Tag Archives: Epiphany

Jesus’ Baptism, January 11, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Last week we had a short history lesson on Epiphany, the church’s celebration of the Magi’s visits to Jesus in Bethlehem. I mentioned that initially, the church three separate events during Epiphany, the Magi’s visits, Jesus’ baptism by John, and Jesus’ miracle at the wedding in Cana. The Magi’s visits always took center stage during Epiphany since it marked Jesus’ revelation to the Gentile world. As you can imagine, that revelation gives the rest of us, outside the chosen people of Israel, the opportunity to become part of God’s family.

Jesus’ baptism very likely did not occur on January 6^th. Still, as you may recall from last week, the early church chose January 6^th to celebrate Epiphany, probably due to the liturgical reading from the first gospel circulated among the churches, the book of Mark. Those early gospel readers also believed Jesus was exactly two when the Magi found him, exactly thirty at his baptism, and performed the miracle at Cana exactly one year later. All three events, then, became part of the celebration during Epiphany.

Again, the timing is improbable, considering the precise timing of all the other events in Jesus’ life. Instead of being born in December, we can imagine Jesus coming during the lambing season in the spring, as the Lamb of the world. The Magi could travel in the fall and winter months to avoid the mid-east summer heat, but the probability of seeing Jesus on January 6^th is indeed slim. And Jesus’ first recorded miracle at the wedding in Cana likely occurred earlier than a year into his formal ministry.

The reason we celebrate Epiphany, and formerly Jesus baptism and first miracle on January 6^th seems solely an accident of where early Christians happened to read Mark’s gospel message. So, now the bit of history in front of us regards the celebrations’ separation timeline. How long has the church put Jesus’ baptism as its own commemoration time? The answer surprised me when I did some research on the topic.

For four centuries, beginning in the 1500s, Jesus’ baptism didn’t appear as a commemoration at all in the Roman Catholic church. Then, in 1955 Pope Pius XII wrote a separate commemoration for the Baptism of Our Lord as part of the Mass after Epiphany. He didn’t specify any date to use the observance but suggested it be immediately after Epiphany. Pope John XXII revised the Roman Catholic church calendar, setting January 13^thas the commemoration date. Not until 1969 did the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord settle on the calendar as it is today, the first Sunday after Epiphany, a decree made by Pope Paul VI.

Other liturgical churches followed suit, as many follow the lectionary established by the Catholic church. The church calendar provides observances for many events in Jesus’ life that we, in the evangelical community too often overlook at our misfortune. Jesus’ baptism is one of those. We read about it in all the gospels. Mark records it like this:

This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King, the Son of God.

Isaiah the prophet told us what would happen before He came:

Watch, I will send My messenger in front of You

to prepare Your way and make it clear and straight.

You’ll hear him, a voice crying in the wilderness,

“Prepare the way of the Eternal One,

a straight way in the wandering desert, a highway for our God.”

That messenger was John the Baptist, who appeared in the desert near the Jordan River preaching that people should be ritually cleansed through baptism with water as a sign of both their changed hearts and God’s forgiveness of their sins. People from across the countryside of Judea and from the city of Jerusalem came to him and confessed that they were deeply flawed and needed help, so he cleansed them with the waters of the Jordan. John dressed as some of the Hebrew prophets had, in clothes made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. He made his meals in the desert from locusts and wild honey.He preached a message in the wilderness.

John the Baptist: Someone is coming who is a lot more powerful than I am—One whose sandals I’m not worthy to bend down and untie.I’ve washed you here through baptism with water; but when He gets here, He will wash you in the Spirit of God.

It was in those days that Jesus left Nazareth (a village in the region of Galilee) and came down to the Jordan, and John cleansed Him through baptism there in the same way all the others were ritually cleansed.But as Jesus was coming out of the waters, He looked up and saw the sky split open. The Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove,and a voice echoed in the heavens.

