Claimed, gathered and sent

Last week we celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord. The setting for that action was the Gospel of Matthew. At that point, John initially resisted baptizing Jesus. In John, we don’t have the actual baptism taking place. However, in retrospect, John finds that the whole reason for John the Baptist’s ministry was “… I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel” (v. 31).  We are in the season after Epiphany. Epiphany isn’t just any old kind of understanding. It means revealing, insight, revelation. John the Baptist’s ministry was to point away from himself and to show everyone who Jesus is. Right out of the gate, John the Baptist identifies Jesus as “… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29). Jesus makes us new.  John saw and understood who Jesus was. What did he do about it? He testified to what he knew. John the Baptist told the story of seeing the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus.  This passage is full of verbs, act...

  Today we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. Unlike most of us, Jesus was not baptized as a baby. John the Baptist baptized Jesus before he began his ministry. We are going to focus on the actual baptismal event itself and its implications for Jesus, us and our world. The issue we all wonder about is, “Why would it be God’s will for the Messiah to be baptized?” The most likely reason is to demonstrate Jesus’ solidarity with sinners. Though sinless, Jesus joined the sinful multitude in the waters of the Jordan. This is Jesus’ first step on the road to Calvary (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew). Jesus also says he is being baptized, “to fulfill all righteousness.” Here, righteousness seems to mean a divine requirement to be accomplished. “Righteousness” and “fulfillment” are key themes in Matthew. It is a messianic accomplishment. As I mentioned in the e-ministry, there is a two-fold purpose to Jesus’ baptism in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus is assured and empowered for ministry. Sec...