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A necessary step to fulfill all righteousness

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Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord

1 Corinthians 1:26-31  +  Matthew 3:13-17

On Sunday we heard about how twelve-year-old Jesus amazed everyone at the temple in the Jerusalem. It’s now about 18 years later. Jesus has spent all that time in Nazareth, growing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. We know that He learned some carpentry from His earthly father, Joseph, who was a carpenter, by trade, because Jesus Himself is once referred to as “the carpenter.” It appears that, sometime during those 18 years, Joseph died, because he is conspicuously absent from the rest of the story of Jesus’ life. The next thing we hear about Jesus happens when He’s about 30 years old, as Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record how Jesus came down from Galilee to the Jordan river, to be baptized by John, who had started preaching and baptizing several months before this. Why was Jesus baptized? For what purpose? What was the significance of it? What does it matter for us and for our salvation? We’re going to walk through these five verses from Matthew chapter 3 and then answer those questions.

As Jesus approached John to be baptized, John recognized Him immediately. How, we don’t know. We’re not told of any interaction between the two before this. Maybe John knew in the same way that Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus as a baby, by the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In any case, John knew that Jesus was not at all like other men. He tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized, saying, “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” John, as a prophet sent by God, knew a lot about Jesus. He knew that he (John), like everyone else who was coming to be baptized, was sinful and in need of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, and that Jesus had no need of those things, because He was sinless to begin with. John knew that he was just a humble messenger, while Jesus was the divine Messenger to whom John was pointing. He knew that Jesus was far greater than he, far superior to him, as he confessed openly soon after baptizing Jesus. He knew that he needed to be saved by Jesus, and that Jesus certainly didn’t need to be saved by him. And he was right about all those things.

But John didn’t know everything about God’s plan of salvation. Jesus fills him in a little bit. Allow it for now. For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. John knew he was supposed to be pointing people to Jesus, but he didn’t know, until now, that Jesus’ ministry had to begin with a very special baptism. John knew that Jesus was the Righteous One. But he was just now learning, from Jesus, that baptizing Jesus was part of “fulfilling all righteousness.” We’ll talk about that more in a minute.

Now, to be washed by someone is a humbling experience, even more so when it’s a washing that’s normally connected with spiritual dirt, where everyone else who comes to be baptized is being baptized specifically because he recognizes that he’s a sinner who deserves nothing from God but His wrath and punishment. And so Jesus was humbled by John, and John must have felt awkward doing it. But at Jesus’ word, John consented and baptized the Lord Jesus.

We’re told that, right after Jesus was baptized, three remarkable events occurred. He saw the heavens opened to Him, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and came upon Jesus, and the Father spoke those incredible works that He would later repeat at Jesus’ transfiguration: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This is the second reference in the New Testament to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. The first was in Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about Jesus being the Son, of God, who would be conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. But here at Jesus’ Baptism, the three Persons are clearly seen. What does it all mean? What was it all for?

First, do you remember, when Jesus was crucified between the two thieves and the Evangelists record that it was to fulfill a prophecy about the Christ? He was numbered with the transgressors. Jesus’ death among sinners was the culmination of that prophecy. But it was really a prophecy that was fulfilled throughout Jesus’ life, and in a very special way at His Baptism. Jesus was numbered with the transgressors. He went to Baptism together with a multitude of people, all of whom were transgressors, sinners. And He allowed Himself to be counted among them, even though He had no sin, just as, one day, He would allow Himself to be crucified among sinners, as if He were a sinner. This is all part of what Paul says about Jesus in 2 Cor. 5: God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. It was part of “fulfilling all righteousness” for Jesus, the Righteous One, to be numbered among the transgressors, so that all who believe in Him might be numbered among the righteous.

