John's Baptism

When John baptized in the Jordan River, he was not telling them to do something new and different. The Jews were well accustomed to ceremonial washings. So he was telling them to keep doing what they were already doing. Only now this washing would no longer be ceremonial. It would be actual. It would be real. It would be sacramental. It would be for forgiveness of sins.

John did not baptize everybody who came to him seeking to be baptized. He commanded people to repent, and he required that they show visible fruits of repentance. When many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized, he absolutely refused because there were no fruits of repentance.

Why, then, did these Pharisees and Sadducees come to John to be baptized? Evidently, they saw the people flocking out to John, and they did not want to be left out. They did not desire baptism for forgiveness for they saw no sin in themselves. They wanted to be baptized to appear more like the people

John had refused to baptize those Pharisees and Sadducees because they showed no fruits of repentance. He was reluctant to baptize Jesus because Jesus had no sins to confess, nothing of which to repent.

In contrast to the religious leaders, Jesus did not need forgiveness. He desired baptism to “fulfill all righteousness.” Whereas the religious leaders wanted baptism to appear more like the people, Jesus desired baptism to become one with us. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus jumped into the dirty waters of the Jordan River so that He might begin to dirty Himself with humanity’s sins.

You can read the sermon that I preached in January about Jesus’ baptism. Then watch the Matthew video of John baptizing in the Jordan.

1st Sunday after Epiphany at Epiphany on January 10, 2010

Luke 3:15-17, 21, 22 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

“I am Baptized!”

If you were to take a survey of Christians and ask: “When was heaven opened to you?” many (or most) would point to the death and resurrection of Jesus. And you would not be wrong. His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave provided the atonement and forgiveness of all of our sin. The rift between us and God caused by our sin has been overcome by God in Jesus, and so in Him, heaven is again opened to us.

And yet today in the Holy Gospel we heard an amazing thing – when Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened. And they were opened not to let the Holy Spirit out to descend in the form of a dove; and not so that the Father’s voice could be heard. They were opened because already in Jesus’ baptism, His death and resurrection had begun. In the waters of the Jordan He is already taking His place with us sinners. He is already taking the sin of us sinners. The water of His baptism means that the wood of His cross is not far away. Just as the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross, opening our access to God and the Holy of Holies through the blood of Jesus – so too, already here in Jesus’ baptism, heaven is torn open. His work of salvation has begun.

God in the Flesh is baptized! Humanity is cleansed, reborn, restored. The new Adam, the new head of humanity is baptized for the world, and in Him the whole world covered over in a gracious Flood. As God once baptized the earth in the Flood, and promised with the rainbow never to destroy the earth with water again, so here God immerses the whole world in the Person of His Son. When Jesus was baptized, the world was baptized in Him.

Our Paschal candle beside the font reminds us when it is lit only for baptisms, Easter and funerals, that our baptisms unite us with Christ’s baptism. Christ’s death becomes the death of our sinful nature. His crucifixion is our crucifixion of the flesh. His death and burial is our burial to sin. Baptism is also our Easter, our resurrection. In the watery tomb we drowned our Old Adam, we died to our sinful nature and we are resurrected to live a new life dedicated toward Christ.

And so the Father is well pleased. His voice comes from heaven as thunder to designate His Son with honor. He is pleased when His beloved and holy Son jumps into the sinful cesspool of the Jordan. Not to wash His own sin away, for He had no sin; but to take our sin (and so our death) upon Himself. As parents we are not happy when our children jump in mud puddles and get their clothes dirty. But our Heavenly Parent is well pleased that His Son jumped into the Jordan to begin becoming muddied with humanity’s sins. This is what God had been working towards for all of human history.

Yet not only is the Father well pleased, but the Spirit of God also descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove. The same bird that signaled to Noah that the death and destruction of the flood were over, now indicates to us that the death and destruction of our sin is over. Jesus is the Christ, the One anointed by the Spirit, chosen from before the foundation of the world to do this very thing – to save us from our sin.

And so when Jesus is baptized, Heaven opens. Not to call down thunder and throw down lightning, but to call out God’s name upon His Son and to call out God’s grace and name upon us who have been made sons and daughters through those same Jordan waters.

One of the great sadnesses of Christianity today is that the baptized do not know how to use their baptism rightly. Some think that baptism is like a magical incantation spoken over the child to protect the baby for a little while, but then that’s it. Some consider baptism as a command by the grandparents in order to make them happy. Some regard baptism as a way for the child to get extra presents from godparents.

