Epiphany 4 – 2 February 2020 – Year A

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 5^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 1–12:

Seeing the crowds,  he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 

The Beatitudes

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 

³  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be 

satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is 

the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil 

against youfalsely on my account. 

¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so 

they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I have no idea what kind of nightmares you have, but people who study dreams say that there are some themes that are very common.  One of them is being unprepared for a very important meeting.  Picture it: You’re late, you go to the cupboard and your clothes are not there, and you frantically search for them.  This critically important meeting is about to begin at any moment and you are still at home in your bedroom.  In a panic, you bolt across the room and through the door.  Only, instead of being in the hall outside your bedroom, you are suddenly standing at the head of the table in the meeting room at work.  All the most important movers and shakers are seated at the table.  They are all looking to you to give them the genius of your ideas.  Everything depends on this and you’ve got … nothing.  In terrified embarrassment, you look down at the floor in the hopes that you can sink through it, but, instead, you see that you are still dressed in your night clothes.  Then you look around the room at all these elegant charts and graphs that are part of your presentation and they all look like gibberish.  The movers and shakers around the table begin to speak, but you don’t understand a word.  The room begins to close in on you and what a mercy it is to wake up and realise that it was all just a bad dream.

As we listened to the words of Jesus’ sermon this morning, we heard Him begin with the words, ^{(Matthew 5:3})“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are poor in spirit are a lot like the people who have that nightmare of being unprepared.

To be poor means to be without resources … helpless … destitute, and so forth.  But Jesus didn’t just say,“poor,” He said, “poor in spirit.”  Here, He is not talking about being without house, home, food, clothing, and so forth.  Instead, He is talking about our standing in the spirit.  He is talking about people who are totally unprepared to stand before God.  The poor in spirit stand before God and are just like the person in the nightmare.  There is God almighty saying, ^{(Job 40:7)} “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” And they’ve got … nothing.  In shame, they look down and see that they are still dressed in the filth of their sin.  Is it any wonder that God’s Word says that they will try to ^{(Revelation 6:15–17)}“hide themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” The really terrifying thing is that this is not a nightmare.  It is reality.

How then, can Jesus say that such people are blessed?  They are blessed because of what Jesus means when He says, “… theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  The kingdom of heaven as has its’ definition in the NT Greek as “the deeds of God, performed in and through Jesus Christ, God’s only Son”.  The kingdom of heavenincludes the perfect life that Jesus lived in our place.  It includes His ministry of preaching and healing.  It includes His passive obedience to the suffering and death of the cross.  It includes the promise of eternal life that comes in his resurrection.  It includes His presence with us now in Word and Sacrament.  It includes His final coming on the Last Day to raise our bodies and take us body and soul into His eternal presence.

When Jesus says, “… theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” He is saying that all the resources of the reign of heaven are there for us.  Those who have nothing in themselves, have everything in Christ Jesus.  The reign of heaven belongs to those who are spiritually destitute.  It is there for lost sinners.  It is there for us.

When the Holy Spirit works faith in us, He shows us that we are spiritually impoverished, and He then bestows the blessing of the reign of heaven on us.  Forgiveness, Baptism into Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit for faith and obedience, the nourishment of the Lord’s Supper, the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and more are all ours.  All because we have the reign of heaven in Jesus Christ.

Sadly, although Jesus blesses everyone with the kingdom of heaven, some will reject it.  The world remains a sinful place.  Those who have the reign of heaven see this rejection and evil and it breaks their hearts.  They mourn over the sin they see in themselves and the sin they see around them.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:4)} “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” When the day comes that they shall leave this world, Jesus will comfort all their tears and take away all their sorrows.  Even as he lives with them now in a way that they cannot see, they will see Him and live with Him forever.

Those who know that they are “poor in spirit” cannot help but be meek.  They are not meek because they seek meekness.  They have not set out on a quest to become meek.  They are meek because, as sinners, meek is all that they can be.  Meek describes the helpless sinner.  Never the less, Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:5)} “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Because of the work that Jesus has done for them on the cross, they will rule with Jesus on a new earth – the earth that replaces this sinful world on the Last Day.

