The Third Day after the Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 9, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 1:35-42 (NKJV)
1:35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Devotion
The word “Christ” means ‘anointed one’. In an anointing, oil is usually applied to set a person apart for a particular office or duty. Kings, prophets, and priests were all anointed. Sometimes we use the term “christening” to describe the act of baptizing a person. Someone who has been christened has been anointed by the Holy Spirit and set apart to be a child of God. Since Christ is the anointed Savior of the world, it would also follow that someone who is baptized has been united together with Christ (Rom. 6:3ff)—and thus Christ-ened.
Although there could be many Old Testament “christs” anointed for various offices, there was only one Christ. The term “Messiah” refers to that one Christ whose particular office was to be “The Lamb of God.” He was to suffer and die as a sacrificial Lamb to make atonement for the sins of the whole world. Jesus is the Christ and the Messiah. Nevertheless, He did not prefer those titles when teaching, because the Jews understood them in worldly terms. They thought of the Christ/Messiah as a revolutionary person. Jesus preferred the term “Son of man” from Daniel 7:13-14 (as we will see in tomorrow’s reading). Jesus, the Son of God, joined Himself to our human nature, and thus He is the unique God-Man, able to reconcile us to the Father.
Collect: O God, Who by the leading of a star didst manifest Thine Only-Begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know Thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of Thy glorious Godhead; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
