character and behavior, ‘righteousness’ and related words refer to one’s ethical response to God: obeying and doing God’s will.”[4]

The author of the letter to the Hebrews notes that Jesus “learned obedience…” (Hebrews 5:8)

So, we now must ask, what is it about baptism of Jesus that fulfilled and placed him in obedience to God’s will? Why did God respond, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased?” (Matthew 3:17)

For us, repentance and baptism are conceived as primarily individual actions. Certainly, baptism is symbolic of new birth into a new, spiritual family. But in our cultural setting, there usually isn’t much emphasis on how baptism relates to larger groups.

Fulfillment of Righteousness

In contrast, Jesus’ baptism is all about the larger group; specifically, all of humanity. Christmas was certainly God becoming incarnate into humanity, but Jesus’ baptism is the revealing, or epiphany, of this God-becoming-human to the world.

Matthew’s gospel portrays Jesus as representing new Israel. That is why Matthew is so careful to describe specific echoes and parallels between historical Israel and Jesus: a miraculous birth, a sojourn in Egypt, a return to Israel, and now a baptism. Within this pattern perspective, the baptism has parallels to Israel walking through the Red Sea and through the parted Jordan River. It also has echoes to the anointing of kings.

It is here again that our distance to when monarchy was the norm may be an obstacle to understanding what monarchs represented. Yes, they ruled over subjects, but they were also mediators between their subjects and their deity or deities. Monarchs embodied the entirety of their subjects.

Although Moses was not a king, his actions reveal some of the expectations of ideal ancient monarchs as they related to their subjects. At Sinai, when the people craft and worship the golden calf, God tells Moses that God will destroy the people and instead make Moses a great nation. But Moses intercedes on behalf of the people, and God relents.[5]

Josiah, king of Judah, is another example. He is recorded as being one of the righteous kings. He ordered the restoration of the temple, and in the process the Book of the Law is found. As the book is read to him, Josiah tears his robes because “our ancestors did not obey the words of this book…” (2 Kings 22:13b) Their sin is understood as having accumulated over time and over the entire people. Even though Josiah himself is not responsible, he identifies with and takes responsibility for the past and for all his subjects and repents. As a result, God delays the judgment that will eventually fall. Josiah continues to lead a reign of reformation and repentance, and the period of his reign is relatively peaceful and uneventful.[6]

I am now quoting two extended paragraphs by Timothy Beach-Verhey, in a commentary on Matthew 3:13-17:

Kings have always claimed to have a special relationship to God. Part of their legitimacy comes from being God’s representative among the people… On the other hand, monarchs have always seen themselves as the representation, in one person, of the whole people. This has been the other source of their legitimacy. Monarchs exist as mediators between God and the people, presenting God to the people and the people to God…[7]

In his baptism, Jesus shows himself to be the one true king, who represents God to humanity and humanity to God. He is invested with divine authority and power through the descent of the Holy Spirit and God’s proclamation to the whole world… He also embodies and represents lost humanity, by appropriating the human responsibility to repent and turn toward God in the face of the impending kingdom of heaven. In his baptism by John, Jesus identifies himself with the human condition and represents them in his right relationship with God. This baptism, therefore, not only bestows upon him the mantle of divinity; it also marks his kenosis (self-emptying) on behalf of humanity. He is the king, the true and only mediator between God and humanity.[8]

Representing God

If Jesus represents God, and if we are baptized into Christ, and if our lives and characters are to reflect that of Jesus Christ, what does that look like? Today’s text from Isaiah offers some suggestions.

It is the first of the four sections in Isaiah known as “Servant Songs”. These four sections, in Christian tradition, are interpreted as prophetic texts identifying Jesus as Messiah. The connection between God’s response to Jesus’ baptism and the opening of the Isaiah text cannot be missed:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1)

But that is not the only plausible interpretation for these texts. The identity of the servant has been debated among Jewish and Christian scholars, and multiple potential identities have been suggested.

The penultimate king of Judah, Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah), is one individual that is suggested as the servant referred to in Isaiah.[9] Many of us might find that identification surprising, but there is some fit when rabbinic sources are considered where Jehoiachin repents and becomes an example and leader of righteousness and obedience to the Torah for the exiled Jews.[10]

Another identification is in the Second Servant Song and names Israel itself as the servant.[11]

Others have suggested that these texts don’t point to any specific entity but portray an ideal response from those called by God.[12]

There are likely others, but here is the list of identifications just given: Jesus, Jehoiachin, Israel, and an ideal response. We have individuals and communities offered as possible entities that could fill the role of the Servant. Richard Ward, commenting on today’s Isaiah passage writes:

If the church opens only that part of Israel’s gift that defines its understanding of Jesus, then it misses its wider blessing. There is the portrait of the church’s Christ here, but there is so much more. Why confine the reach of this Song to one individual or even one servant community? It is a portrait, but it is also a silhouette. Anyone who “brings light and (God’s) promise of hope to the nations” (v. 6) stands in the place of the Servant.[13]

We Are an Epiphany

I think that the ambiguity is appropriate. We can read the Servant Songs and see multiple applications. Traditionally we have probably limited the application to Jesus and stopped there. But today, I would like us to re-read at first song as something that Jesus left as an example for us to follow in, as individuals and as a community.

