The Baptism of Our Lord
Text: Matthew 3:15-22
In light of having a baptism last week and our observance of the Baptism of our Lord today, it might be a good time for us to examine, review, and ask again “what is baptism?” Especially as we live not only in a time of confusion but a period when Christian ideals are rejected by the world and society around us.
To begin, the word “baptism” comes from the Greek βαπτίζω, meaning to wash. As mentioned last week, there is a shared understanding between the New Testament action of baptism and the Old Testament work of consecrating oneself.
Throughout the book of Leviticus, Moses records for us,
For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44-45)
A few chapters later, Moses writes again, “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” (Leviticus 20:7-8)
This consecration is a ritual of washing and cleansing of the unholy so that one might be made holy. If a person were to touch or consume an unclean animal, there would be a need to cleanse oneself. This included the need for a mother to be cleansed seven days after giving birth or for the sins of sexual immorality.
Yet there is a more clearly stated foreshadowing of Baptism as we know it today in the book of Ezekiel as the prophet writes,
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
Just as Ezekiel is pointing God’s people forward to Holy Baptism, you can begin to also hear the words of John the Baptist just prior to our Gospel this morning as John says,
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
So now there is a fork in the road: the one who rejects baptism or fails to live a life of repentance will experience the fire of eternal damnation. However, the one who lives a life of repentance receives the forgiveness of sin.
This is, after all, why we need baptism; we are sinners in need of Jesus. As Paul writes in Romans, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
And here is that gift language. Baptism delivers the gift of God’s name and forgiveness.
As Peter preached in the Book of Acts,
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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. (Acts 2:38-39)
And this gift was revealed in this way, “[That] God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
This is why Jesus came to the Jordan River; He entered the filthy waters to be baptized by John the Baptist in order to take upon Himself the filth of your sin, to bear it upon the cross and become your substitute – that you might now receive His forgiveness and faith.
That’s a pretty good gift, isn’t it?
And Peter says, “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:39)
Isn’t this comforting? The gift of Holy Baptism is to be received by everyone, regardless of age, even nursing infants.
Still, some will ask why a baby needs to be baptized.
Well, the Psalmist wrote one of the clearest answers to this objection as he said, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)
While babies are cute, from the moment of conception, their mother and father’s sin pumps through the veins of their bodies and the chambers of their hearts. We call this Original Sin.
Yet, the Holy Spirit is at work in that little heart within their chest to create faith as the Psalmist confesses, “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.” (Psalm 22:9)
Not only does this passage confess the incredible faith of the youngest among us, but it also reveals who the real actor in creating and sustaining this faith is: God the Holy Spirit.
A glorious comfort for us is that baptism and the faith received are not dependent upon a person’s intellect, nor their age. It’s a gift given through the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus even says that to inherit the kingdom of heaven, we must all become like children.
He said in the Gospel of Matthew,
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…
Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:3-6)
How comforting are these words for us?
So, what does Baptism do?
Well, we’ve discussed this already, but in the words of Paul, Baptism leads us,
“To put off your old self, which…is corrupt.” (Ephesians 4:22) Your self-centeredness, your irritability and childish behaviors, your despair and sadness.
Instead, Paul says, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
What is the “New self?”
It’s the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-24)
What a gift God has given you!
A gift present for you today because Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan River, took upon Himself the filth of your sin, and bore it upon the cross.
So be encouraged to remember the Lord’s Baptism as you remember yours, because in these waters you were “buried with him into [His] death, in order that, just as [He] was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, [you] too might walk in newness of life.
Walk in this newness of life today, and learn again to demonstrate “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” among one another and a world that awaits you outside these doors.
Then rejoice even if this world rejects you as it rejected Jesus because the waters of Holy Baptism have made you God’s Own Child. +INJ+
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Sheperd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI
