<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18999">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>It is unclear whether the voice from Heaven would have been
heard by all those present, but such an affirmation of status and honour would
make no sense unless it were heard publicly. Indeed, in some ways, it is
possible to read the rest of the account of Jesus' life as being public
confirmation of what is announced at Jesus' baptism.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.holytextures.com/2010/12/matthew-3-13-17-year-a-epiphany-1-baptism-of-the-lord-jesus-sermon.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.holytextures.com/2010/12/matthew-3-13-17-year-a-epiphany-1-baptism-of-the-lord-jesus-sermon.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=module-header><FONT size=4>David Ewart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>The baptism of Jesus was a important feast in the early church,
more important than Christmas. </FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://www.georgehermanson.com/2008/01/being-bathed-in.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.georgehermanson.com/2008/01/being-bathed-in.html</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>George Hermanson</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I think that John's "temptation" of Jesus presents a struggle
for us and our churches -- especially concerning "meeting needs" vs. "doing all
that God requires". There are churches whose motto is: "Find a need and fill
it." I don't think that Jesus came simply to "meet needs." I don't think that
God created churches simply to "meet needs," but "to do all that God
requires."</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt3x13.htm">http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt3x13.htm</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Brian Stoffregen<BR>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=4>Matthew’s account depicts a Jesus who explicitly
consents to baptism with saying "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness" (3:15b)—which are Jesus’ first words in Gospel of
Matthew.</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28">http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Francisco Lozada, Jr.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In his version of the Lord's Prayer, Luke has "debts," and he
means money.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Matthew uses <EM>idou</EM> to announce something
important. "Behold! The heavens were opened." This is a moment
of special revelation. The abyss between heaven and earth is
traversed. "And the spirit of God descended like a dove on
him."</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Said the prophet Isaiah, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens
and come down" (64:1) In continuity with the vision of Isaiah, God does
come down, all the way down into the muck and mire of human existence.
Moreover, God comes down not with John's fire, but as a dove, with
peace.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2011/01/l.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2011/01/l.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Petty, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Let it be so now.</EM> John’s sense of propriety, of the
way things should be or would be has been turned upside down—he is perplexed and
grasping for the order he had hoped to impose. But Jesus’ response is,
<EM>Let it Be So Now. For it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all
righteousness. </EM>Righteousness is fulfilled when the order is turned upside
down and one does not move to right it, but breathes in, breathes out and prays,
<EM>Let it Be So Now</EM>.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/baptismgospel/">http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/baptismgospel/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Russell Rathbun</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Coming onto the scene and asking for baptism, Jesus is
announcing himself as the one promised by God through the prophet long ago. And
John's response clearly indicates his awareness of himself not as the One
promised but as the one who prepares the way for that One. Jesus "announces
himself," F. Dean Lueking writes, "as the fulfiller of the grace which gives
sinners who have no standing before God a place to stand in a new relationship
to God. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/january-09-2011-i-the.html">http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/january-09-2011-i-the.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Kate Huey, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>So imagine for a moment, Working Preacher, if during your
sermon you took a moment to invite people to remember some of the more difficult
names they have been called during their lives, the names that no matter how
long ago they were uttered endure in their memories, dogging them through the
day and haunting them at night. Names like "Stupid" or "Egghead," "Fatso" or
"Ugly." Names like "Loser" or "Priss," "Know-it-all" or "Victim". Ask them to
call to mind these names for one painful moment so that they can then hear God
say to each of them, "No! That is not your name. For you are my beloved child,
and with you I am well pleased."<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=443">http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=443</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN id=ColumnistBioLbl>David J. Lose, 2011 </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In all the gospels the baptism has a mythical quality as
portraying a point where the heavenly world and earthly reality meet. It is a
kind of Chalcedonian confession set in narrative. Like the story of the star,
the opening of the heavens is a symbolic narrative making a statement about the
breakthrough which is to come.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtBaptismJesus.htm">http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtBaptismJesus.htm</FONT></FONT><FONT
size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>William Loader</DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Dean McIntyre tells a story about the greatest Christmas gift
he received this year. It was a card from the singer and songwriter Ken Medema
that contained a $10 bill in it along with the instructions to use the money as
Dean saw fit. He writes, “I had Ken’s $10 bill in my wallet when I stopped at
the grocery store on my way to work one morning. In the checkout lane next to
mine was an older couple who spoke in a thick east European accent of some kind.
They did not have enough money to pay for their purchases, which appeared to me
to be all staples—no frills or extras. They were having to decide which of their
purchases to send back to the shelves. I gave Ken’s $10 to my own checker and
asked her to give it anonymously to the young woman checking out the older
couple. It covered their deficit and allowed them to keep a few dollars in their
pocket. They were gratefully confused as I watched them head for the door.”
<BR>Isn’t that the way our baptism works? It is a gift that contains within it
the generosity of God, a gift that through us keeps on giving.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2008-01/baptized-submission">http://christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2008-01/baptized-submission</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Erin Martin, 2008</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Verse 16</EM>: “the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and alighting on him”: Has not Jesus possessed the Spirit before? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/apr01l.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/apr01l.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In submitting himself to John, Jesus combines great power and
acquiescence. Jesus is not a king who won't deign to tread the humble paths of
his servants. Jesus' hold on his power is not so tenuous that he must zealously
hold on to it at all times. For Jesus, power and humility, authority and
submission, power and relationship are not at odds.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=1/9/2011">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=1/9/2011</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Eric Barreto, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>