Sermon - Rorate Coeli 2022 - John 1:19-28

Saint John the Baptist Preaching, Raphael, 1505

Baptism

1. John’s baptism was one of preparation for Jesus

2. Jesus’ baptism fully immerses us in His crucifixion

The Jews asked John: ““Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”” John is popularly known as the baptist, or the baptizer, because he came baptizing people in the Jordan river. However the baptism which John baptized with is not the same baptism into which we are baptized. John said he came baptizing with water, but Jesus came baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire. John’s baptism was one of preparation for Jesus. Jesus’ baptism, however, fully immerses us into His crucifixion.

John didn’t baptize in the Triune name or in the name of Jesus. He was baptizing people with water for repentance. Like he said of himself: “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” John wasn’t a nice guy, a pretty boy, rather he was strong and abrasive, a wild-man, the type of man who calls sinners of all stripes to repentance. When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance… Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

John’s baptism prepared people for Jesus by calling them to repentance. This is what it means to make straight the way of the Lord. Jesus enters into us by way of our hearts, and so our rocky uneven hearts are prepared for Jesus through repentance. John’s work was particularly necessary before Jesus began His earthly ministry, but the work of calling sinners to repentance is ongoing. Our troubled hearts are constantly in need of being leveled out and prepared for Jesus. Repentance is an ongoing task that we must daily work in our hearts.

This is frankly not the popular stuff of Christianity. John the Baptist was interesting, but if he were here today I don’t think we’d really like him that much. He wouldn’t just call out our pet sins, but he’d rebuke us even for the sins we do without thinking about them and the sins we think are hidden from everyone. He’d tell us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and if we don’t, the axe is laid to the root of the tree and we’ll be thrown into the fire of hell. This is painful stuff to hear, but this is how our crooked hearts are made straight for Christ to come and enter in.

The reason it’s necessary for hearts to be prepared for Christ through repentance is because sin blinds a person to the Gospel. “In their case the god of this world [the devil] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Sin traps a person in darkness, so that they can’t see the truth of the Gospel. Sin creates a sort of spiritual callus so that people stop feeling and recognizing the problems of sin. So the more you sin the less you think that your sins are wrong! If your sins aren’t wrong, if you’re not a sinner, then what need do you have for the Savior? Thus, by being called to repentance, we learn once again to believe that our sins are evil and that we deserve God’s wrath. If we know that we deserve His wrath, then we greatly long for the Savior to come and forgive our sins.

John’s baptism for repentance plays a necessary role in our lives. Nevertheless, repentance is only just the beginning, it’s the preparation. Jesus’ baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire is the greater thing because not only do we learn to see the seriousness of our sins, but we receive the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus instituted baptism in the final chapter of Matthew: “Therefore, as you are going, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 

Through our baptism into Jesus we receive His baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Likewise, when we were baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon us and filled our hearts with faith. Like St. Paul writes to Titus: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.”  When we were baptized we were saved through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Our original sins which we’ve inherited from Adam, and our actual sins that we’ve since committed, are all washed away in the waters of baptism when the Holy Spirit entered into us. 

This is also a baptism with fire. Fire is the wrath of God against sin, so unrepentant sinners will be cast into the lake of fire, the fiery pit, the place of hell. When Jesus was crucified upon the cross, and suffered the wrath and punishment of God, he was baptized with fire. Jesus said: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” Jesus was baptized a second time with fire when He was crucified, because there upon the cross He suffered the wrath of God in our place. 

Thus, when we were baptized we were baptized with fire, since we were baptized into His crucifixion and death. Like St. Paul writes in Romans: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” When we were baptized Jesus’ crucifixion and death was made our own, which means that the wrath of God over our sins has been satisfied. Because Jesus was crucified, and we were baptized into His crucifixion, God doesn’t hold any grudges against us, He’s not angry with us.

Our baptism therefore is the greatest gift imaginable! In baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, who washes us, cleanses us, renews us, and gives us a new birth. In baptism we are saved because Jesus’ crucifixion and death, His shed blood, is applied to us in order to forgive us all of our sins. On top of that, our baptism gives us a new birth from above! We’re not only baptized into Jesus’ death, but into His resurrection to life everlasting!

Baptism is such a treasure for us christians because it’s not only a one-time event in our lives, but it’s an on-going reality which plays a part in our life daily. Just as John’s baptism prepared the way for Jesus, so does our baptism prepare our way for our christian life. By way of our baptism we’ve been adopted into this christian family called the church. It is on account of our status as the baptized that God hears us when we call upon Him. Thus, the Divine Service begins with God speaking that baptismal name upon us once more, the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every time we repent and are absolved of our sins in the sacrament of confession and absolution, it’s a return to our baptism. The sacrament of the altar is fed not to dogs, but to God’s baptized children. Daily we arise from our slumbers to live as God’s holy baptized children, and each day is made new for us through baptism. Finally when our last hour comes the inheritance of God’s kingdom is given to the baptized children of God, and so we are heirs through baptism.

As we sang at the beginning of today’s service: “There is nothing worth comparing to this lifelong comfort sure! Open eyed my grave is staring; even there I’ll sleep secure. Though my flesh awaits its raising, still my soul continues praising: I am baptized into Christ; I’m a child of paradise.”