Another purpose of Jesus Baptism was that it served as what we might call His “anointing,” His inauguration and ordination into the office of the Christ. Now, Jesus was the Christ from the moment He was conceived and born. As the angel told the shepherds, “Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord.” He was always the Christ with regard to His identity. But it was at His Baptism that Jesus fully entered into the office of the Christ, the ministry of the Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King. And even though He was the Son of God, as the Son of Man He didn’t take that office or that ministry upon Himself. He waited for the Father to open the heavens to Him, and to send down the Holy Spirit upon Him, and to speak the words of approval upon His Son, designating this man Jesus as His chosen Servant for this one-of-a-kind mission to save the fallen human race. The Baptism of Jesus, where the Father spoke and the Spirit came upon Jesus, is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus later applied to Himself: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me.

Finally, what does Jesus’ Baptism mean for you and me? It means that Jesus is the Savior you should trust in, the only Savior chosen and sent by God the Father, the only one who has the Father’s full approval, in everything, because Jesus never once failed or faltered. He is the Righteous One who was willing to be numbered with the transgressors in order to bring us transgressors to God. He is the Righteous One with whom we believers are now clothed through Holy Baptism, as Paul says, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And having put on Christ through Baptism, you have now become a beloved child of God who is well-pleasing to the Father, because in this strange and wonderful Sacrament of Holy Baptism, God has made a way for you to be connected to His beloved, well-pleasing Son, who was baptized, just as you were—not in the same place, or by the same person, or at the same age, but in the same divinely instituted washing. His was a washing of solidarity with sinners, an anointing of ordination, a reception of the Holy Spirit. Yours was a washing of solidarity with Christ, an anointing of adoption, and, likewise, a reception of the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism of Jesus is the event in which God the Father held forth His beloved Son to the world as wisdom from God, including both righteousness, and holiness, and redemption. Forget the wisdom of the world. Here is My wisdom, the Father says. Forget the righteousness of the world. Here is your righteousness! Forget the holiness of the world. Here is your holiness! Forget the redemption that the world offers. Here is the redemption that God offers! Here, in this Man Jesus, the Christ, the beloved Son of God, who makes you beloved sons of God through faith in Him, and through Baptism. Rejoice in this Sacrament that connects you with Christ! Amen.

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Behold! The chosen Servant of the Lord!

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Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord

Isaiah 42:1-13  +  Matthew 3:13-17

The Baptism of Jesus has traditionally been a very important celebration within the Epiphany season. That’s why many of our Epiphany hymns reference, not only the visit of the wise men, but also the Lord’s Baptism in the Jordan River. It fits very well with the theme of this season, because it’s an important epiphany, an important revelation of the hidden divinity of the Man named Jesus. Coincidentally, it also fits well in our review of the book of Isaiah this year. We turned to Isaiah 60 last week to talk about the visit of the wise men. This week we turn to Isaiah 42, which we’ll consider in conjunction with Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Baptism.

Matthew writes, Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And what happened when Jesus was baptized? The heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Now, what did Isaiah prophesy about the coming Christ?

Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him;

Do you hear the similarities? They’re intentional! This! This, above all, is what we are to take from Jesus’ baptism, that He is the promised, chosen servant of the Lord whose coming was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. Here, in this humble ceremony performed in the Jordan River, Jesus was anointed, not with oil, but with water. Here, at His Baptism, Jesus was inaugurated into the office which He would now begin in earnest to fulfill: His Christly office as Prophet, Priest, and King. Even Jesus, the God-Man, didn’t take this office on Himself. He waited 30 years, until this time of His Father’s choosing.

Now, when sinners are baptized, what’s it for? Scripture tells us. Repent and be baptized, Peter said, for the forgiveness of your sins. Get up and be baptized, said Ananias to Saul, and wash away your sins. Baptism now saves you, Peter wrote. For the sinner, Baptism is the washing of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit. You are all sons of God, Paul writes, through faith in Jesus Christ, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

None of that was true of Jesus’ baptism. The sinless One didn’t have any sins for which He needed to be forgiven, sins which He needed to wash away. The Savior didn’t need saving. The One who was born holy and who was still holy had no need of a rebirth. The One who was the Son of God according to both His divine and His human natures did not need to be made a son of God. So when Jesus was baptized, there was no change in His status before God, only a public acknowledgement by God of what was already true: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Isaiah goes on to describe the ministry that the Servant of the Lord would carry out.

