LECTIONARY DISCUSSION GROUP

Week of Sunday, January 13, 2008, First Sunday After Epiphany, Year A

Baptism of the Lord

Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:
 I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD, that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

I tell you of them.

Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 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. 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. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

HISTORICAL TIDBIT:

In the years just before the birth of Christ, the Roman poet Virgil wrote an allegorical history of the founding of Rome called The Aeneid. The basic outline of the story is that a Trojan nobleman named Aeneas, who is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, fled the destruction of Troy and made his way first to Carthage, where he broke the heart of Queen Elissa (known as Dido) before making his way to Rome, where by warfare he carved out a small kingdom. His twin grandsons Romulus and Remus would subsequently found Rome. It is an epic poem of great skill and beauty. A couple of passages also could be read to foretell the coming of Christ. His name “Virgil,” is very similar to the Latin word “virga,” meaning stylus or wand. So upper-class Christians in Rome would open The Aeneid to a random page, and randomly point at a passage with a wand—and then read that in addition to the lections for the day!

THEOLOGICAL TIDBITS:

- This is the week when we commemorate John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the River Jordan. There is some disagreement between the Eastern and Western traditions on exactly whether this happened on the Epiphany or the Sunday after. In order to give both the Epiphany and the Baptism their full due, we celebrate the baptism this Sunday.

- This passage from Isaiah includes the first two of the four “servant songs” found in Isaiah 40-55. It is a song, meant to be sung out, like a psalm, and it is sung in the voice of God speaking to his people.
- On the literal level, this text is about the return of the Jews from Assyria and Babylon to Israel. On a slightly more metaphorical level, this text from Isaiah is a fairly direct foretelling of the coming of Christ, who will bring light and righteousness.
- More deeply, in this text God addresses the Israelite people in an expansive way. It is important to note that, unlike many Old Testament texts, this passage addresses the nations. This means all peoples. Because of this, its message of justice, light and redemption is clearly meant to reach all peoples. Thus it foretells Jesus as the messiah not just to the Israelite people, but also, and perhaps especially (remember last week’s discussion of Inclusionism and Supersessionism) to the gentiles.

- This is the first time in the church year that we come into contact with the Book of Acts, or Acts of the Apostles. This book was written by the same Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke. It is similar in style and shares the Gospel’s concern with getting all of the important facts together in a coherent order, but is often more immediate. This is because Luke was most likely actually present at many of the events that take place in Acts, whereas he likely gathered the material for his Gospel from the Apostles.
- Luke here puts words into Peter’s mouth. Likely Peter gave a similar sermon, but in this case, Luke follows the Greek historian Thucydides, who was often his model, in fleshing it out and making it more real and full.
- This is the first sermon to the Gentiles that Peter gave (or at least, it is the first the Bible records.) However, it is a dynamic statement of everything that a dynamic, evangelistic, young church needs. Note that it does not make explicit reference to the Old Testament, but it does include an encapsulation of all that the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts say:
o This sermon opens with the message, reiterating our passage from Isaiah this week, that God is truly the God of all—that anyone who loves and serves him can become part of Israel.
o Just as John the Baptist announces in our Gospel passage this week from Matthew, Jesus was baptized not only with water but also with the Holy Spirit. And he came to all of the believers to baptize us with the Holy Spirit as well.
o Jesus came to save us all, and was hung on a tree! Notice the earthiness of this statement—it is a living image, not a mere symbol. But he also came back to show us his victory over death. However, it is important to pay attention to the fact that this sermon does not apportion blame, in fact, it makes clear that God would rather nail his son to a tree than bring blame on his people—Jew or Gentile—for their deeds, so long as they have love and faith in their hearts.
o Jesus commanded us to spread the good news of his message to all of the peoples.
- Remember, before you go, that there are still Christians fighting for the freedom to practice their religion, in China, Africa and many Islamic countries, and that there are many even here—even in Christian churches!—who do not know the good news. The message is not yet fully spread!

- Although the Baptism of Jesus is attested in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, only Matthew gives us the details of the conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist.
- When John the Baptist protests that Jesus should baptize him, not the other way around, Jesus answers that it is “fitting” or “proper.” Many people throughout history, both Christian and not, have asked the question, “why Jesus? Why wouldn’t God just save us all right off? He’s all-powerful, right?” St. Anselm, a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, and our current Archbishop, Rowan Williams, both wrote that this passage holds the key to answering that question: it was the proper and fitting thing for God to do under the circumstances, in order to save mankind.
- The dove, as a symbol, always represents the Holy Spirit.
- God the Father, in saying that he is “well-pleased” with his Son, enters the picture here and fulfills the prophecy in this week’s passage from Isaiah.
- The dove alighting on Jesus is a beautiful metaphor for what happened at this moment: the baptism of water also showed, symbolically, the union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

QUESTIONS:

1. Just as early Christians found the Holy Spirit speaking to them through the work of Virgil, so Christians throughout history have heard God to them through art, including literature, music, architecture and the visual arts. What art have you seen lately that gave you a bit of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever felt inspired to create?

2. Has God, or someone very close to you, ever said they were well-pleased with you? Did someone withhold that from you? Have you given that affirmation to anyone? What do you feel about it?