Bob Stillerman

We’re reading John’s gospel this morning, but somehow, someway, today’s text helps me understand Matthew’s gospel with a new sense of clarity. Matthew’s author reminds us that Jesus hasn’t come to abolish the law or the prophets – that is to abandon the covenant story of the First Testament – but instead, Jesus has come to fulfil the law and prophets (Matthew 5:17).

Two weeks ago, Mark’s author painted a picture for us: Twelve disciples, Jesus-followers, each equipped with a makeshift walking stick, and a threadbare tunic, and hand-me-down sandals, glimpsing God’s messy but wonderful kin-dom. Sure, you are bound to get a little sand on your feet when you walk along the shoreline, but with a little grit and determination, you simply shake the dust off your feet.

Verse one of Mark’s gospel reads, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.” This beginning includes a messenger. Way out in the wilderness, a fiery prophet named John the Baptist preaches a message of repentance, and forgiveness, and ultimately, one of hope. The crowds flock to John. He invites them into baptismal waters. And John tells them, “I am baptizing you with fire, but pretty soon, somebody’s coming who’s gonna baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

More than four hundred years ago, the earliest Baptists that emerged in England and Holland, held tight to the idea of a believer’s baptism. Back in those days, the Church and State were one entity. To be
baptized into the Anglican Church was to become a citizen of England.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We hear about mustard seeds, too. Remember this isn’t a scientific parable, so there’s a bit of room for exaggeration. The mustard seed may not be the smallest of all seeds, but it is very tiny, and if it was much smaller, you’d need a microscope to examine it.