The Epiphany of Our Lord
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
The Baptism of Our Lord
Readings
Hymns
- 397 As with Gladness Men of Old
- 395 O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright
- 378 Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light
- 384 Of the Father’s Love Begotten
The Lord God Is Manifested in the Incarnate Son
The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. In that respect, it is a “Thirteenth Day” of Christmas; and yet, it also marks the beginning of a new liturgical season. While Christmas has focused on the Incarnation of our Lord—that is, on God becoming flesh—the season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revelation of God in that same flesh of Christ. For the Lord Himself has entered our darkness and rises upon us with the brightness of His true light (Is. 60:1–2). He does so chiefly by His Word of the Gospel, which He causes to be preached within His Church on earth—not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles (Eph. 3:8–10). As the Magi were guided by the promises of Holy Scripture to find and worship the Christ Child with His mother in the house (Matt. 2:5–11), so does He call disciples from all nations by the preaching of His Word, to find and worship Him within His Church (Is. 60:3–6). With gold they confess His royalty; with incense, His deity; and with myrrh, His priestly sacrifice (Matt. 2:11).
The Glory of the Lord Returns to the Temple in the Boy Jesus
In the days of Solomon, the Lord dwelt among His people in the temple. The glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord in the form of a cloud (1 Kings 8:6–13). Now Jesus, who is the glory of the Lord in the flesh, enters the temple to show that He Himself is the everlasting temple and dwelling place of God (Luke 2:41–52). Our young Lord, true man, subject to Mary and Joseph, reveals Himself also to be true God, whose father is not Joseph but the Almighty Father in heaven. Jesus does this at the time of the Passover. For He came to be the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Even as He was found by His parents after three days, so He would later rise from the dead on the third day that the favor of God might rest also upon us. It is by these mercies of God that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God through Christ (Rom. 12:1–5).
In His Baptism, Jesus Takes His Place with Sinners
Our Lord Jesus is baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:13–17). He partakes of a baptism for sinners in order that He might be our substitute and bear the judgment we deserve. In the water, Jesus trades places with us. Our sin becomes His sin. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. Our glory, therefore, is in “Christ Jesus, who became to us . . . righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:26–31). Jesus is the “chosen” One sent from the Father to release us from the prison house of sin and death (Is. 42:1–7). Baptized into Christ, we also become the chosen ones, beloved of the Father. We cross the Jordan with Jesus (Joshua 3) through death into the promised land of new life with God.