Proclaimed on January 16, 2005

A sad day in my life was when Bill Watterson discontinued publishing his comic strip “Calvin & Hobbs.” It starred Calvin, a precocious six-year-old boy with a college IQ joined to a run away youthful imagination. Part of his raging imagination involved a rag-doll tiger named Hobbs. When other people were not around, Hobbs would become a living playmate, as well as Calvin’s nemesis.

In one adventure Calvin and Hobbs are speeding down a hill in a little red wagon. While negotiating dangerous curves, ravines, and other obstacles, Calvin begins sharing his philosophy of life with Hobbs. He states, “They say the secret of success is being at the right place at the right time. But since you never know when the right time is going to be, I figure the trick is to find the right place, and just hang around. And if the right place is in front of the drug store, we could read comic books while we wait!” Hobbes simply responds saying, “Calvin, being with you, its just one epiphany after another!”

I have pondered whether Bill Watterson is an Episcopalian. The word “epiphany” is not a part of our everyday language. Indeed, I never knew what it meant until I became a part of the Church. Then I learned it had something to do with the Magi following a unique light in order to locate Jesus. Since then my understanding has grown. An epiphany is what happens within us when we learn something new or see something in a new way. In science it is referred to as an “aha” experience. In the comic strips it is communicated by a light bulb being drawn above the head of a character.

Our Gospel lesson today reflects such an epiphany. It is the story of the baptism of Jesus from the perspective of the Gospel according to John. This Gospel has some unique features that distinguish it from the other three Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were perhaps written within twenty to thirty years of the life of Jesus. Their emphasis was placed on the actions of Jesus and the events of his life. John, on the other hand, focuses less on action and more on meaning. He attempts to answer the question as to what these events ultimately meant. Therefore, this Gospel is more theological and perhaps less historical.

The theological question that this Gospel is trying to answer is, “How can we offer sacrifices unto God if the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed?” When the other Gospels were written the Temple in Jerusalem was probably still standing. John, on the other hand, wrote his account following the Temple’s destruction by the Romans in 70 AD. This destruction threw both the Synagogue and the Church into turmoil. When the Temple existed a lamb without blemish was sacrificed daily both in the morning and the evening for the sins of the people. The purpose of these sacrifices was to break the cycle of sin and death. In the Law of God it was permitted that you could demand an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth when you were wronged. However, the penalty for our wrongs against God was death. The purpose of the sacrifices in the Temple, therefore, was to provide a sacrificial substitute for the people. Therefore, if there was no Temple, then no sacrifice could be made and the people were vulnerable to God’s justice. The Temple and sacrifices guaranteed the survival of the people.

The writer of the Gospel according to John addressed this dilemma. While it did not describe the actual baptism of Jesus as it occurred, it did provide the theological meaning of this event by having John the Baptizer identify Jesus as “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” This is significant because John the Baptizer was the son of a Temple priest. Indeed, John gave up this vocation in the Temple in order to function as a prophet in the Wilderness. John the Gospel writer, however, views the act of John baptizing Jesus as a symbol. The act of Jesus becoming submerged into the water symbolized his death. His ascent from the water symbolized his resurrection. When the dove descended upon him, Jesus’ ascent into heaven to be at the right hand of God was symbolized. Therefore, in baptizing Jesus John was merely functioning as a Temple priest offering up the sacrificial lamb. The Gospel writer would thereby have us believe that the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus fulfilled and made unnecessary the continued sacrifices in the destroyed Temple.

This understanding of the baptism of Jesus and its ultimate symbolism becomes an “epiphany” for the people of God. In Jesus, Divine justice has been satisfied. Jesus died on our behalf. He took all our sins upon him. Therefore, his death becomes our death. His resurrection to new life becomes the vehicle through which we receive new life--his life. His ascension places Jesus in a position that when God looks at us God views only Jesus and not our sin.

This understanding remains an epiphany for us as well. My former parish had a huge oak altar on a raised platform. On the front of it was a carving of a lamb reclining on a Bible with seven seals coming from its pages. Rising behind it was a banner. It is an image straight out of the Book of Revelation that represents the victorious Christ. Here is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. For those us approaching that altar it was a striking reminder that on this altar in which we consecrated the Eucharistic elements, the cycle of sin and retribution between God and ourselves has been ended. It further beckoned us to do the same with one another.

Perhaps, like Calvin in front of the drug store reading comics, we are at the right place and the right time when we kneel before the altar each Sunday to share in the Table of our Lord. It is truly here that we can experience our own epiphanies, one after another; for it is here that we can behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That includes my sin. It also includes yours. It is this Lamb of God that opens for us the way to the Divine.