Title: What’s In a Moniker?
Text: Matthew 3:13-17
Thesis: God made Christ known as the “Son” of God.
Epiphany Series: Encountering Christ in Epiphany
• The First Sunday after Epiphany: Christ’s Identity. The First Sunday after Epiphany we encountered Christ at his baptism where God reveals to Jesus and to us who He (Jesus) is. “This is my Son, whom I love, and with whom I am very pleased.” Matthew 3:17
Background: On the last Sunday of November we began the Season of Advent in which we looked forward to the celebration of the birth of Christ. On the 25th of December we celebrated his birth and reread the stories of how the angel of the Lord appeared to both Joseph and Mary, telling them of that Mary would give birth to a boy and that they were to name him Jesus. Matthew’s gospel tells us that his birth was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14 - that his birth would signal the arrival of the Messiah and that he would be named Immanuel which means, “God with us.”
During the two weeks of Christmas, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, visited by the shepherds, dedicated to God when he was 8 days old, visited by the Magi, and escaped to Egypt after Herod decreed that all boys under the age of 2 years were to be killed. He lived there with his family for three years before returning to Nazareth following the death of King Herod.
In Luke 2 we read the story of how Jesus, when he was 12 years old, accompanied his parents on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Annual Feast of the Passover where he was inadvertently left behind when his parents returned home… when they eventually found their lost son he was in the temple sitting among the religious leaders listening and asking questions.
In Luke 2:52 we are told that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Our story today picks up some 18 years later when Jesus was around 30 years old. He has gone to Galilee for the specific purpose of being baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist, in the Jordan River.
My, how time flies when you are having fun!
January 6 marked the beginning of the Season of Epiphany and today is the first Sunday after Epiphany. The Season of Epiphany is an 8 week period on the Church Calendar in which God makes Christ known to us… it is a season in which we encounter and discover who Jesus Christ is.
Introduction - What’s in a moniker?
When I was growing up nicknames were fairly common. In high school we called the biggest man on campus, “Yogi” (as in Yogi Bear). In our town we had a guy we called “Red” and another guy we called “Slick” and another guy we called “Stretch.” My next door neighbor was a crane operator at the local gravel pit and his moniker was “Pug”. He looked like he had gone a few rounds in the boxing ring. Pug had the look of a tough guy and when he told the Newton lads to stay away from his rose bushes we did.
If I were to say “Satchimo” you would immediately think of Louis Armstrong. If I were to speak the name “The Frig” or “The Refrigerator” you would think of William Perry who played for the Chicago Bears. “The Duke” brings John Wayne to mind. For golfers, “the Golden Bear” was the moniker given Jack Nickalaus. And we all remember “Ole Blue Eyes” was Frank Sinatra.
A moniker has the power to transform a person’s identify. If I were to ask you if you have ever heard of Ernest Evans most would say they have not. But if I asked you if you have ever heard of Chubby Checker you would immediately think of “The Twist” and you would know who Ernest Evans is. If I were to ask you if you have ever heard of Antonio Dominique you would wonder who he might be but if I say Fats Domino you immediately think of the singer of “Blueberry Hill.” No one has ever heard of Stefani JoAnne Angelina Germanotta but who has not heard of Lady Gaga. We are stumped by the identity of Marshall Bruce Mathers III but we have all heard of Eminem.
Monikers generally serve a purpose: A moniker is a name given to a person that generally reflects something about that person. A moniker gives us added insight into who the name-holder is.
The origin of the word “moniker” is from the Irish “shelta” language and is derived from the word “munik.” It is a slang word for “name.” In the Shelta language they prayed, “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your munic or moniker or name.”
When we give someone a “moniker” we are essentially creating a new identity. In Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples who the public thought he was and some said “John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” And then Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” And Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Then Jesus spoke to Simon and said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (Petra) I will build my church.” You are Petros or you are “rock” or you are “stone.”
There is some discussion as to what all that exactly means in that Jesus referred to Peter as Petros which means rock but refers to a separated rock. It could be a stone you toss or a boulder. But then Jesus used the feminine form for rock which is Petras when he said, “and upon this rock or petras, I will build my church." Petras means a mass of immovable rock. In other words, Jesus said, “You are Petros, a stone but upon this Petras, this immovable mass of rock I will build my church.” So was the Church to be built on Petros the Petras? Or was the Church to be built no on Peter the Petros but upon the Petras – the Petras being the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God”
But at any rate, they no longer called him Simon… they called him Peter. He had a new moniker or a new identity. Rock or maybe on occasion, Rocky…
Our text begins today with Jesus arriving at the Jordan River where his cousin John the Baptist is busy baptizing people.
I. God make Christ known through John the Baptist, whose sole purpose in life was to make Jesus Christ known.
John, quoting from Isaiah 40:3 said, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘make straight the way for the Lord.’” John 1:23
We love it when we hear a spectacular voice and especially so when it comes from the throat of an unlikely person.
Susan Magdalane Boyle captured our hearts when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" on “Britain’s Got Talent.” She was somewhat dowdy or frumpy in appearance. The judges and the audience smirked when they saw her walk onto the stage. She was oxygen deprived at birth and was labeled as a child with learning disabilities. But when she opened her mouth to sing, no one smirked. She has a golden voice.
