Sermon - Baptism of Our Lord 2020 - Matthew 3:13-17

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”” This really is a crazy scene and I think we understand John’s confusion. Here stands the Savior of the World, Jesus, the Son of God, the One John has been preaching about and pointing everyone towards! But now that Messiah comes to John to be baptized. 

What in the world!? It should be the other way around! John stops Jesus, and exclaims: “I need to be baptized by You!” John’s got a good point! Jesus is the greater one and John is the lesser one, John should be submitting to Jesus, not Jesus to John. But Jesus calmly answers the confused John, saying: ““Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.””

It’s entirely necessary that Jesus entered into those baptismal waters. If He had not been baptized, His righteousness would’ve been inaccessible to us, and none of us would be able to enter into heaven. But praise the Lord Jesus was baptized! Jesus entered into the waters of Baptism so that we too might pass through those baptismal waters into the promised land of heaven.

All of this is beautifully foreshadowed and illustrated in our Old Testament reading from Joshua. If you remember the history, Joshua was the successor to Moses. Moses was called by the Lord to lead the Israelites in exodus out of Egypt and into the promised land. But as a result of the Israelites’ faithlessness God cursed them into wandering about in the wilderness for 40 years, until all that faithless generation died off, including Moses who also sinned against the Lord. 

At the end of those 40 years, concluding with the death of Moses, the Lord raised up a new man to lead the Israelites into the promised land in order to take possession of it. The Lord raised up Joshua, saying: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the Land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.”

In order for all the Israelites to reach the promised land, they first needed to cross the Jordan river. The only thing separating these people from their inheritance is the Jordan river. But this was no small feat! Fording a river is dangerous at any time of the year, but especially so when the river is in flood stage as it was when the Israelites needed to cross it. 

But the Lord had a plan. Joshua, along with the ark of the covenant, would go before the people, and God commanded him: “‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan... And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.’” When the Lord entered into those waters, with Joshua as His spokesman, the Israelites all safely passed over into the promised land on dry ground.

The only way for the Israelites to enter into their promised land was by following the Lord who went before them into the waters. Likewise, before we can enter into our promised land of heaven, our Joshua, Jesus, needs to go before us into the waters of baptism. Since Jesus passed through those waters first, He now sanctifies all waters with His Word to be the means by which we enter into paradise.

Therefore Baptism is no small thing! Baptism isn’t just a symbol or a sign, but it’s the very means by which we pass through this wilderness into the joys of heaven! It’s as Jesus says, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Because Jesus stood in those baptismal waters, His righteousness is now delivered to us through those waters! When you were baptized, the Lord delivered you from the wilderness of your unrighteousness and wickedness. Your baptism is the event in which you were washed and sanctified, cleansed with the water and the Word, by God Himself.

Your baptism is akin to being reborn, Jesus says to Nicodemus! ““Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”” When you were baptized you were reborn, not by human flesh and blood, but you were reborn by the Spirit, washed in the blood of the Lamb! 

Jesus stood in those waters so that you might pass through those waters and come out the other side rescued from your wild untamed hearts. See this is what’s different about your baptism from what happened in the Old Testament. The Israelites passed over on dry ground. Their shoes didn’t even get muddy. But you passed through the waters, you were drowned in those waters, you were killed in those waters, so that Christ might make you alive again in those waters.

Because of your sinful wild hearts, you were already dead in your tresspasses! You were a dead man walking, standing on death row, just biding your time until your execution. So in baptism you were put to death and then raised up again! The old sinful man was killed, drowned in baptism, you were resurrected as a new creation in Christ. As St. Peter says, “Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Did you hear that? Baptism now saves you! Right now! Your salvation is established in you through your baptism! Jesus says it as plain as day: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved!” Your inheritance of the promised land is assured and it’s as certain as God’s Word is true. Your baptism is the foundation for your certainty of salvation to heaven! If doubts ever assail you that you’re not saved, then look to your baptism! Remember that you passed through the same waters that Jesus stands in and you took His righteousness with you.

When we were baptized our heavenly Father stopped looking at us like wild crazy sinners, but instead He looks at us and sees Jesus. He looks at us, and says: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Our baptism is the beginning of our heavenly life, and it’s also the start of our new earthly life! Before baptism, we were not wise, not powerful, not of noble birth, we were foolish, weak, low, and despised, and yet in baptism God chose us in order to give us the wisdom of Christ, to give us the power to live in righteousness, and to be reborn into the nobility of God’s heavenly kingdom. All of these benefits of baptism have already begun in us on earth right now! Right now we get to start living that new life on earth. We don’t have to wait until we die to start living a sanctified life, but we get to start right away!

Baptism started your new life with Christ, both in heaven and on earth. It’s not just this past event that happened, but it’s an ongoing present reality every day for you! If you ever think your life is mundane, or that the things you do are umimportant, or that you’re unimportant, then think again! You matter and the things you do every day are hugely important because you’re baptized and living in the same waters that Jesus stands in right now.

You are the church, you are the body of Christ, you are baptized! This font here in the sanctuary is no insignificant piece of furniture. This font is the fountain of life, the river that we pass through in order to get to paradise, the blessed flood which washes away our sins! We would do well to dip our fingers into the waters of the font, remembering the water of baptism. We would do well to make the sign of the cross, remembering the cross Jesus shed His blood upon in order to declare us righteous. We would do well to invoke the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, remembering that we’re reborn into the real holy family. We would do well to remember our Baptism daily, so that we might boast, not in ourselves, but in the Lord.