January 7th, 2023

This Sunday is the First Sunday after the Epiphany, and the focus is on Jesus’ baptism, the beginning of his public ministry. The Gospel text is from the third chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew [verses 13-17], and that text follows the text that was brought up last week as we continued our ‘walk’ through the Gospel according to Matthew.

Last week was our first look at the very first historical present in that gospel account, an angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph in a dream. To give just a brief review of the term ‘historical present’, one would expect that the text says that an angel of the Lord APPEARED to Joseph, but, instead, the text says that an angel of the Lord APPEARS to Joseph. It is a thing that captures the attention of the reader or listener. And it is unfortunate that, in almost all of the translations, when the historical present occurs, it is not pointed out in the text. Only the New American Standard translation has an asterisk to indicate such a thing—but the translation is still in the past.

The first historical presents in the four gospel accounts are all important, and they are all very different as well. Although it may be helpful to see how different these other verbs are, it may be helpful, first of all, to see the bigger context of the verb ‘to appear’.
It was pointed out last week that this historical present with the verb ‘appear’ appeared twice in the text. Is this important? This is most certainly true. It is true because the next time the historical present appears, the same word appears two times again. And this will happen yet a third time. For such a noticeable pattern, there is no way that such a thing could be a coincidence.

A bigger context could be given. But, for now, we will look at the next two occurrences of the historical present in the Gospel according to Matthew. The two significant people within the text of the baptism of Jesus are 1) Jesus (of course) and 2) John the Baptist.  And both of these people are connected very closely to the second set of historical presents within this gospel account.

Below is a somewhat-literal translation of the texts which surround these next two occurrences (2:21-3:3 & 3:13):

So, the one rising [Joseph], he took the child and the mother of him and he entered into the land of Israel. So, hearing that Archelaus reigns of Judea, instead of the father of him, Herod, he feared there to go; so being warned according to a dream, he departed into the parts of the Galilee, and coming, he dwelt into a city called Nazareth; thus was fulfilled the thing spoken through the prophets, that a Nazarene he will be called.

So, in those days, he arrives, John the Baptizer, proclaiming in the wilderness of the Judea, saying, “Repent; for it has come near, the kingdom of the heavens.” For this is the one spoken through Isaiah, the prophet, saying, “A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, straight make the paths of him.”

Then he arrives, Jesus, from the Galilee, upon the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
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An angel appears twice, and then a man arrives twice. What will happen next? Stay tuned. (Or you may wish to read ahead in the New American Standard translation.)