We are taught as Lutheran Christians what Baptism is according to scripture in the Small Catechism. It says Baptism is not just plain water but it is water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word. That Word is specifically the command at the end of Matthew to go into all the world making disciples by baptizing people in the name of the Trinity and teaching them all that Jesus has taught.

We are also taught what the benefits of baptism are: It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this as written in St. Mark “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved”. We confess that these great things in baptism are done by virtue of God’s promise and power in the command along with the water as it is written in Titus chapter 3 “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.” We are taught to remember our Baptism as a sign of daily contrition and repentance so that our old nature would be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. If you ever want to review what all is said in our catechism but don’t have a catechism handy, the entire catechism is reproduced in our hymnals.

So now that we have reviewed what Baptism is for the New Testament Church, that it is a sign and seal of forgiveness of sins for sinners, we can turn our attention to the text in Matthew appointed for today. It also happens to be about baptism, specifically about the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. But there is a difference between the baptism that John baptized with and the baptism that Jesus instituted. The baptism of John was a sign of repentance and renewal in the hope of the Savior to come. The baptism instituted by Jesus has power of the Holy Spirit to give faith through the fulfillment of the Savior’s work: His death and resurrection of Jesus who is here in our text getting baptized. Both baptisms were intended for sinners, to receive the forgiveness of sins, therefore why should Jesus need to be baptized? Was Jesus a sinner in need of repentance? That answer is “NO”.

Why then did Jesus desire to be baptized by His cousin John at the Jordan? As John himself points out. “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” John knew who Jesus was. Jesus was not only His cousin, but He was the promised Messiah, the One for whom John had been sent to prepare the way, the one whom John had predicted would come with a greater baptism. Yet here was Jesus coming with sinners to be baptized in repentance according to the Old covenant. Though John would have prevented Jesus from being baptized, Jesus answered him and said, “Let it be so now”. In other words, just go with it, I know what I am doing. He continued, “for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”. Then John consented. But how did this fulfill all righteousness?

By Jesus being baptized, He was fulfilling all righteousness as the substitute and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He was repenting on behalf of the world and placing their sins upon Himself. It was a sign of His submission to His Heavenly Father’s will and through it Jesus was anointed and set apart for His Work as prophet priest and king as the one in His obedience fills all righteousness.

In the Baptism of our Lord, the sinless One, who knew no sin and would never sin Himself was placing Himself under the Law, under its curse for the sake of sinners. Because of the fallenness of our human flesh, all those other people being baptized by John the Baptizer would continue to sin. All people today who have been baptized into Jesus, sadly, will still struggle with sin, but in Jesus Christ there is one who didn’t need to “repent”. For that reason, He is the only One who could repent for our sakes and not sin again. He is the true Holy Israel who came unto the Jordan to be washed and sanctified before entering the Holy Land. He is the fulfiller of the demands of the covenant between God and man. All because no Jew, no Gentile throughout time living or dead was capable to fulfill this covenant except the very Son of God Himself.

This is why He had to be baptized, so that He could fulfill all righteousness, so that He could be a perfect substitution in His life for the life of the world so that in His death at the cross He could make complete payment for sin by His own innocent suffering and death to make atonement and satisfy God’s righteous wrath upon sin. Having been crucified and raised from the dead, He has the power to institute this Baptism, a true washing of regeneration and righteousness as people are brought through His own crucified blood and sacrifice, anointed into His name and the name of the Holy Trinity. Through this baptism the Holy Spirit would come upon His people, work faith in them, and make them heirs of eternal life as members of the new creation: believers through faith by grace in Christ Jesus.

Going back to the text, when Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovered over the water coming down from heaven and rested upon Him and a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Here we have affirmation that Jesus had begun to fulfill all righteousness, that He was beginning His earthly Ministry, the ministry of service and substitution which would lead to the death of an innocent man for the sins of the world. Yet when He died on the cross, He was no longer innocent, because Jesus Christ had become sin for us and the whole world. He took upon Himself the sins and guilt of every sinner at the cross so that in the eyes of God’s wrath it was as though “the sinless one” had become “the worst sinner”. The substitution for sinners begun at His baptism at the Jordan saw its completion at the crucifixion. All this He did out of obedience and love so that all righteousness could be fulfilled, that sin death and the power of the devil could be destroyed; that those who confess their sins and put their faith in JC and His atoning work at the cross might be saved from eternal death.

This past Tuesday was the celebration of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ, that is, when God made clear, His mercy in the person of Jesus Christ: that He was given for all people even as the Gentile wise men were led to worship Him. Here in His baptism and at the Cross, God is manifesting Himself again in His Trinity in Jesus Christ the Son of God and Son of Man. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove shows that God and Man are now reconciled: that we repentant sinners are able to be at peace through Jesus Christ and that righteousness He was fulfilling. In the Holy Baptism that Jesus would give and command after His resurrection, believers can bear witness through the eyes of faith that the Holy Spirit continues this reconciling through the blood of Jesus Christ. In Holy Baptism the Holy Spirit also comes down to us working through the water and the Word of promise. The person who had been born according to the flesh as an enemy of God has now been reconciled to Him and reborn by the Spirit as a child of God. In Holy Baptism peoples’ sins are placed upon the cross of Christ through this washing of regeneration and rebirth and are declared righteous for Jesus’ sake.

Now those who have been baptized into the name of the Trinity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, have the mark and sign of righteousness upon them, the cross of Jesus. His Cross is the place where we have become the children of God and redeemed as the true Israel. Now God the Father looks at us through the lens of His son’s sacrifice and can say that we are His beloved sons and daughters and through faith in Him He is also well pleased with us. Now we are entrusted with that Good news that God’s love and Christ’s death and resurrection have power over the evil of this world. Sin, death and the devil are defeated through Christ’s death and resurrection, yet many are still enslaved to sin by their unbelief and addiction to sin. That is why God continues to use His children to witness and reflect His love in Jesus our Savior. We cannot do this by our own strength, but He gathers us around His word to confess our sins and receive forgiveness through absolution and the proclamation of Jesus death for our sins. Now we live in the joy of His substitution and receive the hope of eternal life in the life He now gives us. He invites us to feed on His body and blood in His supper and gives us rest as we wait for the rest in the promised land of heaven which Jesus has prepared for us. May God keep us ever in that hope which has been given through Holy Baptism unto life eternal. In Jesus name. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas