It started with a parade. It started with joy and hosannas, waving crowds, celebration and welcomes. But it was not going to end that way. It was not going to end that way, and Jesus knew it.

Who is Jesus? Why should we believe in him? How could he be the Messiah – that’s just crazy talk! How could this carpenter-criminal, one who was crucified on the cross by the Romans be the Messiah, the anointed one, the one promised by God to lead the people in the Promised Land? You must be crazy? Prove it. Where is the proof?

We are in the middle of a series of readings from the Gospel of John. It started with the encounter with Nicodemus the Pharisee, and it will end with John’s telling of the Easter story on Easter Sunday. Last week, you heard me say that the Woman at the Well was the longest reading in the lectionary, but I am going to tell you that this week’s reading about the blind man is the longest one. I wonder what I will have to say next week!

At the end of every scripture reading we end with In the Beginning Was the Word and the Word was with God.

We began our Lenten journey towards Easter on Ash Wednesday this week.

For nine weeks we have been in the church season of Epiphany – the season of light, and of revelation. In this time between Christmas and Lent the readings and our worship together point us to who Jesus was and is. It began with his baptism in the waters of the muddy Jordan - ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ Epiphany ends this week with a scene on a mountain top, and an echo of those same words. What will we hear and learn about Jesus today, what will be revealed to us about him and ourselves, on this last day of Epiphany?

“God is Still Speaking.” Our UCC denomination has made powerful use of that phrase in communicating that our understanding of God’s action and relationship with us is ongoing, and evolving everyday.

There is something in the soul that cries out for freedom."

As we have learned over the past four weeks, Jesus starts his ministry – he calls his first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John.

One of the most joyful tasks and important responsibilities of a local church’s life is when we as a community recognize that someone in our midst has been called by God to ordination in the church. The road towards ordination in the United Church of Christ is both an individual journey for the person called by God, but it is also a communal journey. This past week, on Tuesday night, our own Jason Donnelly reached a major milestone on his journey towards ordination. He met with the Committee on Ministry of our local UCC association for his ordination interview. It’s called an interview – but it is more like an oral examination. And he passed. It was a very special and holy moment. Senior deacons Kim Ardolino and Betsy Mariere were there to speak on his behalf and on your behalf. Ian Tosh and Jeff Von Wald were there as members of the committee. And I was there as his pastor, standing in for Molly. There are two more steps to go through before he will become ordained, but his success last Tuesday is a major accomplishment. Take a moment to celebrate with him later this morning, and celebrate with his family as well. It is very fitting to share this news with you this week, because our scripture reading from the Gospel of Matthew is about Jesus calling his first disciples, about his reaching our to Simon Peter, James and John and saying to them “follow me and I will make you fish for people”. “Follow me” Jesus says. Jason hears that invitation in a very particular way – and we celebrate that. The story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth presented in the Gospel of Matthew, has a beginning, a middle (all about his teachings, parables, and miracles), and an end (his arrest, death, and resurrection). The passage we are about to hear is the last part of the beginning of the Gospel. The start of Jesus’ story begins with Christmas Day, then we jump to his own baptism as an adult, at the hands of John the Baptist at the Jordan river. Following his baptism, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit to the dessert for 40 days and nights, and he is tested and tempted by the devil with promises of power, wealth, and status. He could become the ruler over all the nations – the tempter says. But Jesus does not fall for it. Jesus returns after those 40 days and 40 nights, and his story now continues with these words from the Gospel of Mathew, Listen with me now for the Word of God. Matthew 4:12-23: Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: