Sermons

Introduction:

Today in Christian congregations around the world people are remembering when Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized. We praise God for the life Jesus undertook for us. When the voice of God at Jesus' baptism told him he was the Beloved One he went immediately into the wilderness seeking to understand how he was to carry out his God given mission. God's voice from heaven had pointed Jesus to the prophecies of Isaiah as a source to learn about the life he was to live. He would have meditated on the prophecies like the one we will hear today during his 40 days of searching in the wilderness. Jesus' life after that continued to be filled with many long prayer times as he sought to understand in each new situation the way which his Father wanted him to take now. Our scripture is the prophecy in Isaiah most closely associated with the baptism of Jesus. It promised the coming of the Beloved One, who would be led by the Holy Spirit and would bring God's ways to earth in lowliness and sensitivity. As we listen to this prophecy again, we experience something of the anguish and hope of the Jewish people at the time when this prophecy was given to them; we take strength from the ways which Jesus applied the prophecy in the marvelous witness of his life; and finally we learn something about how divine love can be translated in our living so others, even strangers, can learn of God through us.