THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson; Acts 10:34-38
Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 42:1-7
Sermon Text; Mark 1:4-11
If you heard on the radio that you had just won a million dollars, you would probably be extremely excited! However, you wouldn’t be satisfied with just hearing the announcement, that you had won the million dollars. I am sure that the next thing that you would do is to ask the question, "Where in the world can I go, to claim the million dollars, that I just won?" You would want to know exactly what to do and where to go, to claim your million dollars.
The same is true with salvation. We know that Jesus died on the cross, to pay for our personal sins. And so, the question that a Christian asks is, "Where can I go, to receive everything that Jesus, my savior, won for me on the cross." But, the problem is that you and I cannot go all way back 2,000 years, to claim the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us, on that cross. We can’t go to that cross, as that cross has decayed over the years. We can’t go back to that cross, to receive the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us.
And so, again, the question that a Christian needs to ask is, "Where can I go, to receive everything that Jesus, my savior, won for me on the cross, if I cannot go directly to that cross?" One of the places that the Bible tells us to go is the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. The Bible promises that when we can go to the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, God distributes to you, personally, what was won on the cross!
Today we need to talk, not only about Christ’s baptism, but also our baptism, because they are tied together.
You should realize that everything that we do in church, on Sunday mornings, is designed to focus us on God’s Word and God’s Sacraments. Those are the places that He distributes salvation to us. So, if you look at our baptismal font, you will see that it is in prominent place, during our worship service, because it helps you focus on your baptism, and to remind you of your baptism.
Our baptismal font is a certain shape. It is in the shape of an octagon, which is an eight-sided figure. So, when you count the sides, you will see eight sides. There is reason for that. It is to remind you of what Peter said in one of his epistles, (letters). He was talking about Noah and his family. There happened to be eight people in Noah’s family. During the great flood of Noah, the Bible tells us that eight people were saved by water. Eight people were saved by water. The Bible then goes on and says,
"Baptism also now saves us."
This is then to remind us that, just as the eight people were saved through the waters of the flood, so also the water of baptism distributes salvation to us and saves us.
We also notice that here on the baptismal font is the form of a dove. That is to remind us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove. The Holy Spirit is active in our baptism, as well.
Here is something that I want you to think about. "What happens during a baptism?" We can see that at a baptism, somebody comes up to the front of the church. They may be carried up, if they are little babies, or they walk up under their own power, if they are adults. Some scripture passages are read, the baptism is explained, and the Apostles Creed (which is about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is confessed. And then, the pastor takes water and applies the water to the person’s head, saying, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Then, that adult walks back to their pew, or the little baby is carried back to their pew.
They don’t look any different and they don’t act any different. So, visually, externally, what we see happen is that someone comes up, water is applied, words are spoken, they go back to their seat and things don’t look any different. But we make a big mistake if we only judge baptism by what happens visibly with the human eye and by what happens externally. The Bible tells us,
"Faith is
being sure of what we
don’t see."
And so, we need to know what happens, invisibly, in baptism. God is very clear to us what exactly happens in baptism. And, by the way, we need to remember that baptism is not a human invention. It is not something that some human came up with. Baptism is God’s institution. So, I want you to think about these passages. It is God, who said,
"Go therefore, and
make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
God instituted baptism. It is HIS Holy Sacrament. Therefore, since God instituted it, He can do whatever He wants to, through baptism. And so, when God’s Word is added to the waters of baptism, the question is, "What does God promise to actually do through His Word and baptism?" Did you know there is a Bible passage that says,
"Be baptized,
everyone of you and
wash away your sin."
There, the Bible promises us that at our baptism, the washing away of sins took place.
There is another Bible passage that says,
"Don’t you know that
all of you,
who were baptized into Christ,
have been baptized into His death."
That means that here in the waters of baptism, through God’s Word, God adds everything that happened in Jesus’ death!
His blood
is added to the sacrament of baptism.
His life
is added to the sacrament of baptism.
His payment for sins,
that took place on the cross,
is added to the sacrament of baptism.
Jesus Christ is offered to me,
here in the sacrament of baptism!
God promises that in His Word.
"All of you,
who were baptized into Christ,
have been baptized into His death."
The Bible says,
"All you
who are baptized into Christ
have been clothed with Christ."
There, the Bible promises us that Jesus’ holy life, and everything that Jesus did for me, His payment for all of my sins, clothes me. It covers me up. It covers up my sin, in the waters of baptism. There, God promises that we are clothed with Jesus Christ, in the waters of baptism.
The Bible says,
"Baptism also now saves
you."
Baptism saves! Baptism is no small, insignificant, external activity. Baptism actually distributes the salvation that Jesus won for us!
But, how can that happen, in baptism? Who comes up for baptism? It is a sinner. It is a sinner who comes up for baptism. I don’t care what your age is. It doesn’t matter whether, you are one day old, or one hundred years old. The Bible says, "I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." So, no matter what your age, the person who comes up here, to the waters of baptism to be baptized, is a sinner. The Bible tells us that sinners stand condemned before God. There is no way that a sinner, by our own power, can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. We are lost and condemned creatures. And so, the person who comes up here to baptism is a sinful, lost and condemned creature. And, without Christ, will be lost and condemned forever.
But who else comes to baptism? It is not just the sinner who comes up here to baptism.
God
comes to baptism!
God comes to baptism! It is awesome! It is awesome, to know that God has promised, He has promised to meet us here in the waters of baptism! Here, individually, and personally, for every single one of us who has been baptized, God comes to us and has applied to us everything that Jesus won for us!
