The Second Sunday of Epiphany
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Reverend Michael J. Moffitt
January 18, 2026
Are You Seeking to Know Jesus?
Text: John 1:29–42
As you can probably imagine the past month and a half was unexpected. The last time I stood in this pulpit was December 7, 2025. I didn’t feel well that morning, but I did preach and asked Bart to do the rest of the service. Later that afternoon I had a very serious heart attack that led to a five-way Coronary Artery Bypass.
Teresa and I went to Rappahannock General Hospital. God in His great mercy let me get to the hospital before the attack hit hard. While there they gave me a “clot buster” and called a helicopter to take me to Regional Memorial Hospital in Mechanicsville.
During the chopper ride I wasn’t afraid. I guess you could say that I was curious. I knew that the attack was serious and it might be time to go home to be with my Lord. However, this wasn’t just about me. So I began to pray for my dear sweet Teresa who like me had no idea what to expect. I am so thankful for the prayers and tangible ways that many in this church showed up for her and for me over the next month.
During the next few weeks I thought about Dr. Jack Arnold, our first pastor after we came to faith in Christ. There was a whole group of us, probably 40–50 people. We were a part of a large Bible study led by Richard Pratt and we were hungry for the word of God. We would all show up on Sunday mornings and march right down to the front rows of Grace Church in Roanoke, Va.
We were part of what was being called “The Jesus Movement.” That was a spiritual revival in the late 1960s, and peaked in the early 1970s. It involved young people from the counterculture, the “hippies” who were coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Many of us were attracted to strong Bible teaching from. conservative, evangelical Christianity. It was powerful and Jack, as well as the dear folks from Grace Church, loved us so well in our bell-bottom jeans, flannel shirts, sandals and long hair. They embraced us and set about making us feel welcomed into their covenant community. Jack Arnold invested time and love upon our continually growing group of teenagers and young adults.
Dr. Arnold married Teresa and me on May 26, 1973; two kids who were not ready for such a big step. He was a wonderful and prolific Bible teacher and pastor who helped us have a solid biblical foundation for the Holy Spirit to build upon.
Eventually, we started our own families and started a church of our own as our group had grown to over a hundred. Frankly, we had become a church within a church. We lost touch with Dr. Arnold who moved to Florida to lead another congregation.
Many years later I read an article about his death. The article was a tribute to the death of this man of God who died in the pulpit on January 9, 2005. Some of you may remember the story about the death of Jack Arnold as it went around the world. I want to read you a portion of the article entitled “The Preacher Who Died With Heaven On His Lips.” It was written by one of his sons, Dean Arnold.
My father died instantly in the pulpit two weeks ago after uttering his final words: “And when I go to heaven.” I immediately left Chattanooga for Orlando.
The story hit the AP Wire and was listed by Yahoo as the most-read story. A high school friend who lives in Sweden emailed me after seeing the report on CNN.
Jack Arnold, 69, was preaching in Orlando, Fla., on his life verse:
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He quoted John Wesley and pointed upward: “As long as God has work for me to do, I am immortal, but if my work is done, I’m outa here.” Moments later he spoke his last sentence about heaven, stopped, grabbed the pulpit, swayed briefly, and fell backward. Medics say the heart attack killed him immediately.
“He was just all there, and then not there at all, like a hand came through the roof and snatched him out of his body,” said Chris Williams who told me he was sitting in the front row only five feet from where Dad fell…. Even Paul Harvey reported the remarkable event. But perhaps he will let me go ahead and tell the rest of the story, which is far more poignant when you learn that my father was weak, flawed, and glaringly human. You don’t have to be perfect to finish strong.
I watched him lay in a hospital bed for weeks after a nervous breakdown two decades ago. As a child I remember him singing triumphant hymns early in the morning before preaching. But as a teenager I heard him cry out in rage and weep profusely in despair at 3 and 4 in the morning.
The article goes on to elaborate on the ups and downs of Jack’s life but also reported on the fact that he never stopped pursuing the God that he loved with such passion. Throughout his ministry Jack was used by God to teach and train parishioners. He started a ministry, Equipping Pastors International to teach pastors the word of God literally around the world. His wife Carol still works with this wonderful ministry that she and Jack started. He did this even though he struggled with his own insecurities.
