The First Sunday of Epiphany Year A

The First Sunday of Epiphany - Year A

Isaiah 42.1–9
Acts 10.34–43
Matthew 3.13–17

Matthew’s is the only Gospel that shows
any embarrassment about Jesus’s baptism
by John the Baptist. In all of the Gospels,
John knows that his baptism is a
temporary measure, but he also knows
that it is a necessary one, and that his
own message of repentance through
baptism is part of the build-up to the
coming of the Messiah. John’s Gospel,
which, typically, does not directly refer to
Jesus being baptized, though it undoubtedly
knows about it, shows John recognizing
Jesus at once as the fulfilment of his work.
It is what John has been destined to do...

Taken from Lectionary reflections – Year A by Jane Williams

Published by SPCK