Kahu's Manao
Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)
The Baptism of Christ
‘Aha ‘Aina Wai Maka/Hepedoma
Sunday, January13, 2008
The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika
“The Gift of the Spirit”
Acts
10:34-43 & Matthew 3:13-17
As we gather here in Mākena today, we are aware that we have made the journey from the birth of the Christ Child at Christmas in Bethlehem to the visit of the magi from the east at Epiphany to the Baptism of Christ at the Jordan by John in a relatively short period of time. We have compressed thirty years of Jesus’ life into a three week period.
Some of us may be curious and want to know what happened after Mary and Joseph returned from Egypt and moved to Nazareth. What was life like for them? What did they do for a living? Did they have other children? What happened to Joseph?
Others of us may be curious about what happened to Jesus. Except for one day during the annual celebration of the Passover when he sat among the teachers in the Temple at the age of twelve in Jerusalem, nothing else is said. What was life like for Jesus as a child, as a teenager, as a young adult? What did he think about? What did he do? Who were his friends? How did he live his life?
There are those who speculate about Jesus’ growing up years. At the conclusion of his account of the life of Jesus, the writer of The Gospel According to John writes the following words: “ . . . there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25).
Some have made the effort to write their own accounts. In 2003 Christopher Moore had his novel published under the somewhat irreverent, and for many, scandalous title Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal (Harper Perenial, New York, New York, 2003).
There are biblical scholars who take their work around the growing up years of Jesus seriously and while their conclusions may satiate our curiosity, they may never fully satisfy us because it is likely we will never know with any certainty what happened. We don’t even really know what Jesus actually looked like. That may be why Moore was quick to make the point in his Afterword following the conclusion of Lamb: “The book you’ve just read is a story. I made it up.” (Op. cit., page 438)
He insists that he did some research. “I really did,” he writes and then he admits, “While I’ve made some attempt to paint an accurate picture of the world in which Christ lived, I changed things for my own convenience, and sometimes, obviously, there was no way of knowing what conditions really existed in the years 1 through 33.” (Op. cit., page 438)
But others like the writer of The Gospel According to Matthew demonstrate a theological outlook, command of Greek, and rabbinic training that suggest he was a Jewish Christian of the second generation (Matthew 13:52) and was able to draw upon written sources and traditions available to him. In our reading this morning the writer of Matthew takes us from Jesus’ childhood to that moment when as a young adult, he is baptized by John in the Jordan. Nothing is said of the in-between years.
Perhaps that is as it should be because our reading compels us to focus on what becomes critical for Matthew as Jesus begins his ministry. Unlike the account written in The Gospel According to Luke and The Gospel According to Mark where the voice of God speaks to Jesus in what is a private communication: “You are my Son . . . ” (Luke 3:22 & Mark 1:11), Matthew provides us with a public proclamation in which John and those gathered at the river that day heard a voice from heaven say: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mathew 3:17)
Those who read Matthew’s account know that Jesus was announced as Messiah and Savior at the time of his conception and birth. Now, the baptism by John marks the point at which Jesus publicly commits himself to the roles for which he had been destined from birth. (Harper’s Bible Commentary, James L. Mays, Editor, Harper & Row Publishers, San Francisco, 1988, page 953)
It is a commitment he is able to make because as he begins his journey into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights he is led by the Spirit. At the conclusion of that journey he will begin his ministry.
According to Luke’s account Jesus returned to Galilee filled with the power of the Spirit. When he came to Nazareth he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was his custom. It was on that day he stood up to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 1:18-19)
After he was pau, he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Everyone looked at him.
“Today,” he said, “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)
Many spoke well of him and were amazed. But others were less gracious. “Is not this Joseph’s son? And who is Joseph?” they wondered. “He is no one,” they concluded.
Were it not for the presence and power of the Spirit, we can only wonder if Jesus would have been so eager to respond to their rejection of him in the way that he did. He challenged those who wondered if there was any good that could come from someone who lived in such obscurity.
When he spoke favorably of Elï´jah’s visit to Zar´ephath, the widow from Sidon, and Elï´sha’s visit to Nā´aman, the leper (sic) from Syria, all the synagogue became filled with rage. They drove him out of town and though they were determined to kill him, Jesus managed to find his way to safety.
As dramatic as the story may seem with all of its intrigue and danger, what becomes important for the writer of Matthew is the presence and power of the Spirit in Jesus’ life. It is the Spirit that will strengthen and empower Jesus in the days ahead.
In our reading from The Acts of the Apostles, Peter reminds us that after Jesus’ baptism John announced: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power; how he went about doing good and healing all . . . for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) The gift of the Spirit that was present and available to Jesus is present and available to us now - in our day, in our time, in our lives.
So we lay claim to the gift of the Spirit so that we may be strengthened and empowered to also do good and to bring healing to our world. May each of us be revived and renewed by the Spirit’s presence today. Amen.