Jesus Baptized?
Matthew 3:13-17
January 13, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
This probably is not much of an Epiphany, a revelation for you – God the Father is well pleased with His Son. Jesus didn’t have any sin. He didn’t need baptism for forgiveness. He didn’t have to get down in the murky water of the Jordan to identify with sinners. He didn’t have to, but He wanted to. He doesn’t do this for Himself and His pleasure. He does this for you and for the Father’s pleasure.
Think how different the Father and Son are from earthly families. What, above all else, do parents want for their children? We want to be happy for our children and we want them to be happy. Why do we aim so low? Happiness is all about self.
God the Father isn’t happy with Jesus. That is not what “well-pleased” means. It really means to “think well” of His Son. It might correspond to the English word “proud.” (Thought from Pr. David Peterson) Think of how the Father extolls Christ when His work is finished. He sits Him at His right hand. All of heaven and earth will bend the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord. Of Jesus it is confessed, “He has done all things well.” (Mark 7:37)
Wouldn’t that be a much better goal for us and our children? We shouldn’t want our children to be happy. We should want to be proud of them for being good, for doing well, for suffering for others, for sacrificing their pleasures to serve, for practicing virtues like honesty, decency, faithfulness. In this way we would certainly model the Christian faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity doesn’t sit around at the heavenly kitchen table and say, “What will make us happy?” or “What will make the people happy?” The true God descends to earth with the goal of saving us from ourselves at His own cost and sacrifice. He is pleased and proud to serve us even though we don’t deserve it. That is why Jesus is standing in the Jordan.
The Old Testament reading teaches us of the significance of Jesus in those waters. 1400 years before Jesus stood in that water, Joshua stood there. By the way Joshua is Jesus in Hebrew. Jesus is Joshua in Greek. It is the same name. It means “The Lord saves.” Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land. Martin Luther had some interesting thoughts about Joshua. You remember that Moses was not allowed to bring the Israelites into the Promised Land, because he had doubted the Lord’s word along the way. Moses saw the Promised Land, but did not enter. Martin Luther said this is because Moses represents the Law. The Law can bring you to the edge of the Promised Land, but cannot bring you in. The Law tells you what you must do for God to be proud of you – keep the commandments. Climb the ladder of the Law and you can get over the fence of God’s demands. You shall have no other gods. You shall not misuse the name of the lord your God. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Honor your father and mother, etc. Keep those and come on in. God will think well of you. But you cannot keep the Law. So Moses doesn’t enter the Promised Land, but Joshua leads the people in – Joshua who points to Jesus. Joshua whose name means the Lord saves. That is how you get into the Promised Land – the Lord saves you in.
That’s why Jesus is standing in the Jordan. The Lord is going to get you in. You cannot atone for your own sins and you cannot manufacture the righteousness you would need to undo the unrighteousness you are. So Jesus is baptized.
There is however great difference between the baptism of Joshua and Jesus. After Joshua stood in the water of the Jordan he went in to the Promised Land. After Jesus was baptized by John, He was thrown out into the wilderness. Jesus was not given manna from heaven or water from a rock like the Israelites. He was without food for 40 days and nights. Sounds like Israel’s 40 years. Then Satan came, just like He came to Adam and Eve in the garden, except this was no garden. Jesus was starving and there was no food. Satan tempts Jesus to serve His belly. Turn these stones into bread. Be happy. Don’t do your Father’s will, serve yourself. Jesus didn’t go for happy. He went for you. He went for righteousness. He did what Adam did not do. He didn’t eat. He obeyed.
This is what Jesus is doing in the Jordan. He has come to accomplish all righteousness. He is in the Jordan because He is taking the sinner’s bath. He is taking your place. Sinners need baptism so Jesus is baptized. He becomes sin for you so that you might become the righteousness of God. His baptism is really the opposite of our baptism. He was given your sin in baptism. We are given His forgiveness in baptism. He was cast out after His baptism. We are brought in to the Father’s family. He has handed over to the devil. We are delivered from the devil. He was sentenced to death by being marked a sinner. We are marked with His cross for life and the resurrection of our bodies. His baptism led to the cross, where God the Father cast Him out and let His anger burn itself out on Jesus. Our baptism leads from the cross and tomb to God’s welcome and favor.
The chief mystery of this day is that Jesus is baptized – a man with no sins enters the sinner’s bath, not to be made clean, but to be muddied with your misdeeds.
There is another mystery on this day. Jesus said to John the Baptist – it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. To be sure Jesus alone accomplished all our righteousness, yet He needs John to baptize Him. God chose this way – marking Jesus a sinner, nailing Him to a cross, raising Him in His body, giving Him apostles, using bread and wine and water to deliver His forgiveness. So also God has chosen us to accomplish His righteousness in the world. The Spirit has called you to faith; brought you into this fellowship we call Redeemer. He has gathered you this morning to receive forgiveness for your sins in Words and bread and wine. In about an hour He’ll send you out – this isn’t a monastery. We won’t keep you all week. You go out and this week you’ll meet people troubled by their sins, angry at God, struggling with death in this unrighteous world. Jesus says to you, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” He would use you – as a parent to teach your children the faith, as a friend to pray for and console your neighbor, as a wife to forgive your husband, as a neighbor to care for the needy, as a member of this congregation to support our work together by your presence and prayers. Jesus accomplished our righteousness, but in some mysterious way He thought it fitting that you would be used to deliver it to those around you. The sinless Christ is baptized a sinner to forgive sinners and He uses a forgiven sinner like you to deliver that good news. Those are the mysteries of this First Sunday after the Epiphany. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm