The Big Reveal: Matthew 3:13-17

The Big Reveal

Matthew 3:13-17

January 8, 2017

So I brought along a video clip this morning.  I have to warn you, it’s a little dark.  And there are some pretty wild things in it!  So if you frighten easily, or you prefer your church service taken serene – you may want to close your eyes.  Otherwise, take a look.  Video (clip from The Lion King – Remember who you are).  

So Uncle Scar sets a trap for Simba and Mufasa.  And when Mufasa dies trying to save his son, Scar convinces Simba that his father’s death was HIS fault.  So Simba runs away from the Pride Lands.  And while he is away feeling guilty, he meets Rafiki the Baboon – Mufasa’s official advisor – who sees the image of Mufasa in Simba.  Rafiki says – His Spirit lives in you!  And Mufasa appears says – remember who you are!  Say that with me – remember who you are!  Hang on to that phrase.  We are going to come back to it.

I brought the clip because today is the first Sunday after Epiphany – Epiphany being this past Friday.  The word comes from the Greek meaning – a revealing or manifestation of the divine.  In our culture, we tend to talk about epiphany in terms of having a profound insight or those times when something “clicks” and the pieces all come together.  But in its original context epiphany had to do with a revealing or an appearance of God.   

Those of us who are church nerds will remember that Epiphany falls on the twelfth day of Christmas.  After the 6 geese a laying, the 8 maids a milking, and the 10 lords a leaping, the magi arrive in Bethlehem.  We three kings of orient are.  Bearing gifts, we traverse afar.  Or as we used to sing as kids – tried to smoke a rubber cigar.  In kneeling down and presenting kingly gifts to the Christ child, the magi recognize and reveal that the child Jesus as the chosen one of God.  So that their coming is seen as part of an epiphany – a revealing or manifestation of God.  Which is a pretty big deal if you think about it.  One of the ways our Christian faith is different from other religions in that we believe that Jesus is divine.  So Christians around the world and particularly in the western hemisphere, celebrate the coming of the magi on Epiphany.  And in different parts of the world there’s gift giving, and dressing up as kings and even riding around on a camel.

For the eastern orthodox church, Epiphany has less to do with the arrival of the magi as it does the baptism of Jesus.  Robyn and I used to live in Tarpon Springs where there is a large Greek community.  Each Epiphany, the Bishop of the Greek Orthodox church would throw a cross into the bayou.  And young men would jump into the cold murky water and search for the cross.  Finding it was believed to bring blessing for the coming year.  Why would they do that?  Well, at Jesus’ baptism, the heavens open up, and the dove descends.  And God speaks from heaven saying – this is my son who I love.  With whom I am well pleased.   It’s an epiphany – a revealing or an appearance of the divine. 

Take your Bibles and turn with me the Gospel of Matthew chapter 3.  We will be reading about the baptism of Jesus.  It’s found in verses 13 – 17.  We know from John’s Gospel that Jesus was baptized at a place called Bethany beyond the Jordan, and just north of the Dead Sea.  I brought along a map this morning to help us get our bearings (MAP).  At the top you can see the Sea of Galilee.  It’s not really a sea.  More like a small fresh water lake.  The long squiggly line coming out of the bottom of the Sea of Galilee is the Jordan River.  And it runs south all the way down to the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea is the lowest body of water on our planet.  It sits about a 1000 feet below sea level.  Nothing flows out of it.  Instead the water evaporates leaving high concentrations of minerals, making it impossible for anything to live in it.  Hence its name. 

About half way between the “c” in Jericho and the Dead Sea was Bethany on the other side of the Jordan.  In verse 28 of John chapter 1, we read that it’s there that Jesus’ cousin John was preaching a message of repentance.  He would say things like; if you know you have missed the mark, if you know you have fallen short of what God wants, if you know you need to be made clean, then join me in the water.  And God will wash your sins away.  And the people would respond.  Even tax collectors and prostitutes would come and step into the water, hungry for a fresh start.  And as they did they would look downstream and see the Dead Sea.  And they would picture their sins being washed away to that place where nothing lived. 

Have you ever wanted a fresh start?  Have you ever longed to wipe the slate clean?  Perhaps because of something in your past.  Or something in your life right now.  Imagine stepping into the River with the Baptist – feeling the cleansing rush of the river as our sins are washed away – downstream to that place where nothing can live!  This was the baptism John was offering in Bethany beyond the Jordan.  With that in mind, let’s read Matthew 3:13-17.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.  16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, 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, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  Matthew 3:13-17

So, why would Jesus want to be baptized?  He didn’t need cleansing.  He wasn’t longing for a fresh start.  The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way but was without sin.  So why did he go into the water to be baptized with a baptism of repentance?  Well, this is one of the things that the early church wrestled with.  For his part, Matthew makes it clear that John do so under protest.   Wait a minute Jesus!  You don’t need to be baptized by me!  I should be baptized by you!  To which Jesus gives this cryptic answer we don’t fully understand – let it be so for now to fulfill all righteousness. 

One theory is that Jesus sought to be baptized as a way to fully identify with our humanity.  Jesus was fully divine.  But he was also fully human. He was without sin.  And throughout his ministry he ate tax collectors and sinners.  The Pharisees would stand at a distance with their arms crossed.  They worked to remain free from such spiritual uncleanliness.  But not Jesus.  He loved all people including sinners.  Perhaps through his baptism Jesus is saying to us sinners – I am with you!

The story that comes to mind is that of Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie grew up in a devout Christian family in Holland in the years before World War Two.  When the Nazi’s invaded the Netherlands and began to persecute Jews, her faith spurred her to action.  Along with her father and other family members she began hiding Jews in their home.  Ultimately, they were imprisoned for their actions.  Corrie survived the horrors of the concentration camps.  But her father, her sister, her brother and her nephew all died as a result.  Perhaps you have seen her book describing the ordeal – The Hiding Place.         

