Matthew 3:13-17

The First Sunday after the Epiphany | Mt 3:13-17 | 01/08/2023 | Judson F Merrell |

The Baptism of Our Lord

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.

 ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, „I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?“

 ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, „Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.“ Then he consented.

 ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

 ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, „This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.“ (Mat 3:13-17 NRSV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

It seems fitting to me that this Sunday, the day in which we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, is also the first Sunday that I join you in ministry here at St. Peter’s.  As I prayed about this sermon I was drawn to our service of Holy Baptism in the Lutheran Book of Worship.  In the opening address of that service, the following words are said by the Pastor:

         “By water and Holy Spirit we are made members of the Church which is the Body of Christ.  As we live with him and with his people, we grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God.”

Right there we know the expectations that we have as baptized Children of God.  It seems as though it is simple enough, but truth be told it’s a pretty tall order.  Perhaps even taller than what many say are God’s expectations of us, as found in Micah 6:8:

         ⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Mic 6:8 NRS)

Faith, love, obedience.  The English translation of Micah 6:8 uses the word “require”, but in the Hebrew the word is “Seek”.  What does the Lord seek out?  As baptized children of God, what is expected of us?  Faith.  Love. Obedience.  Now to turn the question around…as baptized children of God, what do we expect of our Lord?  Do we expect faith, love and obedience?  Do we expect mercy and grace?  Do we expect forgiveness and righteousness?  All that for me is wrapped up in another question:  Should we have expectations of our Lord?  That is a question we can ponder on, and it is also a question in which we can turn to Scripture as we ponder.  Looking at our text today, we can say that John certainly had expectations of his Lord.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.

 ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, „I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?“

 ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, „Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.“ Then he consented.

 (Mat 3:13-15 NRS)

John’s expectations were that he was not worthy to baptize Jesus.  His expectation, and rightly so, was that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  As a good Jew, John had expectations of a grand king who would reestablish the throne of David, defeat the Roman occupiers, and restore Israel and Jerusalem to its former greatness.  Furthermore, John was baptizing for the forgiveness of sin.  Why would Jesus, the sinless Son of God, need to be baptized?  Perhaps because Jesus knows the significance of baptism.  Matthew records for us that at this baptism the Spirit comes upon Jesus, and God declares “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  Many people have questioned why Jesus, the sinless Son of God, needed to go through a baptism for the repentance of sins.  Understandably people struggle with this.  But in doing so perhaps they miss the bigger picture.  Jesus’ baptism shows us the obedience and devotion to God’s will that we are all called to.  In doing so, Jesus shows us just how connected our lives truly are.  His obedience to the Father serves as the perfect example for us.  After his baptism, Jesus begins the greatest ministry the world has ever seen.  It is a ministry centered around faith, love, and obedience.  Full of the Spirit, Jesus is able to heal, resurrect the dead, cast out demons, turn Gentiles to God, and even reconcile the world to himself through his death on the cross.  This is a ministry that we cannot do.  But full of the Spirit, we are able to do some amazing things with ministry.  In his baptism, Jesus showed faith, love and obedience to God the Father.  Through our own baptisms, we do the same.  The ministry that comes out of St. Peter’s is done out of faith, love and obedience to God.  God has blessed this congregation in so many ways, and I am so thankful that my family and I have joined with you in passing that blessing on.  In 1519 Luther wrote in his treatise “The Holy and Blessed Sacrament of Baptism” the following:

“God has given every saint a special way and a special grace to follow in their baptism.”

The ministry that each of you do shows the grace that God has given you.  It shows how God has equipped and enabled you to be the child of God that you are.  No one is the same, but together you are able to do some amazing things.  All of that is only possible though through the gift of the Spirit, given at baptism to each of you. The ministry that each of you do, and collectively together as a congregation, shows the grace that God has given you.  It shows how God has equipped and enabled you to be the child of God that you are, whether we expected it or not.  All of that is only possible though through the gift of the Spirit, given at baptism to each of you.  The gift of the Spirit is the new thing that God has done in your life, and it is something to be continually celebrated.  We celebrate and rejoice in that today by hearing once again about Jesus’ own baptism.  We look forward to hearing in the weeks to come how his baptism was the starting point of his ministry, rejoicing in what he was able to do as he was filled with the power of the Spirit.  Today we also remember our own baptisms, rejoicing that God has claimed us as his own and given us his grace and mercy.  We give thanks that through the gift of the Spirit, God has enabled us to be a blessing to so many others in our community.  As we take a new step in our journey today, it is my prayer that God continues to bless us as we live together in faith, love, and obedience.  As a baptized member of the Body of Christ, it is my expectation that the Spirit will continue to help on this journey, so that our ministry will be for the Glory of God, now and forever. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.