First Sunday after the Epiphany
The Baptism of Our Lord
January 13, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
Baptized with Sinners, Anointed for Service,
Manifested as Gods Son (Matthew 3:13-17)
On this first Sunday after the Epiphany, the Gospel
reading every year is the account of the Baptism of
Our Lord, that great event when our Lord Jesus Christ
was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
Heaven was opened. The Spirit of God descended on
Jesus like a dove. And the Fathers voice came from
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I
am well pleased. Today I want to say three things
about this baptism, three things on which your very
salvation depends: In his baptism, Christ was
Baptized with Sinners, Anointed for Service, and
Manifested as Gods Son.
I: Baptized with Sinners
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John,
to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him,
saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come
to me? But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now,
for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness. Then he consented.
This was a baptism that shouldnt have taken place.
After all, who were the people John the Baptist was
baptizing? Sinners! People coming confessing their
sins. Johns baptism was a baptism of repentance. So
what was Jesus doing there? He didnt have any sins
to confess. He didnt have anything to repent of.
John the Baptist recognizes this difficulty, this
incongruity. At first he tries to prevent Jesus from
being baptized: I need to be baptized by you, and do
you come to me? John, whom Jesus would later call,
the greatest among those born of women--even John
had to confess his inferiority and his own sinfulness
when standing next to Jesus. How much more do we?
Yes, you and I do have sins to confess, many of them,
sins that stain our soul and separate us from God.
But not Jesus. He is the holy and sinless one, the
only one. Jesus alone kept Gods law perfectly. No
sins to confess, no need to repent. John the Baptist
knows this, and so he wonders why Jesus comes to him
to be baptized.
Jesus understands what John is saying, but he says to
go ahead anyway: Let it be so now, for thus it is
fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. To
fulfill all righteousness, thats why Jesus is coming
for baptism. Gods righteousness, his acting in
history to save and deliver his people, the righteous
plan God began in the Old Testament--that
righteousness now is being fulfilled in the coming of
Jesus. His being baptized is part of that fulfilling.
Jesus now is setting out on that course, here at his
baptism.
How so? By being baptized with sinners. Thats a
sign of how Jesus would complete his course. By
standing in the place of sinners. Gods
righteousness, his acting righteously to save sinners,
would be fulfilled by Christ standing with us sinners
and taking our place. From his baptism to his
crucifixion, thats the route this righteous course
would take. Christ takes our sins upon his own holy
shoulders and carries them to the cross, where he will
suffer and die in our place. That saving mission is
shown right here in his baptism. Fulfilling all
righteousness in this way, Jesus is simply fulfilling
his name: And you shall call his name Jesus, for he
will save his people from their sins.
II. Anointed for Service
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up
from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to
him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a
dove and coming to rest on him. . . .
In his baptism, secondly, Jesus Christ is anointed for
service. In other words, Jesus is set apart as the
Christ. He is anointed with the Spirit. This marks
him as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.
Thats what the word Christ or Messiah means:
The Anointed One.
What was so special about being anointed? In the Old
Testament, certain men were anointed--literally, they
had oil or ointment poured over their heads--when they
were marked or set apart for particular holy offices.
Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed. The
anointing showed that they were Gods choice, that
they had Gods blessing, that God would empower them
with his Spirit for the office which they were there
entering.
For example, David as a young man was anointed by the
prophet Samuel to be the king of Israel. He was
marked and set apart for that office. Later, the
prophet Nathan told King David that one of his sons
would one day be the great King, the ultimate King who
would usher in Gods everlasting kingdom. This son of
David, the long-promised King that the people were
looking for, came to be known as the Messiah, the
Christ.
The Anointed One. Thats who Jesus is, thats who
he is revealed to be when the Holy Spirit descends
upon him and rests on him in the form of a dove.
Jesus is anointed with the Spirit, marking him as
Gods choice and empowering him for the ministry he is
about to begin. Jesus is anointed as the Christ, the
Messianic King, anointed for service.
So when Christ comes, he announces the arrival of the
kingdom of heaven. Jesus brings the kingdom of heaven
to earth. He brings the blessings of the kingdom in
and through his ministry. Our Lords baptism is about
that, too: The Christ, the Messiah, being anointed
for servanthood.
Centuries earlier the prophet Isaiah had written:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom
my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him. . .
. And that Spirit would empower the Messiah to open
the eyes that are blind and to do all the other signs
that showed the new age had arrived. Well, in his
ministry Jesus did just that--opened the eyes of the
blind, both literally and figuratively. So when Jesus
here is baptized and the Spirit rests on him, he is
being anointed and empowered for that messianic
ministry of mercy.
The apostle Peter would later put it like this, in the
Book of Acts: You yourselves know what happened
throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the
baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He
went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Those healings and acts of mercy that Christ performed
were signs of what his saving mission will accomplish
ultimately: The whole restoration of human beings and
of creation itself. Taking our sins and death from
us, Christ gives us in their place wholeness and
healing and life. The works of mercy he does during
his public ministry betoken what is in store for all
of us: The full blessings of the kingdom, eternal
life in heaven forever.
III. Manifested as Gods Son
. . . and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Who is Jesus? Who is this fellow being baptized with
sinners and anointed for service? At his baptism,
Jesus was manifested, made known, epiphanied, as the
Son of God. Thats a third thing this baptism is
about, namely, Jesus identity.
You know, in a sense, Israel had been Gods son. In
fact, we read in Exodus 4: Thus says the Lord,
Israel is my firstborn son. As Gods son, Israel
should have been expected to obey Gods will. But of
course, Israel failed, miserably. Israel broke the
covenant, time and time again, and forfeited its
standing as Gods son.
But now here comes Jesus. He is Israel reduced to
one. And he will do what Israel failed to do. Jesus
will be Gods obedient son. How often did Jesus say,
I have come to do the will of the one who sent me.
And so he did. Above all, that obedience to his
Father meant Christ embracing his entire saving
mission--even to the point of going to the cross and
dying for the sins of the world. Knowing all too well
what he was about to face, the obedient Son would
pray, Not my will, Father, but thine be done.
Christs acceptance of the saving mission, with all
the suffering and sacrifice it would involve--that is
why the Father says here, in the voice from heaven,
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
The Father is affirming and approving his Son, who
has come to carry out Gods righteous, saving plan.
But the amazing and astounding thing is, not only is
Christ Gods son in terms of his obedience, he
literally, truly, is Gods Son in his very nature!
>From everlasting to everlasting, he is the
only-begotten Son of God, the second person of the
Trinity. This one baptized with sinners, taking their
sins upon him and even dying on the cross--this is
Gods own Son! Jesus in his person is the eternal Son
of God come in the flesh. Thats who this man Jesus
is!
The God-man, and none other--this is your Savior!
Therefore, my friends, you can be absolutely sure that
your salvation is secure in him. Your salvation does
not depend on you and your fumbling efforts. Rather,
it depends on him, and he is absolutely reliable. He
paid the perfect sacrifice for your sins. His holy
blood covers it all. His resurrection shows that it
is so, guaranteeing you everlasting life with him.
And in your baptism, all the benefits of Christs
salvation are delivered to you, and you are joined to
him. Take comfort in that, my friends!
Yes, you have a Savior you can count on. Our Lords
baptism shows you this very thing--three things,
actually: For in his baptism, Christ our Savior was
Baptized with Sinners, Anointed for Service, and
Manifested as Gods Son.
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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