10th January 2021 \u2028BAPTISM OF THE LORD (FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY)
\nTitle: The Baptism of Jesus in The Blessed Trinity
\n(Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11)
\n By Heeyoung Lim
\nToday\u2019s scripture is the very first chapter of the Bible, as God is the Creator of this world. (Genesis 1:1)
\nGod said, \u201clet there be light, and there was light\u201d. (3)
\nLight and water from Genesis 1 reminds us of the eternity in which God dwells within. God\u2019s creation brought order from chaos, emptiness, and darkness, and it has continued to fertility and fullness in the great plan of God. (2)
\nAs sufferings and struggles are all around us, the lights come up instead of going down, because we live in the light of God\u2019s word. We can practice the great lightness of being that separates night and day. God also brings the healing of the waters in our lives. (5)
\nThings came to life whenever God spoke, God’s words are enough to make things come to life in a way that God is pleased. (3) God said, \u201cvery Good!\u201d after the creation.
\nGod may not always do what we want, but He always does his work for us on time just like His creation.
\nJesus has a connection back to the waters of creation when he is later baptized in heaven-opening event. He does what God did in the beginning and reopens the world and recreates us in our present lives. (5)
\nI believe Today and 2021 will be a renewal day and year in heaven-opening event by the power of God\u2019s recreation.
\nIn Mark 1, Jesus trusts the power of God to keep on creating order out of chaos when he steps down into the waters of the Jordan descending from above with the Holy Spirit.
\nMark is the earliest and shortest of the Gospels, and it is written for Gentile readers, especially Romans. Mark opened his Gospel by confessing that Jesus was the Son of God. (1)
\nMark presents Jesus as the ultimate servant, and he emphasizes what Jesus was doing rather than what he was saying. It clearly shows Christ as a servant of action, and more than half of miracles of all thirty-five written miracles have been introduced in the Gospel of Mark.
\nOne of key messages of Mark is 10:45.
\n\u201cFor even the Son of Man came not to be served but\u00a0to serve, and\u00a0to give his life as a ransom for\u00a0many.\u201d
\nIn the background of today\u2019s passage, John’s preaching of a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was highly unusual for a Jew, because Jews thought that only Gentile need to be baptised when they convert to Judaism.
\nJohn criticized the people for guessing to be righteous just because they were children of Abraham. We know people would be rejected if they do not bear fruits of repentance. (4, Matthew 3:7-12)
\nThe baptism by John was a baptism of repentance, and it is about repentance and forgiveness. Israel was being asked to turn away from its disobedience and to start anew by turning toward the coming Messiah, Jesus. They would be forgiven from their sins and would experience God\u2019s grace through Jesus. (4) John was getting people ready as a messenger.
\nToday\u2019s Scripture invites us to bear fruit of repentance by turning away from something bad and turning in a new direction that God is pleased. It is time to acknowledge our disobedience and rebellion toward God first if we have, and need to confess our sins
\nThe location of the baptism was the Jordan River, which was several miles outside Jerusalem. (5) Do we walk our own several miles for faith? The road to God is not that far, but there would be a time to walk in a long distance for a long time. Where is our Jordan River? It can be the time and space of baptism.
\nJohn made it clear that he was the servant of the coming Servant, and his task was to prepare the way and then got out of the way. (7)
\n\u201cI have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit\u201d (Mark 1:8).\u00a0
\nThere are big differences between the John\u2019s baptism of sinners and the baptism of the sinless Jesus, and a sharp contrast between the ministry of John and of Jesus.
\nWhat happened to Jesus at his baptism? There was the affirmation of the Spirit of God and God\u2019s voice.
\nJesus saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Mark seems to suggest that only Jesus saw the heavens open and the Spirit descend. (10) The word \u201ctorn open\u201d is used again in Mark 15:38 indicating a connection between the baptism and crucifixion.\u00a0Jesus\u2019s baptism is connected to all his ministry.
\nJohn\u2019s \u201cwilderness\u201d is where the voice cries for Jesus, but Jesus\u2019 wilderness is where he is thrown by the spirit to be tempted, goes to pray (12, 35) and where he feeds the hungry. (Mark 6:31)
\nAs Jesus arises from the waters of the Jordan, he sees \u201cthe heavens torn apart.\u201d The Spirit and a voice descend in the moment of the baptism of the Lord. (10\u201311)
\n\u201cYou are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.\u201d (Mark 1:10)
\nGod speaks to Jesus and expresses His love and joy, and Jesus looks to the heavens and the voice calls out in love. (11)
\nThere was a divine voice that calls Jesus \u201cSon\u201d and \u201cBeloved\u201d and Mark describes the Spirit \u201cdescending like a dove\u201d on Jesus.
