Joshua 3:1-3, 7-8, 13-17/1 Corinthians 1:26-31/St Matthew 3:13-17
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Out of Egypt the Lord has called His Son. And it is for this purpose which He has come: to rewind the Exodus; to live the history of Israel in Himself, in His flesh and blood, in righteousness and obedience to the will of His Father. He is not a son of the Pharaohs. Rather, He comes, as the only Son from heaven, and takes His place among His own, among His creation, among fallen and exiled sinners.
He stands on the banks of the Jordan, the preaching ground of the Forerunner. He stands among sinners; prostitutes and tax collectors, liars and cheats, gossips and slanderers, the sexually immoral and adulterers. He takes His place among them in order to bear their sin and be their Savior; in order to offer full atonement for them and led them out of slavery and bondage to sin, out of the exile and wandering of their own quest for righteousness and holiness. He shall be the Ark that safely ferries them across the raging waters; the Word that stands the Father’s wrath in a heap so they may cross, while is plunges down upon Him.
For as Moses was succeed by Joshua and Elijah succeeded by Elisha, so now the One who fled under the rule of a certain Herod returns to be baptized by the one who will be imprisoned and beheaded by another. All of this is to say, Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
Yet even the Voice does not yet understand what is happening. He would have prohibited our Lord, even as St Peter would have prevented the Cross. But it is in this way that our Lord fulfills all righteousness. In Jesus the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. He is the Ark of the Lord your God and He comes to this son of Zachariah the priest. What is there for St John to do other than set out from his place and follow Him?
Thus does he consent. He becomes Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice. He is Aaron offering the bull and the ram, the goat and the Lamb for Israel. He is Samuel, prophet, priest, and judge, anointing David as the chosen of the Lord. He is Elijah, calling down the Spirit and the fire upon the One who baptizes with the Spirit and fire, upon the One true God in the flesh.
The greater One is baptized by the one who must decrease. This is what is means to be the Son of God, to live by the grace of the Father; Jesus submits to the justice of the Father; He is anointed as the holy Sacrifice for all of Israel. He takes your place, the place of sinners.
Consider what is revealed at His baptism: the inner divine life of the Blessed Holy Trinity is manifested, epiphanes, epiphanied, revealed, in the flesh of the Beloved Son in whom the Father’s heart delights. It is as if God turns Himself inside out in Jesus, in order to draw you to Himself and embrace you.
He who omnipotent, all-powerful, submits Himself to this humble bath. He who is omniscient, all-knowing, wisdom beyond comprehension, undergoes the foolishness of a sinner’s washing. He who is highest most holy, heaven’s exalted, is weak and despised in the world. These are things of which God choses, the things that are not - water, bread, wine, words - He uses to bring to nothing the things that are.
For He will use the weakness and shame and foolishness of His Cross to unseat the powers and principalities of this world; to overcome death and sin and Satan and hell. He will use the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are.
And for this the Father loves Him! In Him, in this, His heart delights! He says to this new testament Joshua, Yeshua, “Today I will begin to exalt You in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with You.”
In other words, what His Baptism means, what it signifies, and what it requires of Him is the Cross, which He accepts in love for His Father, in His love for you. And He bears and carries and suffers in the faith that His Father will raise Him up out of death and the grave and vindicate Him in glory for the salvation of the world.
Take careful note and consider, then, dear ones, that your dear Lord Jesus Christ does all of this - He fulfills all righteousness and accomplishes this great salvation for you and for all people. He submits and makes use of the external means that His God and Father wills and provides for Him. It is fitting, Jesus says, for Him to be baptized by St John. It is not a show, it is not a mere example for you, but it on your behalf and for your salvation.
Thus it is fitting that you receive this washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, the generous outpouring of His life and salvation, His forgiveness and mercy, upon you in Holy Baptism. For has chosen to use this lowly and despised means to drive away the devil, to rescue you from death, to bring you into His kingdom and grace. As you will sing in a few moments, “All that the mortal eye beholds is water as we pour it. Before the eye of faith unfolds the pow’r of Jesus’ merit. For here is sees the crimson flood to all our ills bring healing; the wonders of His precious blood the love of God revealing, assuring His own pardon” (LSB 406:7).
Here stands the font before your eyes, this pillar of stone, a reminder that you have been ferried across the raging waters of death in Christ who is your Ark and your Life. For to you the heavens are opened and the Father declares: “My beloved, My child, in whom I delight.” This is not play-acting or pretend. This is the very means by which you are brought into the righteousness and life of the Son of the Father, to live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.
You bear His Name and so He sanctifies your life and conduct with His Word and by His Spirit. You are given the privilege, the right of children, to call upon His Name in every trouble, to pray and praise and offer thanksgiving. You needn’t attempt to make a name and a life for yourself; rather receive Him who is your Life. Hear His Word and learn from Him to live by repentance and faith, daily returning to the banks of the Jordan River, to your baptism, dying and rising with and in and by Him.
You were adulterer, slanderer, gossip, liar no more; these are not your calling. Leave behind these foolish and shameful things. For you belong to Christ, He has called you to Himself in love. He became to you Wisdom from God. He is your Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption. Boast in Him and what He has done for you.
