About This Guide: This weekly groups guide, “A Light Has Dawned,” is designed as a companion to our Epiphany 2022 teaching series, fostering discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting. Join a group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
the magi
Teaching Text: Matthew 3:1-13
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
There is an incredible place of grace and power in the world, where some of the most remarkable things happen. That place is right where God’s presence, promises, and plan meet someone who is fully surrendered and committed to obedience.
Presence
Meditate on these with others:
Take 2 minutes and spend it in silence. Prepare your heart to encounter God and each other.
Pray together: Spirit of God, I welcome everything you want to do in my heart and life today. Make me aware of your nearness. Speak to me today. Your words are the words of life. Help me notice you in other people and let me be body of Christ to those around me.
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
They came for baptism. John was plunging them in the water of the river Jordan as they confessed their sins. This wasn’t just a symbolic cleansing for individuals; it was a sign of the new thing that God was doing in history, for Israel and the world. Over a thousand years before, the children of Israel had crossed the Jordan when they first entered and conquered the promised land. Now they had to go through the river again, as a sign that they were getting ready for a greater conquest, God’s defeat of all evil and the establishment of his kingdom on earth as in heaven. —NT Wright
Jesus shows us a God who is identifying with the human experience
- humbly putting Himself in the same place as God’s people
- taking their place
- sharing their penitence and baptism
- living their life
- and one day dying their death
He is sharing our baptism so we can share His.
Baptism of fire/testing
The Fire brings different responses…
Something that both overwhelms you and makes you miserable. It is like being consumed. There seems to be no space for you.
Something that ravishes you with joy as if its the truest home you have always longed for.
Where do you go in a universe filled with the unmasked presence of God if you want nothing to do with that God?
Jesus’ own mission was quite different from what people sometimes imagine; the comfort and healing of his kingdom-message was balanced by the stern and solemn warning that when God comes back he demands absolute allegiance. If God really is God, he isn’t simply the kindly, indulgent, easy-going parent we sometimes imagine. —NT Wright
What we see in the remarkable baptism of Jesus:
A turning point
After 30 years in obscurity; we have people tell their story when they get baptized. What would Jesus have said
It is wild to think after Jesus incredible birth - we don’t see him again until he is 30.
God is often using long times of preparation; that may not seem remarkable to us, but it is very valuable to God.
Jesus public life is nourished by a deeply resourced private life with the Father.
Intersection
Willingness / surrender / obedience - right at the place of God’s presence, promise, and plan.
It may not look remarkable in the way people immediately expect but Jesus is showing us the upside down way of the Kingdom of God.
How Jesus is going to accomplish redemption; He is sharing our baptism so we can share His. We substitute ourselves for God; He substitutes himself for us.
Another critical vision we get from this story is:
Expression of God (an expression of the Trinity); it is one of the clearest places in the Scriptures:
The Son: showing us God in humanity
The Father: leading the Son and affirming Him
The Spirit: falling on and filling Jesus
The Triune God: a God unlike any we could fathom on our own
And each person of the Trinity expressed in our redemption and the healing of the world:
Potential is some of what obedience unleashes
The Spirit of God fills our obedience to God’s Word
The Father's Affirmation is resounding as Jesus obeys
New Opportunities are where Jesus public ministry begins
Do you trust Jesus has shared in your baptism so you can share in His?
Can we obey God when the end result is not clear?
Do you hear the affirmation of the Father?
Do you long for a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Love
Read these notes and discuss the questions below:
There is a temptation for each of us, to love and serve others when the results are clear, anticipated and recognized.
A practice against this type of love for recognition bias is to find ways in which we can serve others in obscurity, even if the result is never attributed to us.
Find a way in which you can serve your family, neighbors, colleagues or even enemies without getting recognized but simply for the joy of love expressed.
Pray for one another in the group.