\nThis is the same voice that speaks over each of us in our baptisms and continuous faith journey.
\nWhat a wonderful and beautiful scene! What a remarkable beginning regarding Jesus\u2019 ministry! In Jesus\u2019 baptism, the Holy Spirit has the central role. Here is the blessed Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are also in the blessed Trinity, and we can hear the voice \u201cMy son and daughter\u201d and \u201cBeloved\u201d from God, and the Holy Spirit of the Lord is on us. We are not just talking about the love of God, but making that love manifest in our word, song, prayer, and life. We can celebrate God is with us when we are in the Trinity, and today is the day to be with Jesus.
\n\u201cThis is my Son, the Beloved\u201d is repeated by a divine voice (Mark 9:7).
\nGod’s love has permeated through our whole life, and we have been immersed in the Lord\u2019s grace and transformed by the Holy Spirit.
\nI hope we need to remember we are in the blessed Trinity whenever each day is given like a gift.
\nThere are three times of announcement \u201cyou are my son,\u201d is in Mark at the Baptism of Jesus (1:10), the transfiguration (Mark 9:7), and the crucifixion. (Mark 15:39) Mark stresses the continuity of the ministry of John and Jesus. Today\u2019s gospel demonstrates the beginning of Jesus\u2019 ministry.
\nSpirit-filled ministry begins as he proclaims the good news, calls people to repent and believe (14-15), and calls the first disciples\u00a0to follow him (16-20). His ministries were about salvation, faith, and making disciples.
\nSome key words through today\u2019s text are \u201cvoice,\u201d \u201cwilderness,\u201d \u201ctorn,\u201d and \u201cson.\u201d, and it can be manifested in our lives. We can hear the voice by God\u2019s word, and the heaven can be open through our prayer, praise, and life.
\nI hope we can all join God\u2019s life-giving invitation through repentance and movement toward God. God is our creator, and He is always right on time, and Jesus is the Son of God and we are the children of God. We are joining in baptism of repentance and bearing fruits of repentance. In addition, we are in the blessed Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
\nWhat is the role in the world of Christians who are baptized? The roles of Christians who are baptised with Holy Spirit can be Loving God and others, and we have faith by God\u2019s grace and transformation by the Holy Spirit.
\nFurthermore, Christian baptism has transformed us into God\u2019s beloved children, and baptism is more than an individual act. As Uniting Church Baptism includes, with God\u2019s help we can live out our baptism as a loving community in Christ, nurturing one another in the faith, upholding one another in prayer, and encouraging one another in service.
\nJesus began his ministry and preached good news after Jesus is presented and baptised by John the Baptist and empowered by the Spirit. Then he called his disciples and performed various miracles after special prayer in God\u2019s will. The rest of the Gospel describes how this beloved Son fulfills the mission given to him by God.
\nI hope we can live out our baptisms by living joyfully as God’s beloved children and faith community, leading others toward Jesus, welcoming and accepting others instead of rejecting them, and responding and answering the Lord\u2019s call to follow hm in the blessed Trinity. It is our happiness, and we can commit ourselves to participate in Christ\u2019s work on earth.
\nI expect 2021 will be your best year for the glory of God, because God is our creator, and He is our provider. We are in the blessed Trinity, and God is with you on time. <\/p>\n
Thanks be to God! Amen!