Those who receive the blessings of the reign of heaven know that Jesus Christ is their righteousness.  They know that they are helpless and only the righteousness given to them by Christ saves them.  Once they have tasted the righteousness of Christ, they want as much as they can get.  They always hunger and thirst for more of the righteousness that is Jesus.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:6)} “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”. Here Jesus promised to satisfy their desire for righteous on into eternity.

As heaven reigns in God’s people, they shall be filled with mercy.  Christ’s mercy works in them and through them.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:7)} “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” This beatitude describes the Church of Jesus Christ as a community of people who freely forgive those who sin against them.  This beatitude parallels the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  This mercy is not something that we work in ourselves, but something that Christ works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As heaven reigns in God’s people, they have a pure heart.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:8)} “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” We receive the forgiveness of sins when the Holy Spirit works faith in us so that we believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  When the Holy Spirit does that He performs a heart transplant.  He removes our dead, unbelieving heart and creates a new heart in us.  That is the reason that we sometimes in the liturgy we pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God …”.  When the Holy Spirit works that faith in us, He gives us a pure heart.  Those who have such a pure heart will see God face-to-face.  For the day will come when God will call us out of this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

The reign of heaven gives the peace of God that passes all understanding.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:9)} “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. By virtue of our saviour’s holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death, we have peace with God.  Those who have that peace readily share it with others.  They proclaim the message, ^{(Matthew 4:17)} “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The eighth beatitude is a bookend of sorts.  It connects to the simple reality that the world hates Jesus and, therefore, it hates those who know that they are poor in spirit.  Jesus said, ^{(Matthew 5:10)} “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. The righteousness in this phrase is not our good deeds.  Instead, it is the righteousness of Christ that He has earned for us with His perfect life and innocent suffering and death.  The world hates Jesus and so it hates those who have His righteousness.  Therefore, the world persecutes those who believe.  When this happens, Jesus promises us His blessings.  The One who reigns in heaven already belongs to believers in such difficult times.

The persecution of the church is part of the now, but not yet of the Christian faith.  The present reign of Christ in this world is a hidden reality.  He rules, not from power, but from the apparent weakness of the cross.  He shows His true power only to those who believe in Him.  It is only on the last day that all people will see Jesus and know that He is both Lord and Christ.  Until then, He will bless His church even as she suffers persecution for His name’s sake.

The first and eighth beatitudes sort of bracket the others as bookends.  They teach us that the blessings of the beatitudes depend on Jesus.  Nothing that we do can earn these blessings for we are spiritually poor.  The blessings that Jesus gives us in these two bookends show us that all the beatitudes depend entirely on Jesus.

The summary blessing doesn’t seem like much of a blessing at first.  ^{(Matthew 5:11–12)} “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. No one enjoys being an outcast, but how else can we expect the sinful world to treat those whose sins have been forgiven.  When people in this world make us miserable because we trust in Christ, we have the promise of blessing from Jesus Himself.

It is not our job to earn the blessings of the beatitudes.  Instead, Jesus has taken it on Himself to give us these blessings in His love.  In order to give us His gifts, He endured our punishment and carried our shame.  These blessings come to us freely by God’s grace and not by anything we do in ourselves.

The world in its’ wisdom would look at these beatitudes and say, “These are the symptoms of those who have that disease known as Christianity.”  Those who know they are poor in spirit look at these beatitudes and see the signs of Jesus Christ and His Church.  They see the gifts God has already given to us.  You can trulyrejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Epiphany 3 – 26 January 2020 – Year A

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text for this meditation is written in the 4^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew; Verses 12 – 25:

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 

¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

I think that I could safely say that a great many people here in Sarina have not heard of Roman Payne. He is a modern philosopher, author and poet, who currently lives in political exile in Africa. One of his more recent books, titled ‘The Wanderess’, was published in 2013, and since its publication has, unfortunately, influenced art and cultures all over the world. It seems that for many people, Payne’s description of life in this book is fitting and appropriate.  Allow me to quote a passage: “When I was younger (he says), I would cling to life because life was at the top of the turning wheel. But like the song of my gypsy girl, the great wheel turns over and lands on a minor key. It is then that you come of age and life means nothing to you. To live, to die, to overdose, to fall in a coma in the street... it is all the same. It is only in the peach innocence of youth that life is at its crest on top of the wheel. And there being only life, the young cling to it, they fear death… And they should! ...For they are 'in' life.”

