First Sunday after the Epiphany The Baptism of Our Lord January 11, 2009 The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“The Heavens Torn Open” (Mark 1:4-11) In your bulletin today there’s a “Member Information Form” for you to fill out, in order to update our records and to take note of birthdays and anniversaries and so forth. Notice that I’ve included a line for you to put your baptismal birthday. Now, how many of you know when your baptismal birthday is? You know, I didn’t even know my own baptismal birthday for the longest time. I had known the month and the year, but I didn’t know the exact date. I knew that I had been baptized by my grandfather’s brother, my great-uncle, who was a pastor in the old Augustana Synod, but I never could find anything listing