Epiphany 2 / OT 2
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit."
-- John 1:33
If the first three gospels emphasized the human side of Jesus in whom the divine was slowly revealed, John approached Jesus from the divine perspective. Yet, in doing so, he clearly drew upon the tradition of Israel provided in the Hebrew scriptures. John declared, "Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." The image of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:1-13), by which the Hebrews were delivered from the plague of death in Egypt, was transformed into the Lamb of God that delivered the world from sin that led to death. Later, Andrew would speak of Jesus as the Messiah and quickly translated the word so that we would understand that it meant "the anointed" -- or God's chosen one. While this was God's chosen one, he clearly was connected with what God had been doing with Israel all along. John also made clear that he knew this not because of his own knowledge but from God's revelation. Further, he declared that God revealed this in the midst of John's being obedient to his call. "I myself did not know him but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me...." The journey of faith does not begin with revelation. It begins with being obedient to God's call, and God provides us with understanding as we go along.
-- John 1:33
If the first three gospels emphasized the human side of Jesus in whom the divine was slowly revealed, John approached Jesus from the divine perspective. Yet, in doing so, he clearly drew upon the tradition of Israel provided in the Hebrew scriptures. John declared, "Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." The image of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:1-13), by which the Hebrews were delivered from the plague of death in Egypt, was transformed into the Lamb of God that delivered the world from sin that led to death. Later, Andrew would speak of Jesus as the Messiah and quickly translated the word so that we would understand that it meant "the anointed" -- or God's chosen one. While this was God's chosen one, he clearly was connected with what God had been doing with Israel all along. John also made clear that he knew this not because of his own knowledge but from God's revelation. Further, he declared that God revealed this in the midst of John's being obedient to his call. "I myself did not know him but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me...." The journey of faith does not begin with revelation. It begins with being obedient to God's call, and God provides us with understanding as we go along.
