The waters of baptism

Sermon planned for January 9th, 2011; delivered at the Bergfeld EMMC
Text: Matthew 3:13-17

I invite you to open your bibles to the gospel of Matthew, chapter three, beginning at verse thirteen. We’ve just come out of a season that focuses on the birth of Jesus, God’s Son, God Incarnate. The good news of His coming was first witnessed by a handful of people, but that group kept expanding: first his parents, then the shepherds, later the wise men, then Herod and the citizens of Jerusalem. For many, this news was heard as good news. John the Baptist leapt with excitement in his mother’s womb; the shepherds and the Magi came to honour the newborn King. And then, for others, this news was viewed as a threat. When Herod heard the news from the Magi, he began plotting for Jesus’ destruction. Every generation has had to come to terms with this same question: How will you hear the news of Jesus? Will you receive it with joy, and worship Him? Or will you receive it as a threat, and set yourself against God and His purpose? For this reason, it brings me great joy to join you this morning in giving an answer to that question. It brings me joy to join you in worshiping Jesus our King.

The passage before us this morning is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism by John at the Jordan River. All four gospels tell the story of Jesus’ baptism. One of the unique parts of Matthew’s version of this event is that he includes a short conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist. This conversation provides a key piece of information that the early church was curious about. Before the gospels were written, the early Christians heard the apostles telling the stories about Jesus. When the apostles told the story of Jesus’ baptism, I imagine that many others in church would have wondered: why would our Savior be baptized? Why would the King of Kings submit to the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? Wasn’t Jesus the Word made flesh? This question must have occupied at least some of the disciples – and in our scripture passage this morning we hear the only explanation, from scripture, for this curious matter.

Another reason why this question was of interest for the early church was because it related to the practice of Christian baptism. Christians were baptizing each other into the name of Jesus, into His body, and into a lifelong calling of discipleship. How was their baptism connected to Jesus’ baptism? Was it the same kind of baptism? How were they different? What did they learn about Jesus from his baptism? These questions also stand before us this morning: what can we learn about Jesus from his baptism – and what might that mean for us today, as we remember our own baptisms, or as we consider the decision of baptism for the first time?

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism has three main parts to it. The first part gives us a background – it answers the ‘where’ question. Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan. And it also answers the ‘why’ question: Jesus came to John in order to be baptized by him.

In the second part we read Matthew’s unique perspective of the event – we read the words spoken between John the Baptist and Jesus. John knew that Jesus was from God. He also knew that his baptism was not really appropriate for Jesus. He knew that he should be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. Jesus acknowledged that John was right – that Jesus really had no need to repent. Jesus had no sin that needed washing. And so Jesus’ response is curious. “Let it be so now.” In other words, “You’re right John… you need me to wash your sins away… but let’s do this anyways”.

Why? Why would Jesus make this important compromise? This is where the early church would have paid especially close attention. Why does the King of Kings submit to a man’s baptism? Jesus answered: it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness. This is what it means to do justice to God’s Will. Then John consented and baptized Jesus. This is all that Matthew gives us. It’s more than any of the other gospels, in terms of a theological reason for Jesus’ baptism. But of course, we’re like the typical young child: but Why? Why or How does it fulfill all righteousness? We want to know more.

The last part of the passage is the revelation about Jesus – the heavens opened, the descending Spirit & the voice from heaven. It is reported in all the gospels, although with some differences. In some it seems that only Jesus sees the descending Spirit & hears the voice from heaven. In the gospel of John, John the Baptist testifies to having seen the Spirit of God descend onto Jesus. In the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke), we hear of the heavens opening, the Spirit descending onto Jesus, and the voice from heaven declaring Jesus to be God’s Beloved Son. In the gospel of John, it is John the Baptist who proclaims, “This is the Lamb of God”.

Something that we might miss, which the early church would have clearly understood, is that Jesus’ identity as a Galilean, from Nazareth, was an important part of the story. To be a Nazarene was often understood as something special. A Nazirite was a person set apart to carry out God’s specific purposes. Jesus came from Galilee for a specific purpose, and his baptism was the doorway into that special purpose: to announce the coming Kingdom of God. Jesus was set apart, by God, to carry out this Kingly mission – to save humanity; and his baptism was the start line.

But how do we interpret his baptism? Why was Jesus baptized? Why did he want a starting line for his ministry? Why would the King of Kings submit to a man’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? Jesus’ answer is that his baptism will fulfill all righteousness. What can this mean? If we take the larger story of scripture into consideration, I believe that there are at least three parts to what this might mean.

First of all, baptism is something that God commands of all humans – to repent, believe and be baptized. This is God’s will for all of humanity. And since Jesus was fully human; and since he was a perfect model of a truly human life, he himself submitted to God’s Will for humanity in every way. Jesus submitted to baptism because it was God’s will for all humanity to be washed in baptism – and Jesus is the representative human; Jesus is as we were created to be, in full obedience to God the Father.

Secondly, in order to save us from our sins, Jesus fully identified with us sinners. Baptism was the first step in this full identification with human sin. Although he was sinless, Jesus attached himself to humanity completely, even undergoing the necessary baptism for the forgiveness of sin. Paul says it in a similar way. In 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse twenty one, he writes: “For our sake Jesus was made to be sin, even though he knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” His baptism was the start line for His mission to save humanity; and already at the start line he completely identified with sinners, by receiving the cleansing needed for sin. Sometimes we think that Jesus waited until the cross to carry our sin; wrong! By submitting to the waters of repentance and cleansing from sin, he was already shouldering human guilt at the Jordan river. Already in his baptism, Jesus was facing off against our Enemy, by choosing complete obedience to God’s will and the requirements of His justice. He was the representative human who would eventually fulfill God’s righteousness by facing the punishment for sin, when he died on the cross – and he did it for you and for me! Praise Jesus!

