Baptism of the Lord

Welcome Statement

Good morning church. We have been snowed out for a couple of weeks haven’t we?

This week, I wanted us to still reflect on the Baptism of the Lord even though it was a couple of weeks ago, as it is where Jesus Christ starts his prophetic work to save the world.

Old Testament Reading - Isaiah 43:1-7

Isaiah 43:1–7 “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.””

Exegesis

Isaiah 43 is in the early part of the final section of the boo of Isaiah, which is filled with Hopeful messaging about the future of Israel and God’s people.

We see here some familiar imagery regarding fire, and how the people will not burn from it. I think of Daniel as an early example of this actually occurring, so it is interesting to continue to see this imagery.

Ransom of Israel

A peculiar point is how God is proclaiming he will ransom Israel through the use of other nations. As I was studying this, I came across commentery by a Rabbi named Kimhi. He recollects that during this time of Isaiah, that Egypt, Cush, and Seba were fighting against the Persian Empire. He makes a compelling case that is very long to go over here, that essentially the conflicts with the countries to the south of the Persian Province of Yehud that encouraged Cyrus the Great to be "generous” with the Jews to rebuild at the time. He had too many resources tied up to deal with the nation of Israel the way he perhaps wanted to. Essentially these other countries found themselves to be a distraction working for God’s Glory without even realizing it, so it isn’t so much that God is condemning 3 nations to death, as it is, he was working via the mysteries of his own power between conflicts among nations to influence generosity towards his Chosen People.

Pointing Towards the Future of FIre

We hear further on in Isaiah, particularly in Isaiah 59:21 how this Fire will work, a fire burning in the heart.

Isaiah 59:21 NRSV

And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.

Jeremiah makes this even more clear

Jeremiah 31:33 NRSV

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

We start to realize how this is going to work, the law is no longer going to only be proclaimed by mouth, but it will be spread person to person through the actions of the heart, the work of the heart. We start to see that the Holy Spirit becomes this Holy force that permeates all of existence, which is affirmed by Wesleyan theologians with concepts like

I will put my laws into their minds, and iwrite them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Grace. This prepares us, to look on what this fire might be, what the Holy Spirit really is, as we reflect on the Baptism of the Lord.

New Testament Reading - Luke 3:15-22

Luke 3:15–22 NRSV

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison. Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Chaff

I recall us going over this passage another time recently, because I didn’t know what Chaff was. This term might be more familiar to farmers, particularly those who worked with wheat or other cereal grains. It is essentially a dry, scale like covering that surrounds seeds from things like wheat, barley, oats, and rice. When wheat for example is threshed, meaning the grain is removed from the plant, this covering is also separated. There isn’t much use for it other than potentially used as a animal feed, or plowed back into the soil as fertilizer. This term at the time became a sort of metaphor for something that is worthless or of little value, covering up what is worthy. So this idea that a winnowing fork becomes interesting. Other places in the bible talk about such cleansing. John 15:2

John 15:2 NRSV

He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

Obviously this imagery is clear, it is about purification, the cleansing of our hearts of sin. The removal of the outer hardened shell on our hearts, pealing away to show a fleshy, new heart full of Joy for the lord.

New Testament Point #2

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New Testament Point #3

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Closing Statement

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Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, adfs asdfa

Amen.

Doxology / Benediction / Closing

May you Have a Blessed Sunday, and rest of your Week! Amen!