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First Sunday After the Epiphany

Luke 3:15–22 (also Matthew 3:13–21 and Mark 1:4–11)

Isaiah 42:1–9

The three gospel accounts of Jesus’s baptism are largely the same, at least in terms of the general outline: John the Baptist is preaching, Jesus shows up, and John baptizes him. There are a variety of differences, ranging from minor word choice changes to something as obvious as the switch in point of view in the comments from the voice from heaven (switching from third person in Matthew to second person in Mark and Luke). The author of Luke, though, uses a phrase that neither of the other two authors use: “good news.” We normally wouldn’t be surprised to see this phrase in one of the gospel accounts, as it’s a phrase we use in our churches on a regular basis, and we generally agree on what we mean by it.

In the passage from Luke, though, it’s used at a place and in a way that seems rather odd. Rather than signifying some sort of salvation, it is related more to judgment. John tells the crowd that Jesus is coming to “clear his threshing-floor” and that he will burn the chaff “with unquenchable fire.” That doesn’t sound like the type of good news we talk about today. If one is the wheat, they might see it as good news, but the image of some sort of eternal punishment sounds more like the fire and brimstone sermons many of us have heard.

The church has used the phrase “good news” in this way far too many times in our long history, essentially trying to portray the eternal suffering that one will suffer without God in an attempt to force people into believing their particular brand of salvation. The “good news” in such a sermon is that one doesn’t have to endure that eternal suffering, that God has provided a way out of that eternity and into one with Jesus and the other Christians. My friends and I used to joke that they (or we, if we’re honest) were trying to scare the hell out of people. The only reason anyone needed any type of salvation was to avoid this suffering that would come if they didn’t choose to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Luke’s addition of “and fire” after “Holy Spirit,” explaining what Jesus would baptize believers with reinforces such an idea.

Perhaps, though, “good news” doesn’t refer to that idea of suffering, as it’s connected to the word “exhortations.” John is encouraging those who have come to hear him, not condemning them. Granted, he is quite clear about what will happen to the chaff, but he also seems to believe that people will follow Jesus. He tells them that Jesus, the one to come after him, “will baptize [them] with the Holy Spirit,” implying that they will want that baptism. He seems to be saying that they will be so drawn to Jesus that they will want Jesus to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. In fact, near the end of the passage, Luke’s author says, “Now when all the people were baptized . . . ” The author isn’t arguing that everyone who heard John was baptized, but people are clearly coming to hear John and responding to his “good news.”

That “good news” becomes clear once John baptizes Jesus and the voice from heaven speaks. People usually discuss this voice from heaven in one of two ways. Either they focus on the fact that it clearly shows that Jesus is God’s son or they talk about the trinity, given that all three members are in one place at the same time (assuming the voice from heaven is God). Thus, many people assume the good news here is that Jesus is God’s son.

However, there is another part of that voice from heaven’s comment that gives us more reason to see good news in the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. At the end of the voice from heaven’s comments, it says, “with you I am well pleased.” Such a statement shouldn’t be surprising, given that the voice from heaven is talking about Jesus. What’s interesting, though, is when such a statement appears in Jesus’s life. If Jesus’s mission is to come to Earth, provide a model for how people should live, and save them from their sins by dying on the cross, there is no reason for God to be well pleased with Jesus at this point, as Jesus hasn’t done anything besides come to Earth (that we’re aware of).

Instead, God makes this comment to Jesus because God is well pleased with Jesus for simply being, not because Jesus has done anything to earn God’s pleasure. God is well pleased because Jesus is God’s son. God is well pleased because Jesus is God’s beloved. In the same way, God is well pleased with us, not because of what we have accomplished or because of what we hope to accomplish, but merely because we are children of God. We are God’s beloved; thus, God is well pleased with us. God loves Jesus just as he is; in the same way, God loves us just as we are. Jesus’s entire life acts out this single principle. The passage in Isaiah says that God’s servant is one in whom God’s soul delights. We are people in whom God delights.

If that passage in Isaiah is describing Jesus or simply any of God’s servants, there is an emphasis on justice, as the author mentions it three times in just a few verses. God’s servant will bring justice to the nations or to the Earth simply by behaving as God behaves. God loves Jesus and us just as he and we are. Those of us who claim to be in God and of God should do the same. Such an approach is the way to bring justice to this world, by loving others simply for being and for being who they are. That is the good news John and Jesus bring.

Questions for Reflection or Discussion:

Where and how have you seen the phrase “good news” used and misused?

What difference does it make in our lives when we shift from seeing God’s love as something we earn to something freely given?