Now that’s a rather depressing analysis of life, is it not? How scary it is that people follow and adopt this outlook. Payne’s description though, is nothing more than the offspring of early 20th century philosophers and thinkers. What he describes is sometimes called nihilism, the belief that rejects all religious and moral principles in the belief that life ultimately has no meaning, or purpose. 

In contrast to such a view of life, Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, says to us this morning, “Follow Me.” In doing so, He offers a radically different view of life and its meaning. Where nihilism denies any purpose to life, Jesus’ call elevates life and gives it unfathomable meaning and value. 

The question is though, what does it mean to “follow Jesus?” What manner or form does our response to our Lord’s call take?  We are told that Peter and Andrew, as well as James and John left their nets and “immediately” followed Jesus when they were called.  In James and John’s case “following Jesus” meant that a radical change would take place even in their vocations.  And so, they left their father in the boat mending the fishing nets.  

You can probably picture the scene in your mind.  When James and John got up and ran off with Jesus, Mr. Zebedee’s mouth must have dropped.  Hey, we’re not done here!  Where are you boys going!?  How am I supposed to mend these nets by myself!?  Though Mr. Zebedee was likely astonished at being abandoned by his sons, we can only trust that God did for him as He does for all of us.  To provide everything needed to “support our body and life, purely out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy without any merit or worthiness on our part.” 

Given that there is strong ‘father / son’ bond in middle Eastern culture, and that in spite of that James and John left in such haste, we are struck by the power of Jesus’ call on their lives.  Scoffers might say the two brothers were probably just glad to get away from those stinky nets and those long nights where they didn’t catch even a single fish; but walking away from their father and family business that supported them was a radical move.  Nevertheless, when Jesus’ called them to “follow Him,” they responded to His call, that divine word, in haste.  Matthew says, “immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” 

Now, I don’t know about you, but, there aren’t many things that I respond to “immediately” because “immediately” suggests a certain sense of urgency and priority, insisting that I abandon MY agenda, MY priorities.  Don’t get me wrong, I do have some flexibility, but when I am locked into a programme, there has to be something pretty special or important to change it ‘immediately’.  Still, I suspect that it’s true of all of us. You know we have a busy life, and when God calls us to follow Him, or puts an opportunity to serve Him right in front of us, we need to pause and think about it, I mean after all, there is generally something more “pressing,” or, “better” for us to do.  

Yet, the disciples responded to their Lord’s call immediately.  Furthermore, in their new life, Jesus would set the agenda, because they were called to be HIS disciples, HIS followers.  In the case of Peter and Andrew, James and John, while fishing is certainly a noble calling, Jesus would have them harvest a different catch using different tools.  In other words, the disciples would concern themselves with the proclamation of God’s Word which ALONE has the power to harvest a catch and to expand the kingdom. 

Furthermore, as they followed Him, Jesus expected His disciples to clarify and act on the values that He gave them in His teaching.  Their “immediate” response to His call perhaps already suggested that they understood the urgency of their task and the need to proclaim God’s call to repentance and His undying gift of grace and forgiveness.  Even in their day, people were dying without hearing of the grace of God in Christ.  There was a certain urgency then, as there is today, for that grace of God to be proclaimed to all parts of the world, to every nation, every tribe and every people.  

Finally, as they followed Him, Jesus’ disciples were to deny themselves. This is perhaps the most difficult part of Jesus call. There is a cross associated with being a Christian.  Jesus made that clear elsewhere in the Scriptures when He said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” In our contemporary Christian culture there is something terribly contrasting about those words.  For many, Jesus is perceived as some sort of extra-terrestrial Genie. He’s come to give us everything we want and to expect nothing from us in return, not obedience, not repentance, not even a disciplined heart.  

In his most excellent book, “The Cost of Discipleship," Detrich Bonhoeffer expressed a pretty radical view of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, a view that contradicts our culture’s common perception of what it means to be a child of God.  He said, “when Christ calls a person, He bids them to come and die." Bonhoeffer goes on to say, “cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves…it’s the preaching of forgiveness without repentance…baptism without church discipline…communion without confession.... cheap grace is grace without discipleship…grace without the Cross… grace without the living and incarnate Christ."  

