First Things First

A Homily for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
The Rev. Marq Toombs+, Curate

In the Name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Once upon a time, when I was a newlywed, dirt poor, ministry student, my wife and I received an anonymous gift with strict instructions to “do something fun and not pay any bills.” One thing we decided to do was buy a video cassette player. The model we selected came with the movie Hook as a bonus. In one of my favorite scenes, a brooding Captain Hook says to Mr Smee:

“I’ve just had a sublime vision. All the jagged parts of my life have come together to form a complete and mystical whole. An epiphany.” 

Mr. Smee says, “An epiphy-what?!”  

A moment later a bell dings, Mr. Smee’s eyes brighten, and he says: “Captain, I’ve just had an apostrophe — lightning just struck my brain.”

Like Mr Smee, I too have had an apostrophe or two about Epiphany, Jesus Christ, and the gospel. 

It’s my hope and prayer that the Spirit will strike your hearts like lightning and use this homily and the Eucharist to give you a mystical and sublime vision of Christ our Savior. An Epiphany. 

First things first. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ begins with a prophetic word from Isaiah the prophet and John the Baptizer. Both men served to prepare the way for the Lord – and to prepare the world for his coming. 

Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus, high and lifted up in the temple, and prophesied about him. “A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.” (Isa.60)

John saw the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and pointed everyone to him. “Behold, one greater than I is coming!” 

Who was John? 

John was a prophet. A messenger. A visionary. A preacher. A voice crying in the remote and wild places of the world. Crying, without weeping; crying, and warning; crying, with rejoicing.  

John was a priest. Like his father before him, John was a sacred minister. “True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with God in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from sin.” Like your ministers, John preached Christ and administered sacraments. As a priest, John baptized sinners and heard their confessions. He gave them pastoral care and spiritual direction. 

John was a portent. Not a shabby tent. Not a wealthy-adjacent tent. A portent – a sign “to give light to them that sit in darkness and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” His whole ministry was sacramental — a sign that pointed to something greater. That’s why his vestments and diet were so strange. 

Why did John eat locust and wild honey? John ate locusts to devour that which devours. He ate honey to delight in that which delights. By these signs, he showed the end of the plague and the fulfillment of the promise; he signified the end of the curse and the beginning of the blessing.  

Why did John vest in camel skin? John wore camel skin to fulfill the Scriptures. It is written that camels, old and young, would come to the Christ. The Magi came from far away, riding on camels and bearing gifts for Jesus. And John came dressed like a camel to bear his bride to him. 

The Rev. Dr. Peter Leithart (and others) makes a wonderful connection between Mark 1 and a story in Genesis 24: 

“The word ‘camel’ appears most often in the story of Abraham’s servant who was sent out to procure a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac.” 

When the servant arrives at a spring of water, he prays for success. A beautiful young virgin comes out and gives water to him and his camels, as much as they can drink. Then, on behalf of his Master’s son, the servant gives her lavish gifts and makes a marriage proposal. After much conversation, she told her parents, “I will go with this man.”

When the servant returns from his mission, Isaac is praying evening prayer out in the field. When Isaac looks up, he sees camels coming towards him, and one of them is bearing his new Bride Rebekah.

Here’s the connection to the Gospel: John, wearing camel skin near many waters, shows that he is a servant of the Father who is procuring a bride for the promised Son. John is like a beast of burden that bears the beautiful Bride; a camel that carries the Church to the Christ. John is the friend of the Bridegroom who protects the bride and the groom and prepares a wedding feast for them. 

Now, when John baptizes Jesus, there is more going on than meets the eye. 

In this baptism, we see flashbacks of the story of the prophets Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2). Elijah wore strange hairy clothes and a leather belt. (He was like John’s patron saint.) When Elijah crossed over the waters of Jordan, Elisha followed him. After they had passed through the waters, the sky ripped open and fire fell and Elisha received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. 

When John baptizes Jesus, we see the fulfillment of that prophetic imagery – the reality of the foreshadow; the fulfillment of righteousness. Jesus received a double portion of John’s spirit. 

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the King and Savior of the world. The Son of God, in the flesh, is fully God and fully man. 

In this story, Jesus is also the true and better Isaac, the beloved Son of promise and laughter, who brings joy to his Father in whom he is well-pleased.

And Jesus appears as the true Israel who comes to take back the promised land – to conquer it, not in a political way, but in a spiritual way. 

Here, Jesus crossed the Jordan River in baptism in order to fight the good fight of the faith and to wage war on the world, the flesh, and the devil. And he embarked upon that mission – not as a lone wolf, a maverick, or a superhero – but as the Son of God in the power of the Spirit and the love of his Father. 

With that kind of divine support, Jesus can face anything without fear. That’s a good thing because Jesus has come to kill the dragon and get the girl!

Finally, Jesus comes to the Jordan River as the true and better Joshua, as the commander of the army of the Lord. Unlike the first Joshua, Jesus does not conquer people with carnal weapons like swords, shields, and spears. Jesus conquers sinners in love, by changing one heart at a time, and converting one soul at a time, and casting out sins and demonic powers one person at a time. 

By the power of his Spirit, his Word, and his Cross, Jesus conquers enemies by changing them into friends. 

Jesus wields the sword of the Spirit in order to reclaim sinful Canaanites-at-heart who have rebelled and resisted. 

Jesus came to reclaim you. To rescue his people from darkness and death. To reverse the curse. To restore blessing. To remove the thorns and thistles of sin from our hearts. To replenish the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. To restore all his people from one end of the earth to the other. To redeem the lost. To renew the world. 

How does Jesus do all this? How does he conquer the fortified cities of our calloused hearts? 

He does it by the power of the truth of the gospel! In steadfast love and faithfulness, he calls us to return to him, to receive his overtures of mercy, and to respond with a changed heart, a consecrated life, and confident faith. 

So, how shall we now live? As the Epistle teaches (Rom.12), we must: 

Repent: Hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Rejoice: In hope, be patient; in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 

Relent: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. 

Repay: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Resist: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now, would you like to hear some good news? I mean really good news? Good news that sounds too good to be true? Here it is: 

It is likely that you feel unworthy to stoop down and untie Jesus’s sandals. How much more to kneel and bow down before him and offer your gifts and sacrifices in worship? How much more unworthy do you feel to participate in his Body and Blood – even as the Bride of Christ – to take him in your hands and kiss him with your lips? 

And yet – and yet! – the same Father who loves Jesus and is well-pleased in him also loves you and is well-pleased in you for the sake of his Son. Your heavenly Father is as proud of you as he is Jesus, because you are united to him by baptism. 

And the same Spirit that descended on Jesus also dwells in you, the Bride of Christ. He says, “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, my dove, my perfect one, behold, you are beautiful!” 

And the same heavenly veil that was torn open for Jesus has been torn open for you, from top to bottom, so that you may come up higher and go further up and further in. You are no longer shut out of heaven.

So, because of the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the peace of the Holy Spirit, lavished upon you in baptism, you are worthy. You are worthy to draw near by faith, with hope, in love. You are worthy to take your place at the Table of the Lord. Truly, that is good news.

All the jagged parts of this homily have come together to form a complete and mystical whole. An Epiphany. And that brings us to the Eucharist. 

My little children, as a father in Christ, hear what I say: We are a remnant of people in the Spirit, on the Lord’s day, old and young alike. We are a congregation of men, women, and children ascending the Holy Mountain of the Lord of hosts. 

In light of all the good news we have seen and heard today, let us bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar, for he has made his light shine on us. Let us give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious and his mercy endures forever. ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek his face. I myself am going’ (Zech.8) up to the altar, and I urge you to come with me. Amen.