For Sunday
Epiphany 1B
Collect
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
The greatest challenge of the Incarnation is that it means God is fully human—and yet remains divine. In church, we know this as doctrine. But facing its reality—that Jesus has a body, hormones, physicality, and need for community—is something we often avoid.
And the ramifications—of a human Jesus and avoiding thinking about that humanity—is the subject of the greatest conflicts in the church, from gnostics and Arians to modern sexuality politics.
And yet, it is that tension between the human and the divine that yields the most energy around our witness to Jesus. It is why we cry at “Silent Night” and pray in the midst of fear. That God can feel. Like we do.
This is also the substance of the early debate about the nature of Jesus’s knowledge and power. Could an infant know that he is the Messiah? Or does he become Messiah? The church is still split over this.
But what we know as true is that Jesus’s ministry begins with baptism. In the Jordan River with John the Baptizer. Who he is before is the literal substance of debate. But who he is after is known.
It is poetic that we should fixate so much on who we were; and not notice who we are becoming. That we follow this same pattern. The substance of our origin is irrelevant to our outcome by the power of the Spirit.
As we reflect on the Baptism of Jesus, perhaps recalling our own baptism, let us note who we are called to be. The children of God. Peacemakers. The hands and feet of Christ.