We’ve Only Just Begun - Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Today we mark the end of the Church’s Christmas season, as we always do, with the Baptism of the Lord. We might think that is strange—why didn’t we end it last week with the Epiphany—the end of the magi’s journey? 

How easy is it for us to see endings as final. Even in our own spiritual lives, it’s easy for us to see things like Baptism or Confirmation or Eucharist as the end. It’s easy for us to say to ourselves: “Well, we are done with that; we are now ‘graduated’ from church.” How sad at the same time, because we miss spiritual opportunities that lead to growth and learning if only we could see endings as the start of something new! That’s the message for today. Things are only beginning. 

We are now at Baptism of Jesus and Jesus is grown up. He comes to the River Jordan and is baptized by John—strange as it may seem because John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and forgiveness. Jesus was sinless but Jesus convinced John to proceed with the baptism because this was something they had to do together to fulfill God’s will. Jesus would take on the sins of all humanity in this baptism.

After a few seconds of going down into the water and coming up, the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus. Then the Father’s voice affirms Jesus as His Son with whom He is pleased.  So, now what? Is the story finally over! Is this the end? Not really. The story is just beginning! From here we will follow Jesus through His public ministry all the way to His cross and resurrection.  The words spoken by God, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased!” are meant for us as well if we follow God’s commandments and become his disciples. So, for some, being “well pleased” can be read as “Good Job, take a break now!” But for us it should mean: “Good, job – now it’s time to really get started!”

Take a few moments to listen to our newest message series "Pursuit of Happiness" and to reflect upon it with the Heart to Home Small Group material for this series.