Voice: You are My Son, My beloved One, and I am very pleased with You. (Mark 1:1-11 The Voice)

In these verses, we learn some things. Baptism was necessary to Jesus as it began his public ministry. Another point we miss, but those Jews who knew their Old Testament did not, was the words Mark used to describe the sky opening. The Septuagint uses the same words here that it uses in Exodus 14:21 to describe God splitting the water in the Reed Sea for the Israelites to cross on dry land. The voice from heaven also gave public recognition that Jesus was the Son of God.

Another point we miss, that again, the Jews present who knew the Old Testament well did not, was the pronouncement from the voice Jesus was God’s beloved. Only twice in the Old Testament does God give that description to others, to King David and King Solomon. He described both as beloved when he continued his covenant with them and told them a king from their lineage would always sit on Israel’s throne. Hearing the voice declare Jesus as beloved acclaimed him as Israel’s rightful King. Jesus’ baptism identifies him with Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the kingly line of David.

Why do we need to remember the event? First, it reminds us who Jesus is. When we look back and explore the words describing the “Angel of the Lord” who went before Israel as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, we find it is Yahweh. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the word interchanges give us clues that, although God was never incarnate in the Old Testament, he did appear to men and women in a human form in the Old Testament. When God split the sky to announce his son, he reminds us Jesus, Yahweh in human form split the sea and led the Israelites to freedom.

When God calls Jesus his My Beloved Son, God puts Jesus in a unique category. He not only belongs in the line of Abraham, God’s chosen people to show God’s image to the rest of the nations, but he belongs to the lineage of David. As God’s Beloved Son, Jesus claims the throne of Israel and, by extension of God’s covenant with David and Solomon, the kingship of all the nations of the world. We know who he is, God incarnate, King of kings, and Messiah through his baptism.

Jesus’ baptism also serves as an example to us. If Jesus felt baptism important as the beginning of his ministry, a demonstration of his death to self and life in God, certainly we should follow his example. Baptism doesn’t save us, but it shows those witnesses around us and reminds us through the experience that we die to ourselves and become alive in Christ. Baptism will always be a significant milestone in the life of a Christian.

This week, if you have been baptized, remember what it is for and rejoice in it. If you have not yet been baptized or were too young to know what it meant, consider being baptized. Baptism doesn’t save you, but it is a pivotal event in the life of a Christian. We follow Jesus’ example symbolizing giving up ourselves and living in him.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Epiphany, January 4, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We probably all celebrate the fact 2020 passed away a few days ago, and 2021 began. But 2021 will only improve if we allow God to improve us one by one. Only by letting his Spirit change us internally will this year be any better than last for you. Well, that’s tidbit number one, but not what we will talk about today.

This week we celebrate Epiphany. It’s an exciting day in the Christian calendar, observed in various ways across the Christian world. The word itself takes on a definition used outside religious connotations today, and when you look in the dictionary, you’ll find the following:

the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12).
the festival commemorating the Epiphany on January 6th.
a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being.
a moment of sudden revelation or insight.

The Greek word is seldom used in the New Testament and generally used with Jesus’ second coming, rather than his birth. In New Testament times, the term more commonly found its way into secular writing, referring to visitations by one of the panthea of gods worshipped by the pagans.

Today, outside of the Christmas season, we most often hear the word used to describe a remarkable or sudden discovery. For instance, the COVID vaccine creators might have had an epiphany as they found the key to finally finding the answer to fighting the disease.

But on the Christian calendar, January 6th marks the Epiphany, the festival commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. Why January 6th and not some other day? The Gregorian calendar and Julian calendars didn’t match and weren’t even around when Jesus was born. I expect Mary and Joseph didn’t even own a calendar. Most people didn’t in those days. Days of the week were kept to remember sabbaths, but otherwise, phases of the moon were enough to keep up with the months of the Jewish calendar. The priest let you know when sacrifices came due. No one needed to set an appointment for 9:15 on March 24th. Businesses and personal lives just didn’t work that way. So why January 6th?

The best explanation may come from examining the habits of early Christians in their worship. Arrangements of the earliest ancient manuscripts of the gospels follow a liturgical pattern. We assume the original manuscripts were probably written in letter form. Still, as early Christians gathered, read, and studies them, the new arrangement made it easier to incorporate this new faith into their lives. If a congregation started the year reading Mark, their first reading might have been the baptism of Jesus, since most scholars believe Mark wrote his gospel first. They would have found these words:

This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.It began as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“God said, ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you

to open the way for you.’