He calls us by our name, "Mark Frederick Bartels, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
And there, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, personally and individually pronounced to me, everything that scripture says about baptism, is true for me! Everything that scripture says about Jesus Christ is true for me! There, in baptism, God offers to me Himself!
He offers to me everything that Jesus did on the cross! He offers it to me, a sinner.
He offers to me Jesus’ death, as my very own, through the Word and water of baptism!
He offers to me the righteousness of Christ, as my very own, individually and personally in the waters of baptism, as He calls me by name!
He offers to me the open doors of Heaven that Jesus won for me, personally and individually, as he calls me by name!
He sets this before me, as my own, personal gift! The Holy Spirit, who promises to work through that gospel message, is there in baptism. He works through that gospel message and causes us to believe that it is true for me.
And, we do become different people. We become different people in God’s eyes. He declares us to be different people. Just like we were born of our mothers into sin, so in baptism, we have a new birth. Jesus says, "Unless you are born again of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." We become new creatures. We have a new birth. We have a different standing before God. He declares me not guilty, for the sake of Jesus Christ. That is what happens at our baptism.
I want you to look at the last paragraph of our scripture reading, so you can see how God honors baptism, as our savior Jesus Christ is baptized. Look at the powerful statement that God makes about baptism.
"As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’"
Did you know that of all the ways that Jesus could have chosen to begin his public ministry, this is the way God chose? Jesus began His ministry by being baptized!
Do you know how Jesus ended his public ministry? The very last thing that He said, as He was ascending up into heaven was, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The last command that Jesus left us was to go, baptize and be baptized. He began His ministry with baptism and He ended with baptism.
Isn’t the same true in our lives? We begin our life of faith with baptism. Through baptism, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus, as our savior. Through those promises that are declared to be ours in baptism, the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts and we begin a new life of faith in Jesus, as our savior.
It used to be that in the olden days, the baptismal font was found at the entryway of the church. The person was baptized first and then brought into the church. It was a sign that it was the beginning of that person’s life of faith in Jesus, as the savior.
And, we end our lives, with the promises of baptism. When we lie on our deathbed, we can go right back to our baptism, where we are absolutely comforted. I know that at my baptism, God personally and individually declared to me that everything Jesus did for me, is mine. He offered it to me. It is mine!
We begin our Christian lives, with baptism and we close our lives, with the promises that were given to us, during our baptism.
Think about who came to the waters of baptism. The Bible says, "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan."
This was God!
That is why John said to Jesus, "You come to be baptized by me? You don’t need to be baptized by me, I need to be baptized by you."
Who is baptism for? It is for sinners. If there is one person in the world who did not need to be baptized, it was Jesus, because He was not a sinner. And, John knew that. And so, when Jesus came to the waters of baptism, it is an awesome thing to think that He was presenting Himself as if He were a sinner.
Jesus became what He was not.
Jesus was not a sinner, but there in the waters of baptism, He claimed our sins and began to carry our sins, ultimately taking them to the cross.
In the waters of baptism, we become like Christ.
We become what we are not.
We are sinners. But in the waters of baptism, God makes us His holy people! He gives to us everything that Jesus won for us! He declares us to be not guilty!
The Bible goes on and says, "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open." This is the only place in scripture, the only place in scripture, where that phrase, heaven being torn open, is used. How significant it is that the phrase was used at Christ’s baptism. In our baptism, heaven was literally torn open. Because we received in our baptism Jesus’ perfect life and everything that Jesus won for us on the cross, then the doors of heaven were made wide open to us.
The Bible says, "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove."
Who was present, there at Jesus’ baptism? The Holy Spirit was present. The Holy Spirit came in visible form, as a dove, which an animal of peace. In our baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to us. Jesus says, "Unless you are born again of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." The Holy Spirit comes through the Word. And He brings us peace, peace with God, and the forgiveness of sins.
The Bible goes on and says, "A voice came from Heaven". That was the voice of God, the Father! So here we have the Father present, the Son present being baptized, and the Holy Spirit present. This is the only place in all of scripture where The Trinity is physically manifest! Of all places, at baptism!
In baptism, we are baptized into the name of The Triune God, the Father, who sent His Son to save us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who works through the Word to bring us to faith.
"The voice came from Heaven, ‘You are my son, whom I love’". There, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God. And in baptism you are declared to be a child of God, a son or daughter of God, Himself, because of what Jesus, our savior did for us.
And then God said, "You are my Son whom I love; with you I am well pleased." God was well pleased with Jesus, because Jesus lived a perfect life. God is well pleased with us, because of what Jesus did for us! In baptism, He declares to you,
"I am well pleased
with you,
because of what my Son did
for you."
What an awesome gift God gives to you, in baptism!
Our baptism is not in the past. Even though I was baptized some 40 years ago, that is not something that is in the past, and no longer of any value to me. My baptism is just as valuable today, as it was 43 years ago. And, so is yours.
If I had a million dollars sitting here, it would be very valuable. Even if I didn’t believe it was mine, it would not lose its value. I just would not benefit from it. The same is true of baptism. God gave us an awesome gift at baptism. He declared that at baptism, everything that belongs to Jesus is ours. That promise stands, even if I don’t believe it. If I don’t believe God’s promise, it would not lose its value. I just would not benefit from it.
When I fall into sin, or when I fall away from God, I can always run back to my baptism. There I can find comfort knowing God has declared to me, He has given to me the promise that my sins are forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. He has individually and personally pronounced that at baptism and that is mine!
Let us find great comfort in our baptism for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.
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