January 9, 2022
1st Sunday after the Epiphany – Byron Tindall
On this, the first Sunday after the Epiphany, the church in the west remembers the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by His cousin, John the Baptist.
From the Merriam Webster website, we get the following definition of epiphany:
“Full Definition of epiphany
1:capitalized: January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ
2: an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being
3a(1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something
(2): an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking
(3): an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure
b: a revealing scene or moment”
We’ll spend a little time this morning on the first definition provided by Merriam Webster, but first we need to explore the Baptism some.
All three of the synoptic gospels have the account of Jesus being baptized in the Jordan, albeit they are somewhat different. The writer of John completely ignored this part of Jesus’s life. Mark 1:4-11 and Matthew 3:1-17 record the other versions of the baptism. A full version of the baptism is found in verses 1 through 22 in Luke’s third chapter.
January 2, 2022
Christmas 2C – By George Yandell
Where did Jesus get his uncanny knowledge of God’s wisdom? It wasn’t all book-learning from the rabbis. Even children understood clearly what the adult Jesus said when he taught. I believe Jesus learned much of his attentiveness to God from Joseph, and also from Mary. Her acceptance of the angel Gabriel opened the way for Jesus. We learn most from what our parents do, not what they say. I imagine the young Jesus learned how to be attentive to God from watching Joseph, as well as learning from Mary and his brothers and sisters, and his rabbi. But learning to trust God from dreams- that was Joseph’s contribution.
Joseph couldn’t go to an analyst to work through his dreams. He had only his heart, his trust in God, and his willingness to take action. This was the second time Joseph had received a dream visit from an angel. The first visit was when Joseph had discovered Mary, to whom he was newly engaged, to already have conceived a child. Joseph had decided to dismiss her away quietly instead of marrying her. The angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the child in her womb was from the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to marry Mary and name the child Jesus, the angel said. And Joseph followed the angel’s instructions to the letter, and now the Son of God was born, with him the step-father.
As we hear in the gospel,