\n(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
10th January 2021 \u2028BAPTISM OF THE LORD (FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY) Title: The Baptism of Jesus in The Blessed Trinity (Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11) By Heeyoung Lim Today\u2019s scripture is the very first chapter of the Bible, as God is the Creator of this world. (Genesis 1:1) God said, \u201clet there be light, and there was light\u201d. (3) Light and water from Genesis 1 reminds us of the eternity in which God dwells within. God\u2019s creation brought order from chaos, emptiness, and darkness, and it has continued to fertility and fullness in the great plan of God. (2) As sufferings and struggles are all around us, the lights come up instead of going down, because we live in the light of God\u2019s word. We can practice the great lightness of being that separates night and day. God also brings the healing of the waters in our lives. (5) Things came to life whenever God spoke, God’s words are enough to make things come to life in a way that God is pleased. (3) God said, \u201cvery Good!\u201d after the creation. God may not always do what we want, but He always does his work for us on time just like His creation. Jesus has a connection back to the waters of creation when he is later baptized in heaven-opening event. He does what God did in the beginning and reopens the world and recreates us in our present lives. (5) I believe Today and 2021 will be a renewal day and year in heaven-opening event by the power of God\u2019s recreation. In Mark 1, Jesus trusts the power of God to keep on creating order out of chaos when he steps down into the waters of the Jordan descending from above with the Holy Spirit. Mark is the earliest and shortest of the Gospels, and it is written for Gentile readers, especially Romans. Mark opened his Gospel by confessing that Jesus was the Son of God. (1) Mark presents Jesus as the ultimate servant, and he emphasizes what Jesus was doing rather than what he was saying. It clearly shows Christ as a servant of action, and more than half of miracles of all thirty-five written miracles have been introduced in the Gospel of Mark. One of key messages of Mark is 10:45. \u201cFor even the Son of Man came not to be served but\u00a0to serve, and\u00a0to give his life as a ransom for\u00a0many.\u201d In the background of today\u2019s passage, John’s preaching of a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was highly unusual for a Jew, because Jews thought that only Gentile need to be baptised when they convert to Judaism. John criticized the people for guessing to be righteous just because they were children of Abraham. We know people would be rejected if they do not bear fruits of repentance. (4, Matthew 3:7-12) The baptism by John was a baptism of repentance, and it is about repentance and forgiveness. Israel was being asked to turn away from its disobedience and to start anew by turning toward the coming Messiah, Jesus. They would be forgiven from their sins and would experience God\u2019s grace through Jesus. (4) John was getting people ready as a messenger. Today\u2019s Scripture invites us to bear fruit of repentance by turning away from something bad and turning in a new direction that God is pleased. It is time to acknowledge our disobedience and rebellion toward God first if we have, and need to confess our sins The location of the baptism was the Jordan River, which was several miles outside Jerusalem. (5) Do we walk our own several miles for faith? The road to God is not that far, but there would be a time to walk in a long distance for a long time. Where is our Jordan River? It can be the time and space of baptism. John made it clear that he was the servant of the coming Servant, and his task was to prepare the way and then got out of the way. (7) \u201cI have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit\u201d (Mark 1:8).\u00a0 There are big differences between the John\u2019s baptism of sinners and the baptism of the sinless Jesus, and a sharp contrast between the ministry of John and of Jesus. What happened to Jesus at his baptism? There was the affirmation of the Spirit of God and God\u2019s voice. Jesus saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Mark seems to suggest that only Jesus saw the heavens open and the Spirit descend. (10) The word \u201ctorn open\u201d is used again in Mark 15:38 indicating a connection between the baptism and crucifixion.\u00a0Jesus\u2019s baptism is connected to all his ministry. John\u2019s \u201cwilderness\u201d is where the voice cries for Jesus, but Jesus\u2019 wilderness is where he is thrown by the spirit to be tempted, goes to pray (12, 35) and where he feeds the hungry. (Mark 6:31) As Jesus arises from the waters of the Jordan, he sees \u201cthe heavens torn apart.\u201d The Spirit and a voice descend in the moment of the baptism of the Lord. (10\u201311) \u201cYou are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.\u201d (Mark 1:10) God speaks to Jesus and expresses His love and joy, and Jesus looks to the heavens and the voice calls out in love. (11) There was a divine voice that calls Jesus \u201cSon\u201d and \u201cBeloved\u201d and Mark describes the Spirit \u201cdescending like a dove\u201d on Jesus. This is the same voice that speaks over each of us in our baptisms and continuous faith journey. What a wonderful and beautiful scene! What a remarkable beginning regarding Jesus\u2019 ministry! In Jesus\u2019 baptism, the Holy Spirit has the central role. Here is the blessed Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are also in the blessed Trinity, and we can hear the voice \u201cMy son and daughter\u201d and \u201cBeloved\u201d from God, and the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"10th January 2021 \u2028BAPTISM OF THE LORD (FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY) Title: The Baptism of Jesus in The Blessed Trinity (Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11) By Heeyoung Lim Today\u2019s scripture is the very first chapter of the Bible, as God is the Creator of this world. (Genesis 1:1) God said, \u201clet there be light, and…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3807,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3806\/revisions\/3807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}