Promise Kept
This morning we pick up with Luke’s account of the onset of Jesus‘s public ministry. This passage comes immediately after his temptation in the wilderness, and he’s now empowered by the same spirit that both descended upon him at his baptism and drove him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.
But we can see this isn’t the very first thing he does. Luke tells us that when he came to Nazareth, it was after he had been teaching in some other synagogues and was praised by everyone. Perhaps that praise was in part because of the miracle at Cana, which we heard about last week from John’s gospel. We can’t know that for sure.
Read More
The Miracle of Transformation
This morning, we come to Jesus’s first miracle as recorded by the Apostle John, the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Our faith holds that God speaks and acts in the world.
In his book on Miracles, C.S. Lewis notes that scripture attests to two types of miracles. One type is God doing in a condensed time and place what God does all the time anyway. For example, every year rains fall on vineyards all over the world. The water soaks into the ground where it is absorbed by the roots of the grape vines along with other nutrients which the vine eventually carries into the grapes themselves. These grapes are gathered, squeezed and the juice will quite naturally turn into wine.
(In fact, it takes special care to preserve it as grape juice – Thomas Welch patented the modern process in 1869. Grape juice naturally starts fermenting immediately.)
Read More
Redeemed
One of the interesting questions of our faith is why Jesus was baptized. We hold that Jesus “knew no sin” as Paul put it in his second letter to the Corinthians. He was the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish. He had no need for ritual washing. He wasn’t dirty and needed no bath!
Further, as co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he did not need a jolt of power. He did not become the Messiah when the Holy Spirit landed on him. He was with God and was God from the beginning.
So, then, what was happening at his baptism?
Read More
