Fulfillment

Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

Luke 4.14-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 17:15)

 

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is in the early days of his public ministry. He has obviously been engaged in this ministry for at least a little while, as “report[s] about him spread through all the surrounding country . . . and [he]was praised by everyone” (Lk 4.14-15). Even so, what we hear today are the first recorded actions of his public ministry: his teaching and preaching at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. His sermon is short and sweet, just nine words: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4.21). My sermon, however, will not be so short.

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All Are Invited

Second Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

Isaiah 62.1-5; John 2.1-11

St. Gregory's, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 14:55)

 

In this year, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary, we are blessed to have the opportunity to look at all three of the traditional focal points for Epiphany. The three events through which Jesus’ identity is revealed. These three are the visit of the Magi, which we commemorate on Epiphany; the baptism of Jesus, which we commemorate on the first Sunday after Epiphany (last Sunday); and Jesus turning water into wine at the Wedding at Cana. While we have the opportunity to celebrate the first two events every hear, we only get the story of the Wedding at Cana once every three years. Which is really too bad because it is a pretty awesome story. Awesome because it reveals some things about Jesus that are not readily apparent in the coming of the Magi or Jesus’ baptism.

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New Identity in Baptism

First Sunday after the Epiphany: Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Year C)

Isaiah 43.1-7; Luke 3.15-17, 21-22

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 16:35)

 

On the Sunday after the Feast of the Epiphany, we always celebrate the baptism of our Lord by John the Baptist. As you recall, we already talked about the nature of the baptism John was performing a little over a month ago on both the Second and Third Sundays of Advent. And while we didn’t specifically talk about Jesus’ baptism at the time, that act was certainly in the back of our minds and in the forefront of the purpose of the readings for those two Sundays.

 

Before we get to the specifics of Jesus’ own baptism, there are a couple of things about the baptism that John was proclaiming that we need to touch on. First is the fact that Scripture clearly states that this was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 3.3). The second, while related, is not specifically stated, but is, rather, contingent upon knowledge of Jewish sacramental and liturgical practices of the day. That, in those days, immersion in water was a rite “typically reserved for Gentile converts to Judaism, signifying the all-encompassing, fresh-start character of conversion.”[1]

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