Dear friends, called by Christ, we too are called to die to self.  There is really no way around it.  We cannot serve two masters.  A servant looks to his master and he says, master, what shall I do today? As a Christian, our master, of course, is the One who bled and died for us that we might have forgiveness and the hope of a blessed eternity in His presence. And so, we turn to Christ and say, “Lord, I am yours. Your will is greater, more pure, more beneficial to me than my own.” “Help me, to set myself aside and to learn, even as you did, to say those words that can often be very difficult, even painful, ‘Father, not my will, but your will be done.’” 

Jesus says, “you, follow Me,” which, in part, is to say, die to self, and rejoice in My Lordship. In saying, “follow Me,” Jesus also promises newfound purpose and meaning for our life. Each of us is a disciple, a witness to the grace and mercy of God in the crucified and living Lord. Life can no longer be viewed as a series of random, unconnected, meaningless events.

As recorded in Acts 17, in his new life in Christ, Paul stood one day on Mars Hill at the great Athenian temple in Greece.  Greeks were there from every walk of life.  They were people who loved to speculate about life and why things happen as they do. They also loved to speculate about god.  

Paul noticed that there was an altar set up at the temple with an inscription that said, “to the unknown god.” He said, “let me tell you about the God you don’t know.”  ^“From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷ so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ For ‘In him we live and move and have our being”

Jesus says, “follow Me,” and in doing so, we are assured that He is the Lord of everything, the One who gives purpose and meaning to our lives.  This new-found purpose effects even our calling, our vocation. The disciples were called to leave everything they had behind, in order that they might proclaim the word of truth, in short, that they might fish for souls.  Our vocations, of course, are not all the same, and yet, we all have the same calling from God.  We are children of the Most High God, Redeemed by the blood of His own dear Son. 

The Apostle Peter assures us ^{(1 Peter 2: 9-10),} “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 

By water and the Word, God’s grace and forgiveness have touched our hearts.  He has shown us that our life exists in Him. Some of us are fathers and mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers, we serve our community in carrying out various tasks, some work an 8am to 5pm job, some are shift workers. Regardless of the setting, make no mistake, each of us are a holy priest of God in that place.  When Jesus said to us, “follow Me,” He gave our life meaning and purpose, indeed, a meaning and purpose that are holy and godly. “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” May the Lord continue to uphold us in this holy calling.  Amen.

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Epiphany 2 - 19 January 2020 - Year A

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

Grünewald, Isenheim Altarpiece

The text for our meditation is written in the first chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses: 29 – 36:

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^* of God.”

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Some of the greatest works of art were created as visual sermons for all who entered the religious places and art galleries across the world.  One of those works of art is the Isenheim Altarpiece that Matthias Grünewald painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in Isenheim near Colmar in France.

Like most altarpieces, the central focus of the piece is the crucifixion of Jesus.  But one of the unusual things that make this work so striking is that it shows John the Baptist at the crucifixion.  The Bible tells us that John the Baptist was long dead and buried by the time Jesus died on the cross.  So, what is the message that Grünewald was trying to convey in this work?

As you study the figure of John the Baptist, the thing that stands out the most is the index finger of his right hand.  It is pointing straight at the crucified Jesus.  This is John pointing at Jesus and saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  This is the message of John that speaks to all people down through the centuries.  If we could understand everything there is to know about this sentence, we would be worthy of the title Doctor of Theology many times over.  This sentence from John the Baptiser is one of the most powerful expressions of the Gospel in the Bible.  Within the full meaning of these words are all the sentences of all the Creeds of the Church. 

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The word Behold is an epiphany word.  It means look here; I want to show you something.  John uses this word so that he can show Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, to his listeners and to us.  He had already received an epiphany from God.  Last week we learned that after John baptised Jesus, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended like a dove, and the voice declared that this Jesus was God’s beloved Son.  Now John is proclaiming this epiphany to his listeners.  He is doing the work of a prophet and pointing to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the world. 

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  Now, although some Old Testament sacrifices required bulls, goats, or birds, the lamb more than any other animal was the animal required by most of the sacrificial regulations of the ceremonial law.  The word Lamb as it is used in this sentence brings to mind the continuous flow of blood from the altar in Jerusalem.  Consider the multitude of regular sacrifices: the morning and evening sacrifices, the purifications, the sin and guilt offerings; there were many.  Then there are the many festival sacrifices: the Feast of Booths, the Pentecost, the First Fruits, and let’s not forget the Passover.  When John says the word Lamb the image of all these sacrifices comes to mind.