42 But [you are] my servant, the one I uphold;
    my chosen, who brings me delight.
I’ve put my spirit upon [you];
    [you] will bring justice to the nations.
² [You won’t bring attention to yourself
    with loud speeches or gaudy parades].[14]
³ [You] won’t break a bruised reed;
    [you] won’t extinguish a faint wick,
    but [you] will surely bring justice.
⁴ [You] won’t be extinguished or broken
    until [you have] established justice in the land.
The coastlands await [your gospel] teaching.

⁵ God the Lord says—
    the one who created the heavens,
    the one who stretched them out,
    the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
    the one who gave breath to its people
    and life to those who walk on it—
⁶ I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason.
    I will grasp your hand and guard you,
    and give you as a covenant [representing me] to the people,
    as a light to the nations,
⁷     to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
    and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
⁸ I am the Lord;
    that is my name;
    I don’t hand out my glory to others
        or my praise to idols.
⁹ The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
    but I’m declaring new things.
    Before they even appear,
    I tell you about them.[15]

Today, as many among us are reminded about our baptism into Christ and his body, and as others potentially consider their steps to baptism, let us ponder the fullness and revelation of Christ and what it means to be his disciples, following his path and becoming his ambassadors in this present life. What does it mean for us and the church to be an epiphany of Christ in this world today?

---

[1] Anabaptism - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptism)

[2] All texts from New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, unless otherwise noted.

[3] Luke 3:23a, “Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work.”

[4] Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Volume 1, page 141 (Kindle location around 1686).

[5] Exodus 33.

[6] 2 Kings 22-23.

[7] Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Volume 1, p. 135 (Kindle approximate location 1605).

[8] Ibid. (continuing)

[9] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, approximate Kindle location 8301. “It would seem to the present writer that the person assigned the role of the Suffering Servant was most likely the exiled King Jehoiachin and his fellow exiles carried to Babylon in 597 BCE.”

[10] JEHOIACHIN - JewishEncyclopedia.com (https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8560-jehoiachin)

[11] Isaiah 49:3. “You are my servant, Israel…”

[12] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, approximate Kindle location 7421. “Biblical scholar Paul Hanson finds in this passage not a reference to a historical figure or community but ‘a catalyst for reflection on the nature of the response demanded of those who have received a call from God.” [quoted from Isaiah 40-66, Interpretation series, p. 41.]

[13] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, approximate Kindle location 7540.

[14] The re-writing of this verse based on The Message.

[15] Common English Bible, Isaiah 42:1-9, with my edits.

God With Us

Lectionary, Year A, Epiphany week 2

• Text: John 1:29-42

Although John’s gospel account does not include the infancy narratives that provide accounts of how God came to dwell with humankind, the first chapter uses metaphors and allusions to provide readers with the Christology of the Incarnation.

The first part of John 1 portrays Jesus as the Eternal Word that “camps” [skenoo] with humankind. In the latter half of the first chapter, through the narrative rhetoric of John the Baptist and the first disciples, the text shows the incarnation of divinity among the daily lives of his creation.

What I see is a pair of chiastic structures where the outer envelopes and the centers highlight the identity of Jesus. In the outer envelopes Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” the “Son of God,” and the “Messiah.” In the center portions is described how first, John the Baptist recognizes the divinity of Jesus, and then how Jesus reveals himself to his first disciples. The word meno translated as remain and stay tie these two parts together. This also looks forward to John 15 and the same word used there, frequently translated as abide.

What I take from this is that God isn’t going anywhere. He dwelt physically among humankind in the person of Jesus, but his Spirit remains with us today.

When we see the world around us we often ask the same question of God, “Where are you [staying]?” His response is the same today as it was then, “Come and you will see.” Where does he take the questioners today? I believe it is to his people among whom the Spirit continues to abide.

I first thought verse 42 seemed almost like an afterthought, but upon reflection it seems key to bringing together this pericope. Maybe Peter was asking a similar question. The gospel writer is perhaps telling us that his question was heard [Simon] and as a result Jesus became the source of stable identity for him [Cephas – “rock”]. Sure, Peter’s thoughts and actions would waver and stumble through his life journey, but his trust in Jesus would remain true to the end.

How do you read this passage? What speaks to you?