He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench;

St. Matthew will later (in chapter 12) cite these very words from Isaiah 42 and apply them directly to Jesus as a description of His ministry. Jesus was not a loud and obnoxious street preacher. He was patient and kind toward the weak. He didn’t shout and draw attention to Himself. Just consider His baptism. He didn’t make a big show. He humbly stepped forward and asked John to baptize Him. It was God the Father who exalted His Son in that moment.

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles…He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

There’s another testimony from Isaiah that the Christ would be sent not only to Israel but to all nations, to the Gentiles, too. Now, Jesus Himself never even went out into the nations, much less did He seek to establish political or social justice in the earth. But His justice includes His righteousness, the righteousness of God which we receive by faith in Christ Jesus, and that message He did send out into the world, not in connection with His own Baptism, but in connection with the Baptism He sent His apostles to administer: Go and make the disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And, as Paul wrote, when we are baptized into Christ, we put on Christ. We are clothed with His righteousness, with His justice, judged by God to be righteous for Christ’s sake, who was baptized just as we are, not because He needed cleansing, but in order offer Himself to all the baptized, so that we can put Him on, be clothed with Him and His righteousness, and be counted before God as His beloved sons, with whom He is well-pleased. People wonder what Jesus meant when He told John that He needed to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. This is one of the reasons.

Along those same lines, Isaiah continues: Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles,

Here Christ’s task, His ministry, is further explained. The LORD God, the Creator of all, God the Father Almighty, called His Son in righteousness. In connection with righteousness, as the One who would live a righteous life as mankind’s Substitute, as the One whose righteousness would cover believers in Him, as the One who would teach His people to live righteous and holy lives. And here the Father promises to hold His hand, to help and accompany Him in His earthly ministry, to keep, to preserve Him—until it was time for His sacrifice to take place, and to give Him as a covenant to the people (that is, to Israel), and as a light to the Gentiles. The old covenant God had made with Israel at Mt. Sinai would be replaced by Jesus, the author of the New Testament. And, again, He would be a light to enlighten the Gentiles, too, to bring them into this New Testament in His blood.

To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

A further description of Christ’s ministry. As we talked about during the Advent season, some of that He did literally. He literally opened blind eyes. He literally opened deaf ears. He literally delivered those who were imprisoned by the devil by casting out their demons. But He also did it spiritually, through His word, revealing the way of salvation to those who were living in the darkness and captivity of sin.

I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

This is an important verse, because Jesus claims divine honor and glory for Himself, and yet here the Lord clearly says that He won’t share His glory with anyone. The fact that the Father shares His glory and honor with the Son is yet another testimony that Jesus is Himself is also true God.

Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.

God’s old way of dealing with Israel—through the Law of Moses, through the Levitical priesthood, through the occasional prophet—was all about to change after the baptism of the Christ. Now He would deal with Israel for a time and show them Himself as clearly as possible. As John writes, For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made him known.

So Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them! Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare His praise in the coastlands.

Yes, the coming of Christ, His revelation to Israel, and now to us, at His baptism is reason for all people everywhere to sing to the Lord, because in this Man who stepped forth from those baptismal waters, the Lord has provided a Savior for all men, that all may believe in Him, be baptized in His name, and be eternally saved.

The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.

Sounds like Isaiah is describing Jesus going forth from His baptism, doing battle with the devil in the wilderness for the next forty days, carrying out His ministry for the next three years, crying out, yes, shouting aloud from the cross, “It is finished!”, and then rising from the dead, prevailing against His enemies. Give thanks today, for Jesus’ baptism and for Isaiah’s prophecy that helps us to understand just how important it was. Behold, the Servant of the Lord, the Son of God, going forth to bring salvation to sinners everywhere! Amen.

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