Break Open the Word

The Baptism of Our Lord Isaiah 42:1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10:34-43 Saint Matthew 3:13-17 The Baptism of Clovis BACKGROUND – Baptism:   An event that nearly all of us have participated in and one that we most likely have little memory of.   Like birth itself, baptism is only known to some of us in the memories of others.   Others, who were baptized later in life, have the privilege of memory.   Baptism is not unique to the New Testament.   As we move back into the Scriptures, we encounter first the baptism of St. John the Baptist, then the baptisms of the Essenes, and the bathing rituals of the Mikveh (a ritual bath, prevalent in Judaism) and the washings that were a part of the Mosaic law.   This sacrament of initiation talks to us on so many levels: cleansing, the feel of water, the danger of water, the life from water.   Luther, in his ritual for Baptism wrote a prayer to be said over the water, which brought to the minds of the ...

The Epiphany of Our Lord Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Ephesians 3:1-12 Saint Matthew 2:1-12 BACKGROUND – The Epiphany of Our Lord, outside of Christmas and Easter, is one of the oldest festivals in the church year.   Like the first two festivals, which are related to Jewish festivals, Epiphany has a relationship to an Egyptian festival, which celebrated the winter solstice on 6 January (1996 BCE), and rejoiced in the fecundity of the Nile.   Later, as Christians began to celebrate the Birth of Christ on or around 25 December, in the East the feast on 6 January was centered on the Baptism of Jesus.   The word used in the East to describe the day was “Theophany” – a revelation of Jesus as the Son of God.   The connection with the Baptism of Jesus would thus be appropriate.   In the West, the day was associated with the visit of the Magi, and eventually the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus was transferred to the Sunday following the E...