January 10 Sermon: Getting Wet
Consider these questions as you listen to this message from Luke 3:15-22:
1. Why is the connection to both Christ and the covenant community important for believers, and how does it shape their identity?
2. What is the significance of Jesus' baptism, especially considering that He was sinless and did not need repentance?
3. How does the concept of Jesus fulfilling all righteousness through His baptism relate to the broader theme of His roles as Prophet, Priest, and King in the New Covenant?
Transcript:
As the children of God we are part of a covenant community. We have union with Christ but we also have union with one another. This connection to our Lord and to one another is important because it reminds us that we are a called and forgiven people whose identity is not rooted in ourselves but instead rooted in who Christ proclaims us to be in the gospel. In our New Testament lesson this morning we see how Christ fulfilled all righteousness to bring us to himself.
On this Sunday our text reminds us of the baptism of our Lord. In it we read about how John the Baptist came to precede the coming of Christ into His earthly ministry. We see in the first three Gospels this event as the precursor to the earthly ministry of Jesus and the Gospel of John shows a recounting with the words of John the Baptist on what happened at this event. Making an appearance in all four gospel accounts the baptism of Jesus is a pretty big event. This is because at his baptism we see Christ being sent forth as one who was to bring a new covenant. This is the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. He is the One who will set captives free, make the lame walk, the blind see, and make the dead to rise.
As we dive into this passage we see a statement from John. He states that coming after him is one who is mightier than he and John the Baptist say that he is not even worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus. He says that he is baptizing with water but this one who is coming will baptize with the Holy Spirit. As with many Gospel passages we see a connection in this statement with the Old Testament. John is connecting himself as the one whom Isaiah referred to as the one who would prepare the way of the Lord. This is also seen in Malachi where it says that a messenger will prepare the way before the Lord, the messenger of the covenant. In other words, John is setting the table. It is time to make way for the feast. John is establishing that he is not the latest fad preacher down by the riverside. Instead has come and is preaching for a reason. John the Baptist has a divine purpose to fulfill. Him mission is to proclaim to the people that the messiah of which the prophets testified is coming. In addition to establishing who he is John also makes it clear that Christ, is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit. In this new covenant that is being brought forth there will be a renewal of the people of God through the Messiah and the spirit. John the Baptist doesn’t see this as a minor event. This is what they have been waiting for. What they are about to be witnesses to is the crux of history. It is the fulfillment of the promises of God.
After we see John speaking of Christ, his coming, and what He is going to do we read of the event of Christ’s baptism. It is interesting that we see this occurring only a few verses after John said that he was not even fit to untie Christ’s sandals. The truth of the matter is that John is very correct. He is not worthy of untying or for that matter getting anywhere near the sandals of Jesus. As we look at the events that take place here in the gospel of Luke and we think how where we might be standing in the story we are standing at the waters of the river with John the Baptist. We are sinners who were born dead in trespasses and sins. We are the ones who are in need of the waters to make us clean. We know the expectations of God and yet we fail to keep God’s law. We do not love God with our whole hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves. Just like John the Baptist we are not worthy of even untying the sandals of Jesus. We come to the river and we belong at the river because we need to have our sins washed away.
The real question though is why in the world is Jesus here? It is very clear that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We know that Jesus was tempted and without sin in every way. This is shown clearly to us throughout the New Testament. So why did Christ get baptized by John? To understand this properly we need to jump back quite a few pages in our Bibles to the parallel account of this event in Matthew 3. Here we see that Jesus was baptized to “fulfill all righteousness”. The baptism of our Lord is a proclamation that Christ has come to take the sinners place under God’s judgment. This is the good news of the Gospel that Christ came as a man and fulfilled all things under the law because He was born under the law. Where we have failed and will fail again and again Christ came and fulfilled all righteousness. Something that we are incapable of doing. In His death and resurrection this righteousness is given or imputed to us by faith and the wrath of God towards our sin is turned away for Christ’s sake. Jesus went down into the waters of baptism for us. He didn’t belong at the river but he went down into it so that we might receive the gift of faith and become his righteousness. This is what Jesus does. He is the one who goes before God on our behalf because we are not fit to even untie his sandals. Yet, he is the God who comes near and does it all for us. We are not commanded into the waters of baptism in order to get cleaned up to present ourselves to God. Instead, at your baptism it is likely that these words were spoken over you “baptism is a sign and seal of God’s eternal covenant of grace with us”. In our baptism we look to the promise of God’s grace that Christ went into the waters because the water itself wasn’t going to make us clean. We need the grace of God and the righteousness of Christ.
In addition to this Good News of the Gospel that we see in Christ’s baptism we also see that Christ is being commissioned and sent forth prior to His earthly ministry. In this anointing one of the most apparent things that we see is all three persons of the Trinity showing up. This is a very difficult passage for those who deny the Trinity. The distinct persons are all clearly represented. Christ is obviously in the water and is the one who through His person and work delivers salvation to us. The Spirit descends like a dove and God the Father speaks saying “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” It is important that we note the significance of this event. We see the Triune God clearly and just as all three persons of the Trinity were present at creation they are now present at this event. Jesus is therefore commissioned and anointed to go forth as a mediator of the New Covenant. Something new and amazing is happening and Jesus is commissioned to usher it in. As he comes with this New Covenant he fulfills in himself the three different anointed offices that we see in the Old Covenant. Prophet, priest, and king. Remember that the names messiah and Christ mean anointed one and in Christ we see the eternal fulfillment of these three offices. As we begin our journey into the life and ministry of Jesus it is important that we get a grasp of what these three office entail.
