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Atlantis ‹the domain of the Stingray›
It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.
‹Benjamin Franklin›
Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
9Jan
2011
Sun
22:03
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
comments: 0
trackbacks: 0

Baptism of Our Lord

Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

For 30 years the Son of God has lived in relative obscurity. There is so little written of Him before the age of thirty. His birth, His circumcision, Simeon and Anna, then 12 years later amazing the Torah teachers—that's it. There's nothing more about Jesus, ages 0 to 30.

We can confidently say that He lived in Nazareth with his family, subordinate to them. Luke tells us as much. From that, we can gather that He picked up Joseph's trade, apprenticing under him, perhaps even continued the business after Joseph's unrecorded death (assuming Joseph died before Jesus turned 30). We can also confidently say that during those 30 years, Jesus was sinless. Paul tells us as much. From that, we can say that he perfectly kept every law, ordinance, and command of God. He went to Jerusalem for the feasts. He prayed in the synagogues. He did everything prescribed of God's people—perfectly!

And ponder this for a moment: none of it drew any attention to Him. I would have to think that someone somewhere may have called Him a goody-two-sandals, but it is more likely that those in Nazareth simply thought Him a good guy, trustworthy, and a Man who kept out of trouble. If someone would have noticed, it would probably have been recorded; yet another instance of Mary pondering those things in her heart. However, righteousness is not boastful and draws no attention to itself.

There were no halos (regardless of depictions in icons and renaissance art). There was no train of angels trumpeting and singing His praises wherever He went. Little Johnny wasn't there to point to Him and call Him the Lamb of God whenever someone else would show up. There was nothing about Him that would set Him apart as God's Son. In fact, there was no beauty that He should be desired. (cf. Isaiah 53:3d) When Jesus returned to Nazareth at the beginning of his three-year journey to Jerusalem, the people there even marveled at His wisdom and graciousness; "Is this not Joseph's son?" they asked (cf. Luke 4:22)

Then, sometime around His 30th year out of the womb, He leaves Nazareth and goes to the region of the Jordan. That's where John was, baptizing people as they confessed their sins. Jesus goes to him to be baptized. John is confused, and rightly so: "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" John was a sinner, Jesus was sinless; John a son of Adam, Jesus the Son of God. John was in the wilderness preparing the way for the Lord, and his baptism was a part of that, and Jesus came to him to be baptized: "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." And Jesus steps into the Jordan River.

He steps into the river that was parted for Joshua and the Israelites to cross into the Promised Land. He steps into the river in which Naaman the Syrian leper had dipped himself seven times to be cleansed of his leprosy. He steps into the same muddy, sin-dirty waters that all of those who had come to John had been baptized in. And there, in that river of much meaning, Jesus is baptized by John.

"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" No more obscurity. This is His epiphany, His revelation to the world. Besides John, everyone there now knew who this was, and word would spread far and wide about Him. The time had come to fulfill all righteousness, the time had come for the Son of Man to be known and to complete the purpose for which He was sent.

And so, from here the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted. He returns from the wilderness triumphant. He calls disciples. He catechizes them for three years; along the way, he teaches, preaches, heals, and raises the dead. He and His disciples make their way to Jerusalem where, ultimately, righteousness is fulfilled: He is crucified, dies, and is buried—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

But, to start it all off, Jesus is baptized. He, who is perfect and sinless, in verity God and holy, steps into the unholy muddied and sinful waters of the Jordan. He goes and is baptized to be numbered among the sinners. He goes and is baptized to be made sin for us. And the Father calls down at this for all to hear, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Father is pleased that His Son does this.

There, in the Jordan, the Word is combined with the water, and it is most assuredly a blessed flood. And so, He sanctifies water for the washing of regeneration, for in your Baptisms, dear hearers, you are connected to—joined to—our Lord and His Baptism:

  • "This is my beloved Son," the Father said at Jesus' baptism. From the waters of the Jordan, Jesus goes to the cross of Golgotha; there He dies with the sins of the world, an atonement for those sins. At your Baptism, you were given what the cross earned—forgiveness for all of your sins—and God called down through His Word proclaimed through His called mouthpiece proclaiming you His beloved Son. No longer are you identified by your sin as an enemy of God, but you are identified through your baptized, crucified, and risen Savior as a son of God and fellow heir with Christ.
  • When Jesus came up out of the water, "the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him." This was also a sign marking Him as the Son of God. You, too, a son of God through Baptism, have received the Holy Spirit, not only as a sign that you are His son, but as your Comforter and Sanctifier, as we learn from the Third Article of the Creed. It is as St. Peter declared on that Pentecost day, "...be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38b)
  • For 30 years, Jesus was a carpenter's son and apprentice, perhaps even a full-fledged carpenter. His baptism revealed Him to the world as the Son of God and set Him apart for the service He came to perform: not only His death and resurrection, but His priestly ministry—teaching, preaching, healing, and raising the dead, as already mentioned—service. Likewise, your baptisms set you apart. No longer are you of the world, you are now merely in the world, but of God through His Son. Therefore, you are in service to the world, no longer in service to your own flesh and its sinful desires, as Paul lists for us in Galatians 5:19-21; such things are contrary to the life into which you have been baptized: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." (Galatians 5:17)
  • From the Jordan, Jesus sets His eyes on Jerusalem. His path is a three-year path to death. He leaves His mundane, obscure life in Nazareth and prepares to die for the sins of the world. Likewise, your baptism prepares you for your death. In fact, in baptism, you have already died; "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" (Romans 6:3) You have died to sin, as St. Peter says. (cf. 1 Peter 2:24) Therefore, you are made a saint of God; you are prepared to enter into eternity with Him. Salvation is yours; you have it now, and you will live it in the not yet.

In His Baptism, our Lord is joining you to Himself through your Baptism. "[W]e were buried with Him through baptism into death...[W]e have been united together in the likeness of His death." (Romans 6:4a, 5a) And, if we are joined to Him in His death, we are also joined to Him in His resurrection. "[J]ust as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life...we also shall be [united together] in the likeness of His resurrection." (Romans 6:4b, 5b)

Why? Because death is demanded for sin—a sacrifice is required. It's a sentence not one of us could carry out, for then we would be dead and that would be the end, and God would not have it that way. Therefore, He sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (cf. Galatians 4:4-5) He sent His Son as our substitute, to take our place under the law and its condemnation for us. So, He goes to the Jordan, to stand in our place even there, in order to "fulfill all righteousness," baptized for us, to die for us and for our salvation. Once again, we can mention the Blessed Exchange that I so often like to mention: Jesus is made our sin in His baptism, and we are made His righteousness in ours.

When Jesus came up out of the waters, He saw heaven opened to Him. Dear hearers, in your baptism, heaven is opened to you, too. You now have access to the Father through the Son whom He loves. Just as the Jordan was parted before Joshua, granting the Israelites entrance to the Promised Land, to you heaven is opened through the waters of your Jordan, granting you access to the new Promised Land. Yes, heaven is opened to you and a place is prepared for you there because you are baptized, you have died with Christ to sin and have risen to newness of life, you are united in the likeness of His resurrection, you are forgiven for all of your sins.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Download media: 20110109.baptismofourlorda.mp3 (5.75 MiB)
audio recorded on my digital recorder and converted to mp3
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