More recently we have been fascinated by the voice of Ted Williams, a former addict and homeless man living on the streets of Columbus, Ohio. He was discovered by a news reporter who heard him giving his radio voice spiel on a street corner while panhandling for money. Since then he has been given the moniker: The Man with the Golden Voice.
The Man with the Golden voice has appeared on the Today Show, taped a voice-over commercial for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that will be aired tonight during the Kraft Fighting Hunger Bowl in San Francisco. Oprah wants him to appear on her show. Jack Nickelson wants him to co-star with him on his upcoming film. And he may land an announcing gig with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
There was a man in the bible, who is also known for his voice, albeit, not so golden.
We are first introduced to John the Baptist in Luke 1 when an angel of the Lord came to Zachariah and told him that he and his wife Elizabeth were to have something of an immaculate conception themselves -that that despite their old age and the odds, they would be blessed with the birth of a son whom they were to name John. The angel of the Lord spoke of how special their son would be and that he would be the forerunner to the Christ.
Upon learning that she was to give birth to the Christ, Mary packed an overnight bag and went to the hill country to visit Elizabeth, who was her relative. And when Elizabeth greeted Mary the bible says the baby in her womb leapt for joy.
Years later when John had grown up and was something of an eccentric preacher known as John the Baptist. His baptism was called a baptism of repentance in which he called people to come and turn from their sins to God.
In the book of John , when questioned about his identity John the Baptist told his questioners that he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.” John 1:23
On another occasion John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus approaching, pointed to him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”
John the Baptist is the one foretold by the Prophet Isaiah that would be, “A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…” Isaiah 40:3-5
John the Baptist was the voice God sent to prepare the way for the introduction of his Son, Jesus Christ, to the world.
But it was the voice of God doing the introducing when Jesus was baptized.
II. God made Christ known at the time of Christ’s baptism.
“And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17
While we were in Wheaton with our family after Christmas I learned that our son-in-law and a group of his friends go out to eat once a month. This year they are in search of the best burger in the Chicago area. They have varied standards for comparing and judging the burgers they eat from month to month. Some are looking to compare apples to apples, i.e., meat to meat, condiments to condiments, buns to buns, fries to fries, etc. Some are just looking for the burger that tastes like a party in their mouths… which is to say, they just want to find the most tasty and fun to eat burger in the Chicago area.
Anyway, on the day when they were meeting to go in search of the best burger, the guys gathered in our son-in-law’s driveway. I arrived as they were arriving and they were standing in a little cluster chatting when I got out of my car. I was a bit nervous… I didn’t know if I should just get out and slink away trying to be as unintrusive as possible or go over and introduce myself and proceed to educate them on the qualities of a great burger. But I need not have given it a thought.
As soon as I got out of my car our son-in-law introduced me to his friends saying, “This is my father-in-law, whom I love, and in whom I am well pleased.” (Well, maybe not quite like that…)
Matthew 3:17 and Matthew 17:5 serve a bookends to introduce and affirm the identity of Jesus Christ.
God speaks at the onset of Jesus’ earthly ministry identifying him as his Son and then toward the conclusion of his earthly ministry, God speaks again saying nearly the same thing as in Matthew 3.
In the story Jesus has come to be baptized by John. John immediately resists... Jesus does not need to repent and be baptized. Jesus does not need to turn from his sins and to God and in so doing live no longer unto sin but to do righteousness. Jesus never sinned and consequently there was nothing of which to be repented.
But Jesus insisted simply stating that his baptism was necessary to fulfill all righteousness.
I’m not sure what that means. I don’t know if the baptism was necessary to demonstrate solidarity with the human race or if it was a demonstration of Christ’s humanity and the necessity of the Holy Spirit to empower him for his ministry or if the baptism was simply the way God planned to introduce his Son to the world.
But what God said is interesting. As Jesus was coming up from the water the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” This is my Son! I love him! And he pleases me!
That moment in history was an epiphany… in that moment God directed the attention of all mankind of all time to Jesus and said, “This is my Son!” And today we know Jesus as the Son of the living God.
Conclusion:
A few weeks ago our children presented a Christmas Program on Sunday morning. While it may be true that here at Heritage we believe all the men are handsome, the women are all good looking and all the children above average… it may not be entirely true. However, it does not matter to us if the children’s Christmas program is the worst Christmas program ever. We would stand and give a standing ovation to the worst Christmas program ever because we love our children and we are proud of our children. We applaud them and celebrate who they are because we love them.
When we hear the voice of God speaking at the occasion of Jesus’ baptism we need to hear the voice of a loving Father who is in a close and loving relationship with his son. We need to hear the voice of a Father who takes great delight and pleasure in his relationship with his son.
Hear God say, “This is my Son, whom I love and in whom I take great delight!”
A couple of years later we hear God speak again saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased, and Listen to him!” Matthew 17:5
This morning we have encountered Jesus Christ and God has given us an additional insight into who Jesus is: Jesus is the Son of God. And God’s Word to us is this: Listen to Him!