All devout Jews knew that they were the ones who should be sacrificed.  They knew that they had earned God’s eternal wrath with their sins.  Just as they knew that sheep are amazingly helpless regarding the things of this world, so they also knew that they themselves were equally helpless regarding the things of God.  This image was so strong that God often referred to the people as His sheep with Himself as their shepherd.  They understood that the sacrificial lamb was taking their place.   Now John was saying that this man, who was the shepherd, had become a lamb in order to become the sacrifice for them.  The word Lambreminds us of the sacrifice that was made in our place.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  This Lamb is God’s Lamb.  The sacrificial Lamb of Old Testament ceremony must not have any blemishes or spots.  It was to be as close to perfect as is possible on this sin filled earth.  Its sacrifice was to remind the people that one day God would send His perfect lamb to make the sacrifice in the stead of all the sacrifices described in the Scriptures. 

John is saying that this man is God’s Lamb.  He is not just close to perfect.  He is perfect.  He is the culmination of all the sacrifices of all time.  He is the sacrifice that fulfils the first sacrifice that God made when he killed some animals to provide the skins that covered Adam and Eve after they sinned.  He fulfils the sacrifice that Abel offered and He fulfils the sacrifices that Noah offered after he landed safely in the ark.  He fulfils the sacrifices of Abraham including the sacrifice he made after he nearly sacrificed his own son, Isaac.  He is the one time for all sacrifice that all the other sacrifices lead up to.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The words ‘the sin’ gather the wicked deeds of generations of mankind into one disgusting mass of evil.  It includes all the wars and murders and rapes and thefts.  It includes all the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds that anyone at any time has ever had.  It includes the sinful nature that we were born with.  It includes gossip, complaints, grumbling and worry.  It includes every lie told, every malicious act, every unkind or immoral thought, word or deed. It includes everything aberrant that our human nature has inherited from the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Our original sin flies in the face of God’s holy law and earns us eternal damnation.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The words of the world mean that the work of God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ is good for the whole world, not just those who believe.  The word for world in this sentence is the root for the word cosmos. This word means everything that God has created, everything that God has brought into being by the command of his word.  God’s gifts are not confined to one country, race or faith group.  They transcend all nations and people.  They are not restricted to the rich or the poor or the young or the old.  They are for all people in all times and in all places.  There is no sin anywhere by anyone that this Lamb of God does not take away.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The words takes away are just one word in the original Greek.  That word means to lift up and carry to another place.  This means that the Lamb takes the load, the curse, and the damnation of the total massive amount of sin onto himself.  He lifts the awful burden from us and carries it to the cross.  There our sin is crucified with the Lamb.  There our sin is put to death.  This one act of lifting and carrying away our sin is good for all time.

The path that Jesus took to carry the burden of sin on the cross, the sin of the world, began when he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.  There in all humility He became truly human and humbly submitted Himself to the authority of the law.  John’s words tell us that it is Jesus’ vocation to carry away the sin of the world.  John’s words tell us that Jesus was already journeying to the cross of shame, destined by God to carry the sins of the world, when he made his declaration, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

When John said these words, he considered the taking away of sins to be a foretold inevitability.  The forgiveness of sins that would come as a result of the Lamb’s sacrifice would be available to all.  All the saints of the Old Testament received salvation because this Lamb’s sacrifice is good for all time and all places and all people.  God’s promise is as if John had already heard Jesus declare his victory from the cross with the words, “It is finished.”

