Season of Epiphany

Dear friends:  We have now entered the season of Epiphany, a time of the church year that is rich in preaching themes.  Epiphany celebrates two related events simultaneously, 1) the arrival of the Wise Men to visit the baby Jesus, and 2) a much broader theme of God's revelation of His Plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.  The colors of the season are white and gold.  The symbol is light.  Praise is in the air!!

 

So our Scripture passages are going to be about lights and sounds, scenes and drama, and life events of Jesus that will show us that He is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Light.  They lead us to allow God's Light to shine in our hearts in new ways, to illumine the dark corners and allow us to grow in our Christian Walk.

 

This weeks passage is Mark 1:4-11.  We are introduced here to John the Baptist, whose role is to proclaim the coming "of one greater than me", for whom he is not even worthy "to loose his sandles from his feet."  John creates quite a stir by proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Like the prophets of old (he even looks the part), John calls Israel to repent, and be ready for God's coming Kingdom.  And the crowds flock to him in droves!

 

But then Jesus Himself comes to John, and is Himself baptized.  He is given God's Spirit and pronounced by God Himself to be His beloved Son.  This is the last time in Mark that anyone recognizes Jesus as the Son of God (except for the demons), until at the Crucifixion, the Light dawns on a Roman centurion, who proclaims that "This man is truly the Son of God."

 

You see -- Epiphany themes.  Light, sound, drama, Pronouncement, and the Revelation of God's Wonders!!

 

This passage invites us to do several things:  to anticipate the coming of Jesus, to repent, and to be introduced to the Holy One.  We don't need John in the flesh dressed in camel hair and eating wild locusts and honey to help us to do these things.  But there are ways we can do this today.  It takes looking within, and then looking outside ourselves.  It takes faith.  And it takes a life lived in the knowledge that God isn't yet done with either ourselves or this old world.