The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, January 10th: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22)

BAPTISM OF THE LORD: DIVINITY REVEALED

Thruout the Christmas season we have been celebrating the Incarnation, that wonderful, mysterious miracle when God entered time and space and became a human being. The primary focus of Christmas is on the humanity of Jesus.

Some people never get past this Christmas focus. To them, Jesus remains forever a helpless baby in a manger. Helpless babies don’t challenge people to admit their sinfulness and beg for forgiveness. Helpless babies don’t declare, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23), or, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot….because you are lukewarm…I am about to spew you out of my mouth!” (Revelation 3:15-16).

For many people, focusing exclusively on Jesus’ humanity is the safe, comfortable way to practice the faith. Certain so-called Christian denominations go so far as to preach that Jesus was ONLY human, nothing more than a good and wise teacher with some terrific ideas on social justice. All that stuff about miracles, resurrections, and Jesus’ divinity are dismissed as unscientific silliness. (You can spot these denominations by their dwindling membership rolls and their near fanatical devotion to trendy Politically Correct causes, such as unfettered abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and Marxist economic policies. Often they can be found at prominent locations near town greens—majestic whitewashed sepulchers, which often host little more than ACLU meetings with stained glass windows.)

This week, only a couple weeks removed from Christmas Day, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Jesus goes from a newborn infant in the manger to a 30-year-old man at the Jordan River in two short weeks. (Sometimes it feels like I’ve aged 30 years in two weeks, usually when the workload at the office becomes overwhelming and commuter traffic on a poorly-plowed Interstate-84 is especially brutal.)

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord focuses on the DIVINITY of Jesus. After being baptized by John the Baptist, we read, “Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”

The fullness of the Holy Trinity was evident at that moment. God the Father declaring His love for the Son; the Holy Spirit appearing visibly and descending upon Jesus; and Jesus Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Christ (Greek for “Messiah” or “Anointed One”), thru whom salvation would come to the whole world.

And, of course, salvation is the whole point. All of our religious efforts are a waste of time if salvation—eternal life in Heaven—is not possible. Oh sure, if Jesus was only a man, some of His teachings might help us coexist a little better with our fellow human beings. But Jesus did not come to earth just to help us muddle our way thru life a little better. If there is no salvation, if eternal life in Heaven is nothing more than the pie-in-the-sky fantasy of religious fanatics, then it just doesn’t matter.

By the way, have you ever noticed how secular people demean Christians by claiming we’re so focused on Heaven that we’re no earthly good? In other words, the charge against Christians is that we’re are always looking toward a future life in eternity, so we don’t do anything useful here and now. But think about it: Who does more sacrificial giving, right here and right now, religious people or secularists? Who helps their fellow man more often—without getting paid for it—Christians or atheists? I think we all know the answer.

The fact is, believers do MORE to make this a better world, right here and right now, than secular people do. It only makes sense. As C.S. Lewis pointed out, a road to someplace special is carefully maintained. While a road to nowhere is usually abandoned and overgrown and falling apart. Christians firmly believe our earthly life is a road to somewhere special—very special. Secularists, no matter how much they insist they can find meaning in life, deep down they know their worldview teaches that death is final, which means life has no ultimate and eternal meaning; it's a road to nowhere.

So regardless of how well or poorly we muddle thru life, if our ultimate destination is the grave and permanent non-existence, then everything about our lives really is meaningless. A cute infant in the manger and miracle-denying denominations might make some people feel good—temporarily. But without the possibility of eternal life, it’s all a cruel joke. It’s an abandoned road to nowhere with weeds and cracks and crumbling pavement.

There is no meaning to life without eternal life in Heaven. And there’s no eternal life in Heaven without God. We need a genuine, supernatural, outside-of-time-and-space, all-powerful Deity to make that happen. We need the DIVINE aspect of Jesus.

Jesus was fully man and at the same time fully God. Fully man so we could relate to Him on our level and finally understand what God is truly all about. And at the same time fully God, capable of the awesome miracle of salvation and eternal life. We need both aspects of Jesus’ nature.

After preparing for the coming of the Lord during the Advent season and spending a couple weeks enjoying the Incarnation, the humanity of Jesus, now it’s time to get serious. Now it’s time to remember that our Savior, though like us in every way except for sin, was also the Divine Word thru whom the world was created. This Jesus, the awesome divine Jesus rather than the cute human infant Jesus, has the power to save us. This Jesus has the power to wash away our sins thru His death on the cross; the power to rise from the tomb three days later; the power to change us miraculously from the inside out; and most of all, the power to bring us into Heaven for all eternity.

Now that’s a Jesus deserving of our praise and worship. That’s a Jesus who can do more than give us the warm fuzzies during a Christmas Eve Nativity pageant. That’s a Jesus worth getting to know.

©2010