Sermon on January 11, 2026
“Baptism of Jesus: Balancing Humility and Righteousness”
By: The Ven. Magraret Grayden
One of the better-known sayings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is that “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”[1] I believe that is true. I also believe there are times when the arc of the moral universe takes a sharp U-turn away from justice. This past week seems like one of those times. If you are feeling off-kilter, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of crises near and far, you are not alone. But here’s the thing to remember—God is right here with us, right here in the muck and mess of real life. This is the season of Epiphany, the season that highlights the ways in which God is made manifest in the life of Jesus. It’s the perfect time to reorient ourselves, to remember in whom we put our trust and hope—in short, to ground ourselves in God. Through the gift of Holy Scripture—our sacred stories—God reminds us that we are God’s beloved, and that we are called to be in right relationship not only with God but also with each other. This is the life-giving counterpoint to the messages from the principalities and powers of this world that seek to instill fear in us and incite hatred of “the other.”
On this First Sunday after the Epiphany, we commemorate the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s worth noting that an account of the baptism of Jesus occurs in all four of the gospels. But only in Matthew’s version, which we hear this liturgical year, do we get an actual dialogue between John the Baptist and Jesus about who should be baptizing whom at the River Jordan, and why. It’s a rather curious encounter, to put it mildly. John the Baptist and Jesus are clearly adults, and even though they are cousins, they don’t seem to know each other very well, if at all. The last time they met (at least so far as we know), they were both still in their respective mothers’ wombs.
Here are two things that I think are important about Matthew’s version of the Baptism of Jesus. First, there is a delicate dance of deference between John and Jesus. John says, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” and Jesus replies “Let it be so now….” This mutual deference exhibits the quality of humility on the part of both John and Jesus. John’s humility is perhaps the more obvious—in the verses immediately preceding the passage we heard this morning, John says of Jesus “I am not worthy to carry his sandals.”[2] But Jesus also exhibits humility by presenting Himself to John for baptism, which necessarily involved a public confession of sin. As theologian Diane G. Chen has noted, in First-Century Palestine, men worked hard to amass honor and avoid shame. Public confession of sin was a source of shame, bringing with it the risk of losing face and social honor.[3] Lest you wonder why Jesus needed to repent when He was without sin, keep in mind that the Church’s theological statements about Jesus’s sinlessness postdate Matthew’s Gospel by several hundred years.[4]
The second important thing about Matthew’s version of the Baptism of Jesus is that what makes it possible for John and Jesus to navigate this delicate dance of deference is the quality of righteousness. Righteousness is not just an internal disposition. It is also relational, that is, reflected in external practices.[5] It’s about being in right relationship with God and with one another. Notice that when Jesus responds to John’s reluctance to baptize him, he does so by saying “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” It is “proper for us,” not just “proper for you.” The relationship itself is vital. There’s a lesson in that for us as well.
If you are wondering what those internal dispositions and external actions might be, you will find them in our Baptismal Covenant, which we will renew in just a few minutes. Think particularly about “loving your neighbor as yourself,” “striving for justice and peace among all people,“ and respecting “the dignity of every human being.” If you continually orient (and when necessary, have the humility to repent and reorient) your life around those promises, you will know whose you are and how you are to behave in an ever-changing world.
The word “epiphany” is derived from the Greek word epiphaneia, typically translated in English as “manifestation” or “showing.”[6] But of course, the word epiphany is also used in the secular world as shorthand for a sudden, intuitive insight or understanding—that “aha” or “Eureka!” moment when things that have been blurred suddenly come into focus. While epiphanies can be large in impact, they are usually the culmination of a series of smaller understandings. It’s as if the key piece of an intricate puzzle has fit into place, thereby revealing the way in which the remaining pieces fit so that the whole puzzle makes sense. I had something of an epiphany this week as I reflected on the relationship between humility and righteousness. Both are necessary qualities, and there is always a balance to be struck between them. It is possible to be too humble, and it is possible to be too righteous. But with God’s help, we can strike the balance in a way that honors our own belovedness and the belovedness of all creation. May it be so. AMEN
[1] For one example of this, see the transcript of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermon at the National Cathedral on March 31, 1968, accessed on January 10, 2026 at https://singjupost.com/transcript-the-last-sunday-sermon-of-mlk-march-31-1968.
[2] Matthew 3:11.
[3] Diane G. Chen, “Commentary on Matthew 3:13-17,” Working Preacher, January 8, 2023, accessed on January 10, 2026, at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/baptism-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-313-17-6.
[4] Warren Carter, “Commentary on Matthew 3:13-17,” Working Preacher, January 8, 2017, accessed on January 10, 2026, at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/baptism-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-313-17-3.
[5]See Eric Barreto, “Commentary on Matthew 3:13-17,” Working Preacher, January 9, 2011, accessed on January 10, 2026, at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/baptism-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-313-17
[6] Strong’s Interlinear Greek, accessed online at https://biblehub.com/greek/2015.htm on January 10, 2026.
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