An ‘epiphany moment’ is a dramatic new
and life-changing understanding of an important idea. It is when we suddenly ‘see’
or ‘get it’ and come to a deeper understanding of an important truth. For
example Isaiah 49.1-7 is a prophecy that Israel will be restored by the words
of by a despised and obedient servant – as opposed to the mighty army of a warrior
king that the people had hoped for. John has a similar Epiphany moment when he
realizes that his humble cousin Jesus, is the long expected Messiah who will
save the whole world from its sin by acting as the sacrificial ‘Lamb of God”.
These Epiphany moments prepare us for our own Epiphany moments as we grow in
our spiritual life.
1. Isaiah’s Epiphany moment was a prophecy of a divine servant
In the Prophecy we are told the servant will be:
·
“despised
and abhorred by the nations”.
·
He
will be like a “polished arrow” with a ‘mouth like a sharpened sword”
·
Instead
of leading an army the servant will be obedient and speak words of great power
·
He
will restore Jacob and the remnant of Israel
·
He
will also be like a light to the Gentles
This would be a Epiphany moment because the Hebrew people were probably still in captivity in Babylon when this was written. They were hoping for a mighty military leader who would raise an army and restore Israel to military greatness. In the time of Jesus they were still clinging to the dream of military greatness and sovereignty. This is why the leadership mostly failed to recognize Jesus and had Him executed for blasphemy – claiming to be the Messiah falsely. They could not believe or understand the Prophecy of a “servant” who would restore Israel.
2.
John’s Epiphany moment – Jesus was the “Lamb of God”
John was the first person to realize who
Jesus really was. He had a vision or physically saw the Holy Spirit come over
Jesus – and remain on Him when Jesus was baptized. John also had a verbal ‘word
from God’ that this was the sign of “the one who will Baptize with the Holy
Spirit”. Since only God could send the Holy Spirit, Jesus was the long expected
divine Messiah. This Baptism of the Holy Spirit would be a New Covenant based
on personal relationship with Jesus.
Jesus was the “Lamb of God” because He was like a sacrificial
lamb or scapegoat. The Hebrews dealt with the problem of sin by ceremonially
praying the sin guilt of people onto an animal and then shedding the blood of
the animal. The scapegoat was simply sent out into the desert to die. This did
not seem to be working very well. In Jesus we see God reaching out to make a
new Covenant in the shed blood of Jesus. We are promised that if we believe
that Jesus could die in our place for our sins and if we repent and ask
specifically for forgiveness, Jesus will take our guilt to the Cross and
Forgive us. Our faith and baptism into Jesus connects us emotionally and personally
to Jesus. We are in a sense part of him and so spiritually with Jesus on the
Cross. In repenting and confessing our sins to another person we die to our
love of them and they lose their power over us.
3.
The Readings challenge us to be ready for Epiphany Moments
Our Epiphany moments are probably less
dramatic and profound but we do get our spiritual eyes opened so we can
understand:
·
How
the supernatural dimension works
·
Our
relationship to God
·
Who
Jesus is
·
How
the Holy Spirit both convicts us of sin and blessed us with gifts of love, joy,
peace and healing
·
How
to protect ourselves from evil
Epiphany
moments come to those who search for truth
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