Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be
baptized by him.”
Why? Why does Jesus need to be baptized? John didn’t
understand it. His baptism was for repentance, for sinners. We baptize for the
same reason. You read it from the Small Catechism: “It works forgiveness
of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all
who believe this.” Lest anyone think Luther was merely playing in a water
fountain, he cites the word of Christ: Whoever believes and is baptized will be
saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” In the gift of Baptism,
water and word are combined by the power of the Holy Spirit to kill the old
Adam, the old Eve, the sinful nature that is within each of us, and bring a
new, spirit-filled child of God, to life. Baptism drowns; Baptism births new
life; Baptism buries; Baptism raises.
John baptized sinners who were reptant because the Holy
Spirit was at work through John’s message, but there stood Jesus, wanting to be
baptized. John was right: Jesus is the sinless Son of God, the Lamb of God who
has come to take away the sins of the world, but He is asking to be baptized?
John argues that he should be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around; John
realizes he’s not worthy of untying Jesus shoes, yet Jesus comes to him to be
baptized?
Jesus says it is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.
Isn’t that an interesting phrase, “to fulfill all righteousness”? If you were
to chase the word “righteousness” through the Scriptures, you would discover
that righteousness is not something that is demanded or commanded by God of His
people. It is in fact that exact opposite: righteousness is a declaration,
something given by God to His people. In the Old Testament, and especially in
the Psalms, righteousness is the saving deeds of God that HE does on behalf of
His people. The Germans have a wonderful word for this – heilsgeschichte
– that loosely means the story of salvation. Over and over the story of
salvation is grounded in the righteousness and saving acts of God. These are so
closely related that it’s as if Jesus is saying, “Do this, John, to fulfill my
Father’s plan of salvation.”
Jesus must submit to John’s baptism, not for Himself, but to
save the very people John has baptized, that the Church has baptized, that have
been baptized in this font. In that Jordan river moment, you see a picture of
how Christ will save His people from their sins: He stands among us, with us,
and for us. He takes our place, and in receiving the sinner’s baptism from
John, Luther says it’s as if all of the world’s sins that have been washed away
from us are washed onto Him. For us, Baptism is “a washing of renewal and
rebirth by the power of the Holy Spirit, but for Jesus, that in that moment, “God
made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.”
This baptismal picture is a foretaste of what is to come.
Jesus doesn’t stop standing among us, with us and for us when he leaves the
river. He continues in our place all the way to the cross. Ultimately, that is
where all righteousness is completed and fulfilled, where and when the innocent
Lamb of God is offered as the once-for all, one-for-all sacrifice in the place
of many. That is why it is fitting for Jesus to come to the Jordan and be
baptized to – literally and spiritually – stand in the place of many.
Still dripping from the baptismal washing, Jesus climbs out
of the water. The first word is “Behold.” That’s the Gospel writers way of
saying, “Look at this! Pay attention! This is important!”
“Behold, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him.” We speak of
once-in-a-lifetime event; usually those are milestone firsts – a first kiss, a
first step, a first child’s birth. This isn’t as much a first, but an end-times
event: the heavens are opened, the Spirit descends as a dove. It’s as if the
Father is answering any questions even before they are answered: “Who is this
guy, and what’s all the fuss from John about baptizing him?” Jesus, who is the
perfect Servant of God, having now received the Spirit of God, will perform the
work of bringing righteousness to the nations, ministering to the crushed reeds
and smoldering wicks – the repentant, contrite and faithful - remaining in
Israel.
A second call, “Behold,” this time alerting us to the
Father’s voice: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The
voice of the Father identifies Jesus as His Son. I think this is a bit of a
Divine play on words here. Not only is Jesus God’s Son by virtue of the Virgin
Birth conceived in Mary by the power of the Spirit, but He is also the entire
summation of all of God’s people reduced into one. In other words, Jesus, the
Son, embodies all of God’s people. Christ, the sinless Son of God, stands in
the place of God’s son, the Church, that needs saving. The One who has come to
be baptized in the place of sinners does so as God’s sinless Son by right, so
that He can save God’s sons and daughters that are lost in sin. Jesus is truly
the Son of God who fulfills all righteousness for His Father’s people.
Matthew used the word, behold, two times. Behold means to
look at something, to see something, and to do so with great attention for
detail. So, let’s do that very thing: let us behold what this means for us. Close
your eyes for a moment: Behold! See Jesus, standing in the river with water
cascading down his face. Behold! Look closely – look at features, face, hands,
body. Zoom out just a bit. Behold! Do you see the Spirit descending, the dove
alighting? Behold! See the heavens parting? Now, zoom back in at the face. Do
you see Jesus? Now, I want you to let His face morph and change so that you see
your own face. See your own face standing in the Jordan. Behold! Christ stands
there for you! Behold! Christ stands in your place! Behold! Christ takes your
sins onto and into Himself and, in your baptism, His holiness and righteousness
is washed onto you. Behold! You are made holy. The transformation is so
complete that – Behold! – as you look upwards, even with water dripping in your
eyes, the heavens are opened for you. Behold, the Spirit of God comes upon you
and delivers all of the blessings of God upon you, the baptized, creating,
strengthening and enabling faith to believe these gifts of God. Behold! The
Father speaks, this time to you, “You are my beloved, my Son, my Daughter, and
with you I am well pleased.” Hold that picture, for just a moment.
Behold… Now, open
your eyes.
There is one unfortunate thing about your baptism: the water
has long left your head. There is no tangible evidence that remains. For most
of us, who were baptized as children, there isn’t even a memory. Yet, Baptism
remains. It never needs to be re-done, renewed, or remodeled. The cleansing,
saving water of Holy Baptism never evaporates. The sign of the cross, made on
your forehead and over your heart, stands as a sign of Christ’s eternal
victory. The water, once poured over your head, continues to give life. The
Triune name of God, spoken over you, does not fade into history. Any time,
every time, you doubt; any time, every time, you are repentant; any time, every
time you feel the devil’s hot breath and hear his lying words; any time, every
time you wonder, “Is Christ for me?” return to God’s promise in your Baptism.
With the sign of the cross, with the words of absolution, with bread and wine,
with the Word preached and read, Christ returns you to your Baptism.
Behold: the word of your heavenly Father: You are His
beloved. With you, He is well pleased.
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