Someone is shouting in the desert,

‘Get the road ready for the Lord;

make a straight path for him to travel!’”

So John appeared in the desert, baptizing and preaching. “Turn away from your sins and be baptized,” he told the people, “and God will forgive your sins.” Many people from the province of Judea and the city of Jerusalem went out to hear John. They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River.

John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He announced to the people, “The man who will come after me is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie his sandals.I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Not long afterward Jesus came from Nazareth in the province of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw heaven opening and the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.” (Mark 1:1-11 GNT)

From reading historical records from the early church leaders, scholars also believe that the first Epiphany celebrations included the commemoration of not just the visit of the Magi, but also Jesus baptism, and possibly his first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Each of these three events marks the revelation of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. His actions at Cana proved his abilities as a prophet like Elijah, who performed incredible miracles through God’s power. His baptism by John revealed him as the son of God to the Jews. His visit by the Magi presented the new King to the Gentile world. The Magi’s visit to King Herod made the arrival of the Messiah known to the political world through messaging that must have rippled through the Roman empire at the time.

Today, we separate traditionally separate the other events from the Magi’s visit in celebrating Epiphany and use the passage in Matthew that describes their visit to remember the incredible story of God’s revelation of Jesus to the world. It goes like this:

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. He called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”

“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they answered. “For this is what the prophet wrote:

‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah,

you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah;

for from you will come a leader

who will guide my people Israel.’”

So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.”

And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.

Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. (Matthew 2:1-12 GNT)

Why is it important we celebrate Epiphany? First, It reminds us of God’s intent to restore our relationship with him. He wants an intimate relationship with us as he had with Adam and Eve before the fall. Second, it reminds us of God’s intent to restore humanity’s original purpose to care for his creation. Jesus came to show us what true humanity looks and acts like, caring for and loving humankind and God’s creation. God wants to renew that in us. Third, Epiphany reminds us God will restore heaven and earth, recreating it to its former glory repopulating it with those he redeems, called by his name, those who believe in him for salvation.

Epiphany reminds us God had a plan ready in the event we failed. We did, and he put his plan into place. Adam and Eve invoked the punishment on all of humanity when they disobeyed God’s command in the Garden of Eden, but God will restore the garden one day. It would take the reversal of the curse of death for it to happen, though. Humans had to pay the penalty for sin, and humans had to conquer death. A human had to do that. The only way for it to happen was through God’s plan to become human and pay the penalty and conquer death himself. So he did – in Jesus.

For those who believe in Jesus as the son of God, who came to pay the penalty for my sin and yours, who died on a cruel cross, who rose from the dead, conquering death for all time, the curse is lifted. Restoration began with his resurrection. A new heaven and new earth are in the making as his Spirit comes to reside in us, empowering us with new life in him.

Epiphany celebrates that revelation. Take time this week to stop and remember, not just the Magi finding him in Bethlehem and bowing at his feet, but the opportunity we also have to bow at the feet of the one who conquered death, lifted the curse, and gives new life to all who believe in him. Epiphany is a sudden revelation or insight, a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being, the celebration of Jesus’ revelation to us. Make his coming a real epiphany in your life today and every day.

Scriptures marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation®: Scriptures taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

Don’t let Epiphany end, January 7, 2019

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides three definitions of the word epiphany. 1capitalized : 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

So in the Christian calendar, the Epiphany is over. January 6th is past. The commemoration of the visit of the Magi to see Jesus and representing his ministry to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. So for millions in the Christian faith, we don’t mention the Epiphany again for another year. But why? Why can’t we live in a state of epiphany, the third definition? Why can’t we be like children in our Christian walk and through our daily activities and study, gain an intuitive grasp of reality through those activities? Why can’t we have the kinds of revealing moments children have in their discovery of life as we mature in our Christian walk?

