Who are we looking for?



In the midst of hearing Matthew we have one Sunday reading from John, just to keep us on our toes. His version of Jesus‘ baptism is different from the other Gospel writers. It is written for a different community, using different sources and dealing with different issues. Can you spot the differences? Why do you think he wrote his version differently from the others?
As I have said before, the gospels were written to help people answer the fundamental question of “who is Jesus?” In part they were answering this question because Jesus wasn’t the kind of person you would normally follow or attach any importance to. As one of the writers I read asks, “Just exactly who is this guy from that dinky, remote, nowheresville hamlet - Nazareth? Is that what it's called? And did you say he was the bastard son of Mary? That Joseph must have been a real loser to hook up with her. No self-respecting man would marry a woman like that. So we don't even know who his real father is?[1] They had a big job to do to overcome all these reasons not to follow.
They also understood that who we understand Jesus to be shapes how we understand God, faith and what Christianity is all about. In today’s story John begins his answer with another question “What are you looking for?” So this Sunday we are invited to ask ourselves what is it that we are looking for? What do we seek in following Jesus?
Epiphany is a time when we are invited to open ourselves to new ways of understanding who Jesus is, to deepen our understanding of what we are looking for, and to discover new ways of finding Jesus in our world. This week we are invited to spend time doing all three.

[1]  David Ewart, < http://www.holytextures.com/2011/01/john-1-29-42-year-a-epiphany-2-january-14-january-20-sermon.html>

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