What I did not know until this week is that Corrie’s father, Casper took it a step farther.  Not only did he shelter Jews at great risk, he voluntarily wore a Star of David.  He didn’t have to.  But he believed the persecution of the Jews was an injustice to fellow human beings and an affront to divine authority.  So when the Nazis began requiring all Jews to wear the Star of David, he put one on also (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_ten_Boom).  He was so determined to be identified with his persecuted neighbors that he was willing to wear a sign of shame and suffer persecution.  In the same way, could Jesus have sought to be baptized in order to identify with us?  And to say “I am with you.”

I think Jesus wanted to be baptized as a way of confirming his identity.  On the one hand, he has yet to begin his ministry when he is baptized.  That doesn’t come until after he is tempted in the wilderness.  I am not sure how much identification with sinners was a priority at this point.  On the other hand, he has already conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Born of the virgin Mary.  Threatened by murderous King Herod.  Paid homage by the magi.  Protected by Joseph who was guided by an angel to flee to Egypt.  Fulfilled what was said through the prophets.  And proclaimed by John the Baptist.  I think Jesus went into the water of the Jordan to affirm his acceptance of who he was.  And commit himself to the way of God.  To put it another way, I think Jesus sought baptism as a way of remembering who he was. 

So why is this important?  Well, the early Christians believed that what happened in the baptism of Jesus happens for us in our baptism.  In your baptism – whether you remember it or not – whether you were a baby, a young adult, or an adult when you were baptized – in your baptism – your identity was confirmed.  It wasn’t created or awarded by being baptized.  You are still who you are even if you have not been baptized.  But it is one of the places that God affirms it by saying – you are my child – I am pleased with you – I love you.  Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us – that we should be called the Sons and daughters of God – I John 3.

And so on the first Sunday after Epiphany, as we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, we are going to do a little repeat after me exercise.  Our goal is to remember who we are.  When we forget who we are we become discouraged.  Fearful.  We avoid.  We run away.  Like Simba we find ourselves far from the life that God created us to live.  It’s when we remember who we are that we find the courage and the strength and the fortitude and energy to live out the calling that God has set before us.  So what I would like you, and with deep thought, is to repeat after me (WORDS ON THE SCREEN).  I am God’s child.  Worthy of love and respect.  And God is using me to change the world.  Now turn to your neighbor and repeat after me.  You are God’s child.  Worthy of love and respect.  And God is using you to change the world.  Those are very powerful words.

In my devotion time this week I came across a paragraph by Parker Palmer.  In it he says that everyone who draws breath “takes the lead” many times a day.  We lead with actions that range from a smile to a frown; with words that range from blessing to curse; with decisions that range from faithful to fearful.  He goes on to say – I am responsible for my impact on the world whether I acknowledge it or not (Parker J. Palmer, introduction to Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead, p.xxix)!

I ask you this morning – how are you leading?   What the nature of your impact on those around you?  Are you living into your identity as God’s child?  Are you treating others for who they are – the beloved son or daughter of God?  Worthy of respect.  Or are you forgetting who you are?

There is an old story about a monastery that had fallen on hard times and dwindled down until there were only five monks left in the house – the abbot and four others, all over the age of seventy.  The slow death of his order greatly troubled the abbot.  And he agonized over what to do.  In desperation he decided to visit a nearby hermitage and ask the hermit there if he could offer any advice.

The hermit welcomed the abbot to his hut.  But when the abbot explained the purpose of his visit, the hermit would only commiserate with him.  After some time, the Abbot got up to leave.  He said – is there nothing you can tell me, no piece of advice that you can give me that would help me save my dying order?  No, said the hermit.  I am sorry.  I have no advice to give.  The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you.  When the abbot returned to the monastery, his fellow monks gathered around to ask him what the hermit had said.  He couldn’t help, replied the abbot.  The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving – was that the Messiah is one of us.  I have no idea what he meant.

In the days and weeks and months that followed, the old monks pondered these words and welcomed whether there was any possible significance.  The Messiah one of us?  Could he possibly mean one of us at the monastery?  If so, which one?  Do you suppose he meant the abbot?  If he meant anyone, he probably meant the abbot.  He has been our leader for years.  On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Brother Thomas is a holy man.  Everyone knows Thomas is a man of light.  Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred.  Elred gets cranky at times.  But come to think of it even though he can be a thorn in the side, Brother Elred is virtually always right.  Maybe the hermit meant Brother Elred. 

As the monks contemplated in this manner, they began to treat each other with extraordinary respect in the chance that one among them might be the Messiah.  And in the off chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect.  And this changed the very atmosphere in the monastery.  So that as people visited they felt compelled by it.  And they began to return and to bring their friends with them.  And some of the young men began to talk with the monks.  And in time one asked if he could join them.  And then another.  So that within a few years the monastery became once again a thriving order.

My challenge this week is to treat those around you with extraordinary respect.  Remember who they are.  And remember who you are.  You may have to write that down, carry it with you and pull it out when driving down 17/92.  Like Simba the Lion King you may have to look harder before you can see it clearly in yourself and others.  Don’t ever forget that Jesus was affirmed as God’s beloved son BEFORE he did anything of note.  His identity was not based on his performance, worthiness or obedience and neither is ours.

The truth is everyone we will meet today is a beloved child of God.  Just as you and I are beloved sons and daughters of God.  They are worthy of love and respect just as we are.  So I am going to take responsibility for my impact upon the world.  And I am going to do so by – remembering who I am.  How about you?  How about you?