January 8th, 2023
I know that many of you have come from different faith families, like Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, you get the idea. When you first came to an LCMS congregation did you find us a little different? Maybe a little too old school, or stuck in tradition and ritual too deeply?
Did you think we’re strange for our liturgy? Maybe you thought we were a little strange because Pastors wear a gown and we seem so formal? How about the way we take the Lord’s Supper without any knowledge of it. “What is the purpose of coming up eating a little wafter and drinking wine from a cup?” Or maybe what do visitor think when they see an infant baptism or an adult baptism in the Lutheran Church. Sprinkling water on the head of someone. Especially when they have no knowledge of the significance or meaning of Holy Communion or Baptism. It takes an explanation for people to understand. Later this month or early February we are going to take a Sunday or two and explain the different parts of our Liturgy.
Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized, and John didn’t understand why Jesus would do this. It didn’t make sense. Therefore, Jesus had to explain it to him. John was confused for a reason. It wasn’t that he had never seen a baptism before. John had performed probably hundreds of them by that time. No, John was confused because he knew all there was to know about baptism.
First of all, he knew it was for sinners. Just prior to today’s text, it says that John the Baptist came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” When the people came out to the Jordan, they had to realize they were sinners and repent of their sins before he would baptize them. For instance, when some Pharisees and Sadducees came out to be baptized, John wouldn’t do it. Why not? They had become hardened in their evil ways. So John told them to get lost.
Why did he want people to confess their sins? When the people confessed their sins, John would then baptize them in the Jordan River. Why did he baptize them? He knew what would happen as a result of that baptism. Peter explains this to us in Acts 2:38 as he tells the crowd, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice that there are two purposes to baptism. Peter says the first is - for the forgiveness of sins.
All of us are born steeped in sin at birth. Even though a little infant looks so innocent and pure, King David described their actual condition as He said in Psalm 51:5 5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” So we are born for a deep need to be cleansed.
Somehow, in some way, God says that baptism is like taking a bath - only spiritually. Peter said, that’s what baptism does. It actually cleanses you of all of your sinful impurities. In Romans 6:3 Paul asks, don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
What that means is that at your baptism, God takes all of your sins, and buries them with Christ. In exchange, He gives us something else. Galatians 3:27 says that all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. So God puts a whole new garment on you, the perfection of Christ, so that you look holy and righteous in His sight. So that you now look different in His sight. You look holy. That’s why baptism is for sinners. The unrepentant were not baptized by John because they saw no need to repentant.
The second purpose of baptism, is that you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When you are baptized, something miraculous takes place. God puts His name on you, showing that you are His. At baptism the Holy Spirit chases the devil out of you and enters you through the water connected to the word.
What is the result of being baptized? You look like a brand-new person. You become a new person. Instead of living in the old grime of sin, you become clean. Since the Holy Spirit lives in you, He gives you the strength to live a new life. That’s the purpose of baptism, to totally revive, to bring back to life, to refresh and renew the sinner. Through your Baptism God has cleaned you up and given you a new life.
John knew what baptism was about. This is why John had such a hard time understanding why Jesus came to be baptized. John had just gotten done building up Jesus to be someone great - someone more powerful than John - whose sandals he was not even fit to carry. He didn’t need forgiveness.
But yet here comes Jesus, the holy One, the Messiah, the King of Kings! And what does He ask for? To be baptized? Why would Jesus need forgiveness of sins? Why would the Holy One need God to do anything to Him? In his deep humility, John realized his need for baptism, but he didn’t see Jesus’ need for it. So John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
That word for “tried to” is an imperfect verb in the Greek. It means that John wasn’t easily dissuaded - he kept on talking to Jesus about this. Why? Because it didn’t make sense to him. Why would a holy one need holiness? Why would a sinless being need His sins forgiven? Good questions!
Notice that Jesus doesn’t deny what John is saying. What he said was correct. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. So Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. There was more to His baptism than the forgiveness of sins. So Jesus said, “Let it be so now,” which basically means - “attention!” Jesus was pulling rank on John, and just told him to obey. Although John didn’t understand why Jesus needed to be baptized, since Jesus commanded him to do so - he consented.
Jesus had already begun His work of salvation the day He was conceived. Up to this point He had already lived a perfect life that He could give us credit for. Now Jesus said it was time to fulfill that righteousness. All He had to do was finish His work of salvation by entering His public ministry - by facing the false teachings and facing the horrible death on the cross. In order to fulfill this calling, He would need God’s help and God’s approval. That’s what Jesus’ baptism was all about.
First of all, in His humility, He needed God’s help. So it says, 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and landed on Jesus. Peter explains this in more detail as he says in Acts 10:38 that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. Even though Jesus already had the Holy Spirit and power, now the Holy Spirit would equip Jesus in a special way for the extra hard work that lay ahead in His public ministry.
The second purpose of Jesus’ baptism is revealed in the last verse of our text. God had promised that one special man would be anointed as the Savior of the world. So the people were waiting that to happen. When Jesus was baptized, it was a loud and clear sign that Jesus was the Christ which literally means “anointed One.” 17 The Father told John and all those present - “this is the Christ! This is the anointed Messiah!”
Jesus needed this approval. If you remember - when Jesus healed the sick and performed miracles, the Pharisees were constantly asking, “who gave you the authority to do this?” Jesus couldn’t “toot his own horn” so to speak, and just build Himself up to be the Savior. But with this baptism - Jesus could answer that question. He could say, “God gave me the authority at my baptism - just ask John!” Therefore, His baptism showed that He had the authority to fulfill all righteousness - to complete His work of salvation.
For years and years, Satan had defiantly challenged anyone to step to the plate and to beat him in battle. Adam failed. David failed. Solomon failed. Isaiah failed. All of them fell into sin, died as a result of their battle, and rotted in the grave.
But then, one day, about 2,000 years ago, a little boy was born in a manger. For 30 years, not many thought He would fight any battles as the Messiah. But then one day, as John was baptizing, Jesus stepped to the plate. At his baptism, God announced to the world, “this is my warrior - my fighter. It’s time for the devil to meet his match.” From that time on - Jesus’ workload as the Savior would get greater and greater. So God armed Him, with the Holy Spirit. With God’s approval and power, Jesus decided to fight the battle.
He fought the battle in the desert.
He fought the battle in the temple.
He fought the battle on the water.
He fought the battle on the cross. With God by His side, Jesus took on the devil, and won. He took on death at the cross, and three days later He won. He who believes this and is baptized, shall be saved. Does that seem strange to you? I hope not! Amen.