We may think of baptism as something that happened in the past, at the font, as a child, but it doesn’t do us any good now. We do not take into account how to use our baptism for daily living. We fret and fuss and wring our hands over our sins instead of daily drowning our Old Adam in our baptismal waters and seeking God’s forgiveness in these waters of grace. We do not want the strong medicines that Christ prescribes for us – Baptism, Confession, Absolution, Holy Communion. We would rather wring our hands and drop our heads in despair rather than fold our hands and drop to our knees in prayer. We would rather recite slogans like “just say ‘no’” instead of saying “yes” to our baptisms. We would rather work on our “problems” and “issues,” possibly go see a counselor instead of dealing with the fact that we are the problem and the issue is inside of us and we need the Counselor of the Holy Spirit to descend upon us.

We are filthy with sin. Dead in unbelief. Children of Satan. Headed to hell. And we live that way, don’t we? We get filthy with arguments with our spouse, our gossip about classmates or co-workers and our short temper with our kids. We demonstrate out lack of faith in our worry – worry which is really fear, fear that God has stopped loving us, fear that God’s power is insufficient for our needs, fear that God doesn’t know what He’s doing. We live like we are Satan’s spawn with the smut, immorality and depravity that we allow in our daily living.

But we don’t have to live like that any longer. We have been baptized. We were saved and heaven was opened to us when we were washed all over.

In Eastern lands, people used public baths and got dressed again, but as they walked in the dusty streets, their feet became dirty. On arriving home, they did not need another bath; they needed only to wash their feet. When the Jewish priests were ordained, they were washed all over (Exodus 29:4), which pictures our once-for-all cleansing; but God also provided the laver – a big bowl for washing – (Exodus 30:17–21) for them to use in the daily washing of their hands and feet. Paul tells us the same thing in his letter to Titus. “[Christ] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

At Baptism, we were thoroughly washed and robed in Christ’s righteousness. When we confess our sins daily to the Lord, we have our feet washed and our “walk” is cleansed. Our filth is once again covered by Christ’s white robe of righteousness. Christ’s Spirit washes His church with baptismal water through the Word. (Ephesians 5:25–26). As we daily read the Word and confess our sins, the Spirit cleanses our souls and guides us. It is this daily cleansing of the Spirit that keeps the believer in communion with Christ.

When we were baptized, the Spirit was poured out on us, as the oil was poured upon David anointing him as king. This anointing with the Holy Spirit in our baptism brought rebirth for sin-deadened hearts and spiritual renewal for fleshly minds. Note how one-sided our baptism is! Like David, there was nothing in us that the Lord should choose us. But as young David was chosen over his older brothers and made into Israel’s king, so we who are worth nothing, become what God makes us – heirs of eternal life.

On Wednesday, I brought Cameron, who is a first grader here at WLS, up to the baptismal font to speak to him about his upcoming baptism. I explained that I would make the sign of the cross on his head and heart to mark him as a child of God. Then I would pour water on his head and baptize him. I asked him if he had any questions. He asked, “So do I get a tattoo on my forehead?” I told him that was a great question. What a great way to remember your baptism! When the pastor made the sign of the cross over your head and heart, you were tattooed. God can see your tattoo of the cross. It marks you as a redeemed, blood-bought, washed and sainted, child of God. No one can take that away from you. Now you live like a redeemed, blood-bought, washed, sainted and tattooed child of God.

But others should be able to see your tattoo as well. When they hear the words that come from your mouth, when they listen to the music on your I-pod, when they read what you email and text and twitter, when they see the way you live your life and interact with your spouse, children, co-workers and complete strangers, they should be able to recognize that you are a baptized child of God.

We sang in our Hymn of the Day, “I am baptized into Christ!” The text of this hymn is gold. Take it home, study it, teach it to your children so they too can share the comfort of what it means to be baptized into Christ. That they too are children of paradise!

Because as Christians, your baptism is never an I WAS, but always an I AM. It is not a past event, a baby thing, but an ongoing and continuing reality. When the devil attacks us we need not fear him but boldly proclaim, “I am baptized! Devil, you have been defeated.” When sin overcomes us and assaults our conscience, we boldly confess, “I am baptized! My sin is forgiven.” When death or distress come upon us, and the devil tries to make us think we are unworthy of God and destined for nothing but hell, we boldly insist, “I am baptized! And heaven is open to me. For the One whose sandals even the great John was not worthy to untie, has come to me, so unworthy, and has made even me worthy.”

“Yes, I am baptized! And heaven is open to me!” How great is that? We have died to sin and been raised in our baptism to a new life. A new life set free from sin and death. A new life of faith. A new life as a child of God. A child anointed by the Holy Spirit . . . with whom your heavenly Father is well pleased . . . and to whom heaven is open! Amen.