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The word the before the word Lamb tells us that there is only one Lamb.  This Lamb that John points out is the one and only Saviour.  There is no other.  All the other faiths of the world tell us that we must earn our own salvation, but, if we are truly honest, it is easy to see that no one can earn his own place in heaven.  No one is good enough.  People can lead lives of desperation in their sin, they can wear their conscience down to a pulp so they do not feel their sin, but they can’t save themselves.  Only the Lamb of God can do that.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!   We respond to John’s declaration in the Divine Service.  God reveals the presence of the Lamb in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharistic feast and we ask for mercy as we approach this altar in liturgical song and confession of sins. At the alter we eat the flesh of the Lamb and drink his true blood and we join with angels, archangels, and the armies of heaven to glorify God with the words of the ‘Sanctus’: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. "

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!   This sentence will stand forever.  Long after this world is gone – long after the world as we know no longer exists – long after the creation of a new heaven and a new earth – we will gather before our Lord and say, ^{Revelation 5:12}  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” and we shall sing a new song, saying,^{Revelation 5:9-10}  “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  When John the Baptiser saw Jesus, and pointed at him, and said this short sentence, he said more than I can possibly explain.  When God inspired John the Evangelist to quote John the Baptiser, God gave us something to think about and to comfort us for the rest of our lives and on into eternity.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  Amen

The peace and love of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

The Baptism Of Jesus – 12 January 2020 – Year A

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 3^rd Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 13 – 17:

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

I know that you would be familiar with and have frequently witnessed a Christian Baptism. What I often wonder about is how different people perceive Holy Baptism. Some of my experiences whilst administering the rite of Holy baptism has as best been ‘memorable’; with movie cameras suddenly appearing over my shoulder and children grabbing at the baptism candle etc. etc. Don’t misunderstand me, mostly, parents and sponsors have been properly instructed, and understand the significance; but for a lot of people “getting the kids christened” is one of those rites of passage like getting teeth, starting school, turning 18 or getting a driver’s licence: And it has to be duly celebrated.   

Baptism is a Holy Sacrament! …. Mainstream Sacramental Denominations hold to the definition of a sacrament, which was formulated by St Augustine of Hippo in the 5^th Century AD, as an outward sign of an inward grace that has been instituted by Jesus Christ. In the case of a Holy baptism, the Priest (ordained minister) applies water to the head of the person being baptised and speaks words from the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Baptism is performed in the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God The Holy Spirit. Such Christian baptisms performed since the resurrection of Jesus Christ are done by His command as written in Matthew 28, and is in fact the process of Christ making us His very own, by washing us clean with the water consecrated by Him at His baptism, and empowering us with the Holy Spirit.

Today in the Holy Gospel we read about Jesus Christ being baptised by John the Baptist.  Now this can cause us some confusion, because when people came to John to be baptised, it was because they had come to realise they were sinners, and being willingly baptised by John was a public proclamation that they were sinners and were repentant; or sorry for their sins.

So, in our Gospel reading, we have John, looking very rugged, dressed in animal skins, standing in the waters of the Jordan River in Judea, fervently calling to all who would hear to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” – John was calling to sinners to prepare them for the coming of the Saviour.

In the midst of all this, Jesus approaches John and asks to receive this baptism. Does our Lord and Saviour need to repent of sin? Does Jesus need to be forgiven his sins? – One would think that quite clearly, the answer to these questions is a resounding NO. So why is Jesus seeking baptism from John? Even John is bewildered by the request as John has recognised Jesus. John points out that Jesus has this all back-to-front; it is John who should be baptised by Jesus. John was not just being humble in the presence of his Lord and Saviour, he was probably quaking in his boots out of fear.

How could John know that Jesus was identifying Himself with mankind? After all, up until now, Jesus had been that ‘good boy, with a bright head on his shoulders; you know that young carpenter from Nazareth’. Remember, Jesus is not only one-hundred percent God, but He is also one-hundred percent human. At this point in time the people were awaiting the prophesied, all conquering King to descend in a blaze of glory and drive off the Romans and set up an utopian paradise of earth. 

That was not God’s plan, right at that moment Jesus is an unknown face in the crowd. It is within His human state that Christ chooses to be identified with us in baptism. The timing is significant as well. In the Old Testament, the Levites were chosen to begin their ministry as priests when they were thirty years old. They were anointed, marked, and ready to begin their ministry as intercessors between God and mankind.

The baptism of Jesus is also an anointing that takes place when Jesus was thirty years old. His heavenly anointing and marking also inaugurates His entrance into the ministry as intercessor between God and mankind. In fact, Jesus is to be the last and most perfect intercessor for all mankind. 

