Epiphany

and

Baptism of the Lord

 

 

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

 

Baptism of Christ

ZELENKA. Dave

2005

Painting

United States

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20230107197519569&code=ACT&RC=56385&Row=14

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is our light, not our darkness,

that most frightens us.

~ Marianne Williamson *

 

 

 

The moment one gives close attention to anything,

even a blade of grass,

it becomes a mysterious, awesome,

indescribably magnificent world in itself.

~ Henry Miller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anna Marie Nelson and I had a calory-filled lunch at the Golden Mill in Golden, Colorado,

and discussed how we were both going to start a diet together.

Please pray for my will power!!!

<gr>

 

 

Happy New Year!

Reina and Yushi Sakakibara with their sons, Meishi and Shuto

 

Junna and Eugene Yoshioka with their son Ray and daughter Tina.

 

The world's largest Zamboni groomed ice rink is in Colorado. 

Every winter Evergreen Lake turns into a huge ice skating rink. 

The rink is 8.5 acres and has 12 hockey rinks and a huge skating field.

info@allaboutcolorado.com

 

Our Speaker at Rotary

Abby Lilly

Vice President Global Supply Chain for Lockheed Martin Rotary & Mission Systems. 

In October 2020, Abby assumed leadership of the Lockheed Martin Supply Chain Council where she is responsible for supply chain policy, enterprise initiatives and cross business area collaboration for the corporation.  She spoke to us about the supply chain issues in the defense industry after the pandemic.

Abby also noted the similarity between Rotary’s Four-Way Test and Lockheed Martin’s core values – Do What's Right, Respect Others and Perform with Excellence – are fundamental to who we are and what we do. At Lockheed Martin, we believe that doing what's right is more than just obeying laws and regulations.



Rotary-Four Way Test

 

At Creekside

(Not too fattening!)

Hanna Holt, Carolyn Alexander, Anne Vickstrom

 

 

 

 

 

 

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters

compared to what lives within us.

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 8, 2023  Baptism of the Lord - Year A

 

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

* appeared in her book, A Return To Love, by Marianne Williamson

(but attributed to Nelson Mandella ... he used it for his Inaugural address in 1994)





 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

Follow the Magi, Matthew 2:1-12

Epiphany of the Lord - January 6

 

 

 

Epiphany of the Lord - January 6

Issaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

 

Baptism of the Lord - January 8

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

 

Summary

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism, the second of the three traditional manifestations of Christ, contains John’s protest. This is included to make clear that Jesus was not an ordinary human being in need of repentance from any sin.

The church saw many layers to the reason for Christ’s baptism, each with potential pathways for the preacher to explore. It was to endorse and fulfill John’s preceding baptismal ministry. It was to show that he is “meek and lowly” (Matt. 11:19) to encourage conversion. It was to give an example of repentance for others to follow. Most profound of all, perhaps, was the suggestion that while the waters of John’s baptism symbolized the cleansing from sins, Christ himself baptized the waters he entered, inaugurating his baptismal ministry which truly forgives sins. 

https://www.preachingtoday.com/lectionary/

 

 

THE WORD:

Today’s Gospel is the final event of the Epiphany event: Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River by John.

The Baptizer’s refusal at first to baptize Jesus and Jesus’ response to his refusal (a dialogue that appears only in Matthew’s Gospel) speaks to Matthew’s continuing theme of Jesus as the fulfillment of the First Testament prophecies.  Jesus clearly did not need to be baptized.  But his baptism by John is an affirmation that God was with this man Jesus in a very special way – at the Jordan River, Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled: “my favor rests on him.”  Jesus has come to identify with sinners, to bring them forgiveness; hence the propriety of Jesus' acceptance of John’s baptism.

Baptism was a ritual performed by the Jews, usually for those who entered Judaism from another religion.  It was natural that the sin-stained, polluted pagan should be “washed” in baptism, but no Jew could conceive of needing baptism, being born a son of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people and therefore assured of God’s salvation.  But John’s baptism – a baptism affirmed by Jesus – was not one of initiation, but one of reformation, a rejection of sin in one’s own life and acknowledgment of one’s own need for conversion.  In Christ, baptism becomes a sacrament of rebirth, a reception of new life.

In all the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, all four evangelists use a similar description of the scene at the Jordan when Jesus is baptized by John:  The Spirit of God descended and rested upon him, “hovering” over him like a dove – as the Gospel story unfolds, the Spirit of God’s peace, compassion and love, will be the constant presence dwelling within and flowing forth from the Carpenter from Nazareth.

 

 

 

First Reading Isaiah 42:1-9

1   Here is my servant, whom I uphold, 
          my chosen, in whom my soul delights; 
     I have put my spirit upon him; 
          he will bring forth justice to the nations. 
2   He will not cry or lift up his voice, 
          or make it heard in the street; 
3   a bruised reed he will not break, 
          and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; 
          he will faithfully bring forth justice. 
4   He will not grow faint or be crushed 
          until he has established justice in the earth; 
          and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

5Thus says God, the LORD, 
          who created the heavens and stretched them out, 
          who spread out the earth and what comes from it, 
     who gives breath to the people upon it 
          and spirit to those who walk in it: 
6   I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, 
          I have taken you by the hand and kept you; 
     I have given you as a covenant to the people, 
          a light to the nations, 
7        to open the eyes that are blind, 
     to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, 
          from the prison those who sit in darkness. 
8   I am the LORD, that is my name; 
          my glory I give to no other, 
          nor my praise to idols. 
9   See, the former things have come to pass, 
          and new things I now declare; 
     before they spring forth, 
          I tell you of them.

Psalm 29

1   Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, 
          ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 
2   Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; 
          worship the LORD in holy splendor.

3   The voice of the LORD is over the waters; 
          the God of glory thunders, 
          the LORD, over mighty waters. 
4   The voice of the LORD is powerful; 
          the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5   The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; 
          the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 
6   He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, 
          and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7   The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. 
8   The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; 
          the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 

9   The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, 
          and strips the forest bare; 
          and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

10  The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; 
          the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. 
11   May the LORD give strength to his people! 
          May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Second Reading Acts 10:34-43

34Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all. 37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Gospel Matthew 3:13-17

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”