As I thought about the story right after my heart attack I was reminded of how much Jack’s life and testimony meant to me. He was faithful to God even when life’s events tried to take him down. His story resonated with me because sometimes it’s easy to forget that life in Christ has challenges—and rightly so, it’s spiritual warfare, but it’s also a life filled with joy and hope even in those dark times that test our faith. Jack found it worth the struggle, and so do I.
I loved Psalm 40 that we read together this morning, especially verses 1–4. Listen again.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!
Today is the second Sunday of Epiphany. The word epiphany is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as, “an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking.” In other words it’s a sudden realization of something that previously was not clearly seen, and then suddenly is. God took Jack Arnold home to receive the reward of those who persevere to the end. God didn’t take me home, not yet. So there are things to be done to build the kingdom of God in the here and now.
During this season our focus and celebrations are of the revelation of God in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ, who became one of us so that we might be reconciled to God.
Today we will take a brief look at the Gospel of John’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. As the story unfolds for us, we are privileged to see how it unfolded for those who were to have an important role in this story.
In Chapter 1:29–36 John records the reaction of John the Baptist as he saw Jesus for who he actually was. Can you imagine what that was like. It must have felt like he had been walking around with his eyes closed and then suddenly they open to the most profound revelation possible.
It’s likely that he and Jesus were very aware of each other, as they were cousins. However, John didn’t know that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God until the Holy Spirit that had been within him since he was in his mother’s womb identified him. This was the very person that John the Baptist spoke of while baptizing in the wilderness. He had been careful to explain that his baptism with water was for repentance, but one was coming that would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
What a revelation that must have been as the Holy Spirit opened John’s spiritual eyes to understand who Jesus truly was. It was at this point where John the Baptist had an epiphany that not only revealed Jesus but he likely received a deeper understanding of his own life and ministry.
Testifying to Jesus’ true identity is a central theme in John’s gospel. If he is who he said, then this should change everything in our lives. John made a distinction between his baptism of repentance and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He knew that Jesus was offering something that he did not yet have. It’s here in this passage that the Baptist revealed that he had not initially known Jesus’ true identity. It wasn’t until he saw the Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove that he had the “Ah Hah” moment.
At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was greeted and acknowledged by the Holy Spirit and the words of exclamation from John the Baptist. They were pointing both to those present and us today that Jesus’ coming was him living into his role as the sacrifice that would bring him agony and death on the cross. He came to restore and transform those who the Father would give him and for the atonement of the sins of the world. The shadow of the cross was looming over the entire ministry of Jesus.
John doesn’t present him as the great moral example of how we should live or as a great teacher who can give us a deeper understanding. The Baptist doesn’t exclaim, “Behold the great example” or “Behold the great teacher.” Instead through the clarity given him by the Holy Spirit, he is able to rightly identify the mission as well as the identity of Jesus. He wasn’t merely a great man sent by God but as the God-man who came to dwell among us.
Jesus came to do something that only God could do: he dealt with the problem of our sin that separates us from God. If you can’t see how your sin has separated you from God then you won’t understand that you need the forgiveness of sin. Through his living sacrifice, men and women would once again be given the opportunity to be reconciled to God.
John uses the imagery of the sacrificial lamb that Israel would be well acquainted with through the Old Testament law. John reveals that the sacrificial lamb referred to throughout the Old Testament was pointing to what God was going to do for us through Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
David Guzik in his commentary of John’s gospel points out:
Jesus is the perfect example of every time that image (of sacrifice) is displayed.
• He is the lamb slain before in the Garden of Eden to cover the nakedness of the first sinners.
• He is the lamb God would himself provide for Abraham as a substitute for Isaac.
• He is the Passover lamb for Israel.
• He is the lamb for the guilt offering in the Levitical sacrifices.
• He is Isaiah’s lamb to the slaughter, ready to be shorn.”
Each of these lambs fulfilled their role in their death, this was the announcement that Jesus would die, as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. This sacrifice has the power to forgive the sins of the world and would be applied to all who lay hold of it by faith.
Even though John the Baptist was born before Jesus the son of Mary was born, when the Baptist says that Jesus had a higher rank than he did because he existed before him, he was pointing to the fact that Jesus was the eternally existing one. In the preceding verses from the Apostle John revealed the eternal existence of God—the Son from the very first words in John 1:1–5,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Now John the Baptist saw this as well and shares this with those who are standing with him. It’s amazing how the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of those who were previously blind.