I think our problem is we quit looking. We think as we physically mature into adulthood, we forget when we come to Christ, we come to him in a rebirth, infants. We soon think we know it all and lose the excitement of learning new things about him. It’s a phenomenon we see in most people in terms of their learning process in almost every aspect of life and applies to our Christian life as well if we are not careful.

As children, we are amazed at every discovery. Our brains are molded by all those new things we find in the world. They start with the discovery of our mom’s face, our hands and fingers, the small world that consists of the stuffed animals in our crib and the need for food and dry diapers. As we grow, our discoveries expand to the an every enlarging world around us, we explore on our knees as we learn to crawl, then our discoveries begin to get stifled by parents as we learn to walk and run and play because our parents need to confine our learning process to protect us in some ways.

Now why would I blame our parents for confining and limiting our epiphanies? Because I’m a parent. I’ve done it and if you’re a parent you’ve done it. It’s for our kids protection in a very evil world. I didn’t let my kids loose to do their own thing when they were five. They didn’t understand how the world works. They didn’t understand the harm that could come to them. They didn’t know the things I had learned through my thirty plus years of life when they were toddlers. The world for them would have been a scary place in which they could not have survived if I had just let them go out on their own with no supervision in their learning process at that young age.

When kids have been stopped from their inquisitive nature enough by parents or teachers or other adults, they stop learning. They give up. If they don’t learn as fast as others, peers can even make them stop because of embarrassment over their achievement or lack thereof. That’s what happens in our physical world. It’s what happens at school and at work.

If we are not careful, that same hindering of growth carries over into our spiritual world. Because we have lost the desire to learn in other areas, we can lose the desire to learn in our spiritual lives. We forget how to even have epiphanies. We let ourselves get buried in the same ruts that the rest of our society travels and refuse to learn. We just go along with the crowd.

So how can I say these things with any authority? A study done by the Pew Research Center in 2017 showed that the average American read only 17 minutes a day for pleasure and read no complete books during the year. Even those who identified themselves as avid readers reported reading an average of only four books a year for pleasure. But we are spending three hours a day in front of the television watching meaningless shows.

We are losing our epiphanies.

So how do we get them back? How do we get back the capacity as adults to have those moments of discovery that just blow us away? How do we capture ideas and thoughts and truths that cause us to pause in awe of the creator and help us know we have unearthed some revelation that will cause us to be more like the giver of life when we apply that truth in our everyday journey of life?

Let me share a few ideas to bring them back.

First, fall in love with God. Recognize what he has done for you and fall in love with him because of it.

Second, read about him every day. Spend some time in God’s word. Devotional books are okay, but they are not the same as reading the words he gave to us through his divine inspiration of those whose histories and prophecies and letters make up our Bible. His love and plans for us scream at us through the pages of his word, so spend time devouring it every day.

Third, pray. Ask God to teach you something about him often. Prayer doesn’t have to be long and wordy. It doesn’t have to follow a particular formula or pattern. Those can help as you learn to talk with him. But talk with God often. Short conversations with him throughout the day as you would talk with a friend keep you in tune and ready for an epiphany moment.

Fourth, journal. Write down your thoughts, your questions, your requests and answers as you hear them from God and other trusted Christian brothers and sisters. Explore them and record what God shares with you through his spirit. Make notes in your Bible, underline passages that speak to you. Put questions in the margins you want answered. Jot down things you will do because of what you read.

Fifth, take inventory of your thoughts and actions at least weekly. Pick a time one day a week, either at the beginning or end of the week when you have some routine time that will not be filled with the hustle and bustle of life. Make an appointment with God and put it on your calendar as an appointment. You might need an hour or so to look over the last week and highlight the things you’ve learned about your walk with God, your relationship with him and others, what you did well and what you need to do differently to be more like him. Then write down the one or two things you will do different this next week to be more like him. Look for those epiphanies for continued growth.

Epiphanies sometimes come in the most unusual and unexpected times and places. Thomas Edison talks about the epiphany that became the modern light bulb. However, it came after 1,000 failures in trying to create it. So, finally, don’t give up. Keep looking. Keep searching. Stay inquisitive. Fall in love with the Savior every day. Don’t let the season of Epiphany end because the calendar says so. Keep it alive in your heart throughout the year.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

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