In regard to sin, in this baptism by John, although Jesus had led a perfect, obedient life and had no sins to be forgiven, but, Jesus became sin for our sake. St Paul writes to the Corinthians, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. Jesus was baptised by John not only to demonstrate His humanity, but also to show himself to be the good and obedient Son who does God’s will perfectly. You see, theologically speaking, in this baptism, Jesus repents, not in the sense of turning from His sin, but in fact offers himself up to repent for our sins so that he may be acceptable in God’s sight as our sacrificial lamb. In this act Jesus is dedicating himself to follow God’s will fully on earth.

The reality is that Christ’s humiliation was not just about the cross; Christ’s humiliation began when God assumed human form and continued through all the events that that lead to the cross of crucifixion. Jesus as God became man in order to become a saving sacrifice for all mankind, for us personally. This sacrifice was not anything like the animal sacrifice that went on day after day in accordance with Old Testament Law: Jesus’ birth heralded a new order in God’s plan of salvation for all humankind, and this sacrifice was once for all time.

So, in His baptism, Jesus is replacing the ceremonies of old with a new order. He is setting Himself up as the last and final sacrifice. Jesus is perfect in every way and did not deserve to be executed. In fact, He came to save. This is God’s plan of redemption for us sinners. He who is perfect and without blemish, takes on our sin in exchange for His holiness – In exchange for our sin, Jesus gives us His righteousness so that we may stand in front of our Father in heaven. 

This is the exclusiveness of Christianity over every other religion in the entire world. It is this exclusive nature that confounds our human thinking to this day. Our salvation is all about grace. Jesus takes our sins and givesus His righteousness so that we may stand tall in front of the Father, not because of what we did, but because of what Christ did for us. Forgiveness and eternal life are our free gift from our loving Saviour, Jesus Christ who became sin for our sake.  

In addition to Jesus identifying with mankind through His baptism, His Father in heaven is also setting Jesus apart during this baptism for coronation as King, as prophesied in ^{(Jeremiah 23:5)}   “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land”. This had everyone’s attention, this is what the Jewish people had been waiting for, a conquering king who would lead a great army to overthrow the Romans and free them from oppression.

This was very different from a normal coronation. In the Old Testament times, when God made an appearance, the event was spectacular. On Mt Sinai, thunder and lightning accompanied the presence of God and it stuck fear in the hearts of the people. However, at the baptism of Jesus, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, the gentlest of all animals, upon Jesus. In addition to the presence of the Holy Spirit, we hear from the Father as the clouds broke and He spoke from above, “this is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased”. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all present at the baptism of Jesus. What a spectacle; everyone there that day witnessed the awesome presence of the Holy Trinity at this coronation event, and in truth, probably went home shaken and confused – Jesus; The Holy Spirit; the sound of God’s voice – no conquering king in a chariot appeared – all that was left was just Jesus standing in the water. What they did not realise was that Jesus was centre stage being empowered by the Holy Spirit and blessed by God himself. 

Do you notice in Matthew’s Bible account, John instantly fades into insignificance? This highlights the fact that baptism has nothing to do with the Priest or the one being baptised. Baptism has everything to do with what God does to us! In baptism the Priest pours water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; yet God does everything; it is all His work. Essentially, God declares that the one being baptised is His; marked with His seal and empowered with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that the living word of God may be understood and accepted through faith. The baptised live in the kingdom as His chosen people. Although the water is applied only once, this is not a one-time event to be forgotten. In baptism we can rise each day, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the reassurance that we are reborn into a life of righteousness. 

Unlike the people of the day, we now have the understanding of God’s Word, and for us, Jesus baptism surely is the pinnacle of the Epiphany Season. The Father and the Holy Spirit rejoice in the humility of Jesus as He takes on our form, so to can we rejoice in His royalty and kingship over all His people on earth for all time.

Today as we meditate on the Baptism of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we can leave this place of worship with the feeling of elation, the same feeling of elation we experience at our marriage. You see in marriage, the exchanged vows, the exchanged wedding rings say “I am yours, I belong to you”. We belong to each other; we are one – inseparable! This is the exact analogy that Christ has in identifying us, because He is the bridegroom and the Church is His bride. Jesus has marked us and claimed us and through baptism has said “You are mine; you belong to me forever. This is a marriage we cannot break; surely, in times of weakness, we can walk away from it, but when we turn to back Jesus, in repentance, we can rest assured that he receives us with open arms, to dwell with him into eternity. Amen

The love and peace of God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen