Epiphany

January 25, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:12-23

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
   on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
   have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
   light has dawned.’
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ –Matthew 4:12-17

Through his ministry on earth, Jesus was not reckless; he was also fearless. The gospels mention other times when he left potential danger and moved to safer regions so his ministry could continue. Think about this, his relative, John the Baptist, was perhaps held in prison for up to two years before he was beheaded. Jesus knew well what he was facing. That speaks to his intentionality at the end of his ministry when he chose to go to Jerusalem and face the cross.

We live in a chaotic world where children are afraid to go to school, where training them about the avoidance of active shooters is a necessity. Scientists are telling us that our earth may be unliveable sooner than later if we do not take steps to deal with climate change. Wealth distribution is heavily skewed toward the top 1% of the population. And we seem to need to identify worth by the color of one’s skin or their gender or sexual identity.

We are called not to hid our heads in the sand or lock ourselves behind walls of exclusion but to go into all the world and take the message of God’s love to the whole earth just like Jesus did.

Prayer: Lord, our world can be scary. Strengthen our limp hands and week knees* and help us step forth to love like you toward building your kingdom in our world. Amen.

*Derived from Hebrews 12:12

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.