January 10, 2026 (The Baptism of Christ)
Because today is the First Sunday of Epiphany, which is the traditional Sunday in the West for celebrating the baptism of Jesus, we will take a break from our usual reading sequence. Today, I want us to look at an account of Jesus’ baptism. Mark is my favorite Gospel, so today’s reading is from Mark 1. Since I previously preached on the baptism of Christ (though not specifically from Mark’s Gospel), I’ll link the sermon here instead of repeating what I already discussed.
Still, I want to share something with you, so here’s an interesting fact. In the Western Church, the Feast of Epiphany emphasizes the revelation of Christ to the Magi from the East. However, in the Eastern Church, the focus is on the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God during his baptism. In fact, in the East, Epiphany is sometimes called “Theophany.” On one hand, we have the revelation to the Gentiles; on the other, the revelation of Jesus’s divinity.
The Western tradition treats this difference by always celebrating the baptism of Christ on the first Sunday after Epiphany, keeping the two closely linked. Both events are explicitly mentioned (along with the miracle at the wedding at Cana) in our eucharistic prayer during the season of Epiphany. Essentially, instead of choosing one over the other, we celebrate both!