"Because God Was With Him”

 Isa 42:1-9 & Acts 10:34-43

 

This second Sunday of Epiphany our readings continue to show us how Christ has been made manifest to the Gentiles. However, over time, it is easily lost as to what the manifestation of Christ means. From both Isaiah’s text and Peter’s sermon in Acts 10, makes clear: Jesus Christ is Lord of all and everything he does is because God was with him. (Acts 10:38) The good that Christ does, the tenderness in which he does it, is all because God is with him. Jesus is our Fixer! Everything broken about our world and us Jesus fixes.  What is made manifest in what Jesus does is the truth that God was with him. 

Because God was with Christ, he is with his people, Jew and Gentile, in the same way he was with Christ. Because God was with him, we have a Messiah, a message, and a mission with a majestic end. 

This message will show how Christ’s manifestation is the driving force behind the Christian life.