What else might it mean for Jesus to ‘fulfill all righteousness’ in his baptism? One final explanation has to do with Jesus’ role in God’s plan. Like I said earlier, Jesus’ baptism is the doorway into His Mission to save humanity. Baptism is when Jesus took up his role in God’s plan. And this plan has God’s righteousness and justice as its goal. This righteousness and justice involves Jesus gathering a community of disciples in His name – forming a fellowship of peace. That includes you and me today. In the church today, this Mission continues; and God’s righteousness and justice is continuing its fulfillment in this fellowship here today – do you believe it? By baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist was opening the door for the way of righteousness; just like the prophecy said. He would prepare the way of the Lord.

We can’t be sure of exactly what the author of Matthew had in mind, or what Jesus meant by saying that his baptism fulfilled all righteousness; and that’s ok. Baptism is a bit of a mystery to us. It always has been. Even our own baptisms are mysterious. I recall my own baptism very well. It was a moment of transition for me. I changed from being the young man who was bullied, full of hate, and anger – and I became convinced that I wanted to serve this surprising God who was big enough to love the people that I couldn’t love.



When I was being bullied, all I could think of was how much I hated these kids. One Sunday morning, my pastor preached the Word from God, and God’s Word changed my life. He talked about how much God loved us – and then he said something I’ll never forget. He told us that God’s love is so large that He loves even the people that we can’t love – God loves even the people whom we hate. God’s Word was staring me straight in the face. I hated a lot of people – all those bullies that constantly teased and harassed me in school.

But that morning, I encountered God, who is bigger than any bully, whose Word of mercy changes things – even the bitter heart of a young man. The God we worship is big enough, and His love is deep enough, that it can handle all my problems. God loved the people that I felt I couldn’t love – and that was enough to convince me. This God is One that I can’t live without. Without this God, I’m heading for the trash. Without this God, I’m going to do something to these bullies that I’ll always regret. Without this God, all I am is a cold and angry boy. I wanted to put my entire life, all my hurts, all my anger, and all my hope into his arms. I wanted to put my entire trust in the name of His Son who died for me, my sins – but not only for me. Jesus also died for the bullies and He loved them. That’s a God that’s big enough and a love that’s deep enough – I was completely hooked. I signed up for Catechism classes. And on the day of my baptism, I told the congregation, and I told the world, that I had finally realized that Jesus had completely claimed me for His own. I was God’s child, by His grace, and I was going to live the rest of my life for him.

On that day I was pulled into the mystery of baptism. In those waters, Jesus claimed me for his own. His Spirit changed my life, and it’s still changing my life every day. It’s not anything that I do – but thankfully God is doing good things to me, and through me. Without him I’m a useless mess; but with God, these baptismal waters changed everything. That mystery is hard for me to describe. Baptism is a mystery. Just like we can’t describe the full meaning of Jesus’ baptism, it’s hard for us to understand the full meaning of our own baptisms.

What is the connection between Jesus’ baptism and ours? In both cases, baptism is a doorway, a crossroads, and a decision point. For Jesus’ story, his baptism marks a change in focus. In the gospels, there’s a lot of focus on John the Baptist in the beginning, but when Jesus was baptized, the story places its complete focus on Jesus. Before this baptism, John’s life was full of meaning – his role was to prepare the way. But once the Messiah came, his role was to diminish and Christ’s role was to take centre stage. This is true for us in our baptisms as well. In baptism, our life moves from being self-focused to being Christ-centered.

For Jesus, baptism was the doorway, a starting line for His mission to save humanity. In his baptism, Jesus was given divine approval as King: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” With the heavens opened, and the anointing Spirit of God coming onto Him – Jesus was fully robed in royal garment. He was ready for his mission: to announce that His Kingdom was near – come and follow me! In our baptisms, we respond to that call. In the waters of baptism, you and I were claimed by Jesus, we were given our Christian calling to be God’s royal priesthood, and we were transitioned from a self-focused life towards a life of following Christ.

Have you made this decision? Have you submitted to the waters of baptism? Are you being obedient to God’s call to be washed? Repent and be baptized into the Body of Christ! Put your trust in His name alone! It is the only name by which we can be saved! In Jesus, your life will have the fullest meaning imaginable. When we acknowledge that Christ has claimed us – and when we become obedient in baptism – we are set aside as a royal priesthood for God’s Kingdom. What is a royal priesthood? Well; first of all, we’re royal. We become children of a King! That makes us royalty, by God’s grace. The next time someone teases you, or bullies you, remember that – you are a child of a King. But we are also a priesthood. In baptism, we are recruited into a mission – to mediate God’s love to all the people we meet. God wants to use you and me to shower others with love and mercy. As members of Christ’s body, we are the hands that feed and serve, that heal and bind together the broken.

How will you respond to Christ’s call? I encourage you to talk to your pastor, if you haven’t already, and ask him about joining your next faith class. Learn more about Jesus and seek him in the waters of baptism. Join him at the starting line of the Christian faith – and join him in the Mission of God’s Kingdom that’s breaking into our world all around us.

May God bless you and keep you, and may He give you peace. Amen.