Sermon: Baptism of Our Lord, Matthew 3:13-17, January 8, 2023

Sermon: Baptism of Our Lord, Matthew 3:13-17, January 8, 2023

Faith Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

The First Sunday after Epiphany always commemorates the Baptism of Our Lord. Just two weeks ago, on Christmas Day, Jesus was a tiny baby. Now we’ve zoomed forward some thirty years in Jesus’ life when as an adult he was baptized by John. Kids grow up so fast!

Given this festival day, Baptism of Our Lord, it is fitting indeed to have begun today’s service with the sacrament of holy baptism for Grace and for Zachary – and it’s a great privilege and honor for me, as they are my first baptisms as a pastor here at Faith-La Fe.

But the big question for purposes of preaching today is why did Jesus need to get baptized? It’s one thing for us to be baptized, but why Jesus? John the Baptist asked as much when Jesus showed up for baptism at the River Jordan. Matthew writes, “John would have prevented [Jesus], saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’”

Indeed, in response to John’s proclamation of the coming of the dominion of heaven, all sorts of people, crowds of people, came to John confessing their sins for a baptism of repentance. John’s preaching was full of warnings of judgment, and the threat that trees of our lives that do not bear good fruit will be cut down.

None of this applies to our understandings of Jesus of Nazareth, whom we proclaim was without sin and therefore had nothing to confess and no need of repentance. Moreover, Jesus of all people would be the one who would bear good fruit.

And furthermore, John’s preaching also included the prophecy that a mightier one was coming, whose sandals he was not worthy to untie, and that this coming one would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire – not just water as in John’s baptism. This coming one was Jesus, and John pretty much knew that.

So, again, why did Jesus need to be baptized by John? Why did he come to the river to present himself along with all the other people?

Here’s what Jesus said by way of explanation in response to John’s admonition that he needed to be baptized by Jesus and not the other way around. Jesus said, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” In response to that, John consented to baptizing Jesus. But what was proper about it and what righteousness would be fulfilled by Jesus getting baptized?

Jesus, above all things, wanted to do the will of his Father, the one who sent him from heaven. The righteousness to be fulfilled was God’s righteousness, God’s will, especially prophesied by Isaiah in today’s first reading, with Isaiah proclaiming the word of the Lord: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; upon whom I have put my spirit, to bring for justice to the nations…. I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1, 6) This is the prophecy and also the divine righteousness that are fulfilled by Jesus being baptized.

Thus, something happened at Jesus’ baptism that clearly did not happen at the other baptisms that John was doing among those who confessed their sins and sought repentance. We see this difference as Isaiah’s prophecy is further fulfilled when the heavens opened up to Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove on him and the voice from the heavens proclaimed to the people: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) The voice from the heavens echoes almost the exact words of the Lord spoken by Isaiah, about the chosen one in whom God’s soul delights and upon whom God puts the Spirit.

So, Jesus’ baptism was all about a revelation, an epiphany, of Jesus’ identity, as God’s Son, the Beloved, and God’s pleasure in him.

And Jesus’ baptism, unlike the others John did, was more like a commissioning, a sending, first to the wilderness to overcome temptation by the devil, and then to begin Jesus’ public ministry of preaching and healing after his return from the wilderness.

Moreover, Jesus’ baptism initiates a new way, God’s way, the kingdom or dominion of heaven. This new way is reflected again in the prophecy of Isaiah, fulfilled by Jesus’ public ministry “to bring forth justice to the nations… to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:1b, 7)

The new heavenly reign initiated by Jesus and in Jesus, God’s servant, God’s Son, the Beloved, has its culmination in Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is made clear in the preaching of Peter in today’s reading from Acts. Peter proclaimed: “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power;

how Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him… They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised Jesus on the third day…” (Acts 10:36-40a)

This heavenly new dominion inaugurated and completed by Jesus’ death and resurrection stands very much in contrast to the old human business as usual, the business which people coming to John, confessing their sins, wanted to repent of. These were John’s exhortations to those who came to him for repentance from their old sinful ways: [To those with plenty, John said] “‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ [To the tax collectors, John instructed] ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ [And then to the mercenary soldiers, John said] ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’” (cf. Luke 3:10-14)

In short, the old, sinful kingdom involves ripping people off, creating disparity between the have’s and have not’s. The heavenly reign of Christ, proclaimed by John, involves commonwealth for all, that all may share and prosper together.

So, this is some of what Jesus’ baptism means, and how his baptism went far beyond the baptisms John performed on people in the crowds, and why Jesus’ baptism was so important for inaugurating here on earth the dominion of heaven.

But what about us? What do our baptisms mean in light of the baptisms of both John and Jesus?

The baptisms we do are like John’s in that they are a water bath undertaken for cleansing as we renounce the forces that defy God and the powers of this world that rebel against God and the ways of sin that draw us from God, to quote the baptismal rite that we used today (cf. ELW, p. 229).

But then the baptisms we do, the ones we did for Grace and Zachary, are also like Jesus’ own baptism. Think of it. On this very day, in this very room, the heavens also opened up to us as the Spirit descended upon Grace and Zachary, and again upon all of us. We may not have seen any doves, but the Spirit of God did make a visitation to us today! And then, too, we heard the heavenly voice in scripture and in the language of the baptismal rite which proclaim in essence to Grace and to Zachary and to all of us: we are God’s daughters and sons, God’s children, the Beloved, with whom God is well pleased.”

And these things happened right here in this place on this morning because Grace and Zachary were baptized into Christ, as most all of us have been. And in so far as we are in Christ by baptism, we, too, are God’s beloved with whom God is pleased. For by baptism, we become Christ’s body to be offered for the sake of the world. There’s a sense, then, in which our baptisms today are a re-enactment of Jesus’ own baptism. Think about that. Wow. Thanks be to God.

This is all really quite remarkable. God has been up to something big in this room today with Grace and Zachary – and with all of us. God in Trinity has paid us a visit in word, water and Spirit, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Again, I say, wow.

Forgiveness, inspiring our repentance. Being claimed by God as beloved children. Being given the gift of the Holy Spirit. All of this generating and strengthening and renewing our faith, our trust in a loving God.

But that’s not all. Like Jesus, we too are commissioned, sent out on a mission to share in God’s work with our hands, “to bring forth justice and light to the nations…, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” thus proclaiming to the world that Jesus is “the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead” (cf. Acts 10:42).

So, it’s been quite a morning here at our 9:00 am service! Now let’s pray and eat the holy meal, and go on our way proclaiming in word and deed this good news, sharing as we do in the mission and ministry of Jesus even now in these latter days in this new year of 2023.

Thanks be to God. Amen.