As a prophet Christ represents God to man by bringing his Word. I think it is important for us to remember what the designation of prophet really means. In our day I think many of us imagine a prophet as someone who sits at a desk in front of a TV camera and late at night predicts what God is going to do because they think they have some sort of special insight from God. Our idea of prophecy is primarily associate with a prediction of future events. While it is true that prophets are able to speak of the future as noted by Christ’s predicting His death and resurrection and the destruction of the temple, the primary definition of a prophet is someone who comes to speak the Word of the Lord and call people to return to God. We can see this in Christ’s Word’s throughout the Gospel. Convicting his listeners and us modern day readers of our sin and calling us to turn to God. In this Christ is the great prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18 whom the Lord God would raise up from among your brothers.
As priest Christ mediates salvation and forgiveness to man. In the Old Covenant the priests would constantly offer sacrifices on behalf of the people that would only temporarily turn away God’s wrath towards sin. Christ as our high priest not only offers a once and for all sacrifice for our sins but is that once and for all sacrifice. The priests who were a type and shadow of what was to come in the new covenant cannot compare to the Holy Priest in the person of Christ. Those priests had to offer the sacrifice for themselves first before offering them for the people. Christ needs no blood shed on His behalf, instead He has shed His own on our behalf. Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Through Christ’s death the author of Hebrews tells us that we are now made holy through Christ’s blood. The New Testament informs us that this office did not cease when the ultimate sacrifice was made. We still have a high priest above all high priests at the right hand of the Father but Christ as this high priest is not like an earthly priest. He does not sleep or grow faint, instead He intercedes for us at all times. With this Good News we can approach the throne of grace with confidence.
As we look at Christ the King we see that we have a ruler in heaven who will not let us down. While our confidence in earthly authorities can rise and fall with economies and promises made to get elected, we have a king who gave us the ultimate promise nearly two thousand years ago and his promises do not fail. Unlike the kings and rulers of earth he is eternally faithful to the call of His Heavenly Father. The anointed kings of the Old Testament would rise and fall. Some were faithful to the Lord but most would lead the people away to false gods. As we believe and confess our faithful King is seated at the right hand of the Father. Christ has ascended into heaven and is now at the Father’s right hand ruling over all of creation and the church. Ruling over a spiritual kingdom. We cannot set up a bus tour to see the government buildings where Christ reigns. Instead we get a taste of this kingdom as we hear the Word proclaimed to us and receive the sacraments in worship. It is a kingdom without borders that is ever advancing. A kingdom of mercy, grace, and love that is centered on the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection.
As we look at these three anointed offices of Christ we see a stark comparison between those anointed in the Old Covenant and fulfillment brought in Christ in the New Covenant. As Christ comes up from the water we hear “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well please”. In the Old Testament we find God’s anointed servants. Daniel, Moses, and David. All great leaders but merely servants. Here we see God declaring that Jesus is not simply a servant, but His Son. The Second Person of the Trinity. The one promised from the beginning to crush the serpents head and defeat sin and death.
On this Sunday that we remember the baptism of our Lord we remember the important words of John the Baptist recorded in John’s Gospel: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That is really what it all comes down to isn’t it? When Adam fell into sin, we fell with him. Not a soft fall with a cushy landing but a fall with a disastrous consequence and shattering universal consequence. Immediately following that disaster God promised to fix the chasm caused by sin and through a seed who would come forth from Eve that would crush the serpents head. Throughout the history of redemption God showed grace through prophets, priests, and kings but these people were fallen just like those before. Then, as Paul puts it in Romans, Christ came at the right time to die for the ungodly. As we see Christ anointed and sent forth to his ministry, the people he came to save became willing accomplices with the serpent to stop this prophet, priest, and king. Instead of stopping Him they instead enabled Him to deliver the crushing blow to the serpent. This victory is not won by Christ’s superior moral teaching or by His miraculous signs and wonders but by His death and resurrection. A once and for all victory over sin, death, and the serpent won by our eternal prophet, priest, and king.
As we think about what all of this means for us today as we gather in this place I want to call to mind your own baptism. For most of you it likely occurred here and from this very font. Just as the three persons of the Trinity were present at Christ’s baptism, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were present at yours. In the waters of your baptism you were given a sign and seal of God’s eternal covenant of grace with you. I would imagine that like myself most of you don’t remember that day but yet God has been faithful in the waters of your baptism. The promises spoken over you have come to pass and through the proclamation of the word you have been given the gift of faith and repentance. In these waters we have the promises of God and we can daily we can look to the waters of baptism to remember just how wet we are. We are soaked in the grace and mercy of God.