Two men who had previously been the disciples of John the Baptist, turn and begin to follow Jesus. It’s the testimony of John the Baptist that causes them to be curious enough to follow Jesus when he exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
The gospel of John emphasizes the role of John the Baptist as a witness, not as a baptizer. Witnesses give testimony to what they have seen and experienced in an effort to establish the truth. Witnesses are not seen as neutral but those who are prepared to give testimony to what they believe is true. John knew beyond a doubt the identity of Jesus because he had seen with his eyes the heavens open up and heard with his ears the Father declaring, “this is my Son in whom I am well pleased” and he saw the dove descending upon Jesus.
However, it must be understood that it was likely that others were there and didn’t understand like the John the Baptist. The difference was that the Holy Spirit enabled him to experience what was going on with his senses and with the inner witness of the Spirit to understand and interpret what he observed.
It was enough evidence that two of John’s disciples turned to discover who Jesus was and why he had come. It’s interesting that the Apostle John presents Jesus as seemingly indifferent, but in reality he asked a very pointed question. John 1:37–39,
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them,“What are you seeking?”And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.”
You may have noticed they don’t really answer Jesus’ question. What Jesus was asking was vitally important. It is as relevant today as it was back then. Jesus showed that he understood their question and invites them to come and be with him.
Whatever he taught them that day, it was enough that they went to Andrew’s brother, Simon Peter, telling him that they had found the Messiah. Jesus didn’t send them back to John the Baptist because his offer was that they be a part of his life.
On the surface it would seem that Jesus was luring John the Baptist’ disciples away from him. I suspect that he was fine with that because the epiphany given to him through the Holy Spirit he knew that his calling was fading and the whole point of his calling was now there. He had faithfully proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand and now he knew that the King had come. There is such joy when Jesus is rightly revealed for who He is. Later on, in John’s gospel, the Baptist will explain to other disciples that “He must become greater, I must become less.” (3:30).
When we take the time to consider the stories in God’s word concerning those men and women who encounter the Lord, it never seems to ultimately lead to their prominence in the things of the world.
In our epistle reading from 1 Corinthians 1:1–9 we find a perfect example in the life of the Apostle Paul. Think about where he had come from as a Pharisee who was well respected by the religious leaders. I think it reasonable that some day he would have likely been the High Priest. He was a feared persecutor of the early church and responsible for the arrests, imprisonment, and death of many. Then Jesus stepped in and turned Paul’s life upside down, just like the original 12 disciples.
I have often wondered what he experienced that day on the road to Damascus when Jesus drafted him into the army of God. Whatever happened turned Paul into a servant of the Lord who had the same zeal and passion for the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ as he had for Torah as a Pharisee of Pharisees. Think about how he began the letter to the church at Corinth. “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.” This job had not been a part of his plans for the future. In this new job he met hatred and resistance from those who would at one time have been his colleagues, he was beaten, betrayed, falsely accused, and abandoned and rejected by men, yet he still stayed the course until his martyrdom.
You’ll notice the positive and encouraging words from our passage this morning. Consider 1 Corinthians 1:4–9,
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I read this scripture I had to smile because Paul’s words are so encouraging and full of the joy of being a Christ-follower where God provides him with everything he needs. He is saying that God would and had provided them with every gift they would need to persevere until the day that Jesus Christ is fully revealed.
Following Jesus Christ has always come with a cost. When we consider the price that he paid for us on the cross why would we assume that it cost us nothing. In truth it’s the most amazing gift ever given.
It’s a mistake to think that things were any different in the first century when the early church was growing. The same issues were there. Sexual perversion was rampant and child sacrifices to pagan gods had been going on for thousands of years. Paul is reminding the church at Corinth to return to the Gospel that had transformed their lives and embrace the gifts that God would supply.
That brings us back to the original question posed at the beginning of this sermon, “What are you seeking?” Is it Jesus, because you want him to bless and protect you? Is it because you ultimately want to be on the winning side? Is it fire insurance: escaping Hell?
Or is it because the Holy Spirit has revealed to you who Jesus is and nothing is more important than moving in the light of the Holy Spirit, no matter where it leads. I invite you to consider this question and ask God to reveal the answer. Let’s pray.
©2026 The Rev. Michael J. Moffitt