Beloved, you are God’s own child. I gladly say it. You are baptized into Christ. So you are well-pleasing to your Father in heaven, and so shall you live in Him who loves you forever and ever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Out of Egypt the Lord has called His Son. And it is for this purpose which He has come: to rewind the Exodus; to live the history of Israel in Himself, in His flesh and blood, in righteousness and obedience to the will of His Father. He is not a son of the Pharaohs. Rather, He comes, as the only Son from heaven, and takes His place among His own, among His creation, among fallen and exiled sinners.
He stands on the banks of the Jordan, the preaching ground of the Forerunner. He stands among sinners; prostitutes and tax collectors, liars and cheats, gossips and slanderers, the sexually immoral and adulterers. He takes His place among them in order to bear their sin and be their Savior; in order to offer full atonement for them and led them out of slavery and bondage to sin, out of the exile and wandering of their own quest for righteousness and holiness. He shall be the Ark that safely ferries them across the raging waters; the Word that stands the Father’s wrath in a heap so they may cross, while is plunges down upon Him.
For as Moses was succeed by Joshua and Elijah succeeded by Elisha, so now the One who fled under the rule of a certain Herod returns to be baptized by the one who will be imprisoned and beheaded by another. All of this is to say, Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
Yet even the Voice does not yet understand what is happening. He would have prohibited our Lord, even as St Peter would have prevented the Cross. But it is in this way that our Lord fulfills all righteousness. In Jesus the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. He is the Ark of the Lord your God and He comes to this son of Zachariah the priest. What is there for St John to do other than set out from his place and follow Him?
Thus does he consent. He becomes Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice. He is Aaron offering the bull and the ram, the goat and the Lamb for Israel. He is Samuel, prophet, priest, and judge, anointing David as the chosen of the Lord. He is Elijah, calling down the Spirit and the fire upon the One who baptizes with the Spirit and fire, upon the One true God in the flesh.
The greater One is baptized by the one who must decrease. This is what is means to be the Son of God, to live by the grace of the Father; Jesus submits to the justice of the Father; He is anointed as the holy Sacrifice for all of Israel. He takes your place, the place of sinners.
Consider what is revealed at His baptism: the inner divine life of the Blessed Holy Trinity is manifested, epiphanes, epiphanied, revealed, in the flesh of the Beloved Son in whom the Father’s heart delights. It is as if God turns Himself inside out in Jesus, in order to draw you to Himself and embrace you.
He who omnipotent, all-powerful, submits Himself to this humble bath. He who is omniscient, all-knowing, wisdom beyond comprehension, undergoes the foolishness of a sinner’s washing. He who is highest most holy, heaven’s exalted, is weak and despised in the world. These are things of which God choses, the things that are not - water, bread, wine, words - He uses to bring to nothing the things that are.
For He will use the weakness and shame and foolishness of His Cross to unseat the powers and principalities of this world; to overcome death and sin and Satan and hell. He will use the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are.
And for this the Father loves Him! In Him, in this, His heart delights! He says to this new testament Joshua, Yeshua, “Today I will begin to exalt You in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with You.”
In other words, what His Baptism means, what it signifies, and what it requires of Him is the Cross, which He accepts in love for His Father, in His love for you. And He bears and carries and suffers in the faith that His Father will raise Him up out of death and the grave and vindicate Him in glory for the salvation of the world.
Take careful note and consider, then, dear ones, that your dear Lord Jesus Christ does all of this - He fulfills all righteousness and accomplishes this great salvation for you and for all people. He submits and makes use of the external means that His God and Father wills and provides for Him. It is fitting, Jesus says, for Him to be baptized by St John. It is not a show, it is not a mere example for you, but it on your behalf and for your salvation.
Thus it is fitting that you receive this washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, the generous outpouring of His life and salvation, His forgiveness and mercy, upon you in Holy Baptism. For has chosen to use this lowly and despised means to drive away the devil, to rescue you from death, to bring you into His kingdom and grace. As you will sing in a few moments, “All that the mortal eye beholds is water as we pour it. Before the eye of faith unfolds the pow’r of Jesus’ merit. For here is sees the crimson flood to all our ills bring healing; the wonders of His precious blood the love of God revealing, assuring His own pardon” (LSB 406:7).
Here stands the font before your eyes, this pillar of stone, a reminder that you have been ferried across the raging waters of death in Christ who is your Ark and your Life. For to you the heavens are opened and the Father declares: “My beloved, My child, in whom I delight.” This is not play-acting or pretend. This is the very means by which you are brought into the righteousness and life of the Son of the Father, to live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.
You bear His Name and so He sanctifies your life and conduct with His Word and by His Spirit. You are given the privilege, the right of children, to call upon His Name in every trouble, to pray and praise and offer thanksgiving. You needn’t attempt to make a name and a life for yourself; rather receive Him who is your Life. Hear His Word and learn from Him to live by repentance and faith, daily returning to the banks of the Jordan River, to your baptism, dying and rising with and in and by Him.
You were adulterer, slanderer, gossip, liar no more; these are not your calling. Leave behind these foolish and shameful things. For you belong to Christ, He has called you to Himself in love. He became to you Wisdom from God. He is your Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption. Boast in Him and what He has done for you.
Beloved, you are God’s own child. I gladly say it. You are baptized into Christ. So you are well-pleasing to your Father in heaven, and so shall you live in Him who loves you forever and ever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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