January 7, 2007
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church Text: Luke 3:15-17.21.22 Epiphany The Baptism of our Lord The first thing that occurs to me when encountering the scene of the baptism in the Jordan River is that it pictures the whole Trinity: The Son is being baptized, the Spirit is sent in the shape of a dove, the voice of the Father is heard. He declares you are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. Here we find an echo of the message over the fields of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, about peace on earth to men on whom his favor rests. The promise of the prophet from Isaiah 42:1 is being fulfilled: here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight. God is pleased, his favor is on his Son. And through his chosen one, his favor also rests upon us! The sin is no longer a hindrance that can separate us from the One who created us. God is pleased with his Son, and by him he also is pleased with us. On Christmas Day we read about the Word becoming flesh, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Then, there is further written these, to me, fantastic rich and deep words in John 1:18: No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. Paul reflects in the same way in Col 1:15, he is the image of the invisible God. "Eikon" says the Greek text. So, Jesus is God’s icon for us. And this is a living icon. Imagine that you walk through an art gallery showing a variety of portrait paintings. Some portraits you perhaps don’t notice so much, but others you feel are very beautiful, and they speak to your heart. You wander from one hall to the other, studying the pictures, and get "absorbed in" the art. Imagine next that you suddenly stand face to face with a person you know. You face a living human being. That is the difference between Jesus and other gods. Jesus is God’s icon for us. And he is a living picture of a living God! Jesus is showing us God’s face. His nature, his personality is depicted to us through him. God reveals himself to human beings in 3 ways. Let us call it revelation by creation, revelation by salvation and the personal revelation. The first one, revelation by creation is something that anyone can realize, whatsoever religion they have: They can see God’s fingerprints through creation, be they Christians, Jews, Muslems or Hindus. But no one can from this type of revelation alone come to know that the creator is a heavenly Father who cares for each one of us! Then the revelation of salvation is different: In Christ God became flesh, in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form we read in Col 2:9. It was he who reconciled us with God, by carrying our sins and taking our punishment. According to the Bible, our relationship to him determines our salvation or perishing. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). The day he was baptized in the river Jordan, he was consecrated to his saving action. Jesus did not need to be baptized for his own sake. And it was not strange that John protested, as Matthew tells that he did. As John’s mission was to baptize sinners. I need to be baptized by you, so why do you come to me? John says to Jesus. Even so, John does what Jesus asks for. And the voice from heaven and the descending dove witness that here is something extraordinary: God’s beloved and chosen Son, was consecrated by water to do his mission on earth. He took our place, and got baptized to death. Our death of punishment. This is the revelation of salvation. Then there is a third step: The personal revelation. That is what happens when that which God objectively did for us in Christ, becomes a subjective reality. By the Holy Spirit, Christ for us becomes Christ within us. God pours out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). There comes a fellowship between our spirit and God’s Spirit. In a way, the human being literally becomes a temple for the Holy Spirit, as Paul writes in 1.Cor 6:19. God being triune, is a mystery. We cannot understand it, and we need not even try. But we can seek the triune, and adore God as the triune. The revelation by the Holy spirit is happening in our hearts. God’s revelation always has the goal to establish a fellowship. We meet the one God in all the three ways of revealing, but every time in a different way. His threefold communication with us, expects a threefold answer from us. If one of the three dimensions is lacking, there will be an incomplete experience of God. I also have to add that God not only meets us as triune. It is more than our experience of God. He is according to his personality, triune. As we every Sunday remind ourselves and each other about as we confess our holy faith. As I said in the beginning of the service, I just love this time of the church year. From next Sunday on we will have the green church year color. Green is the symbol for growth. Through meeting the good and strong texts during this time, our faith can grow, in the way that our picture of God becomes more clear. The Bible helps us get a clear picture of God being triune. Today he meets us as all of the three persons: The Son being baptized. The Spirit descending on the Son in the shape of a dove. The voice of the Father coming from on high, revealing who the one to be baptized is, the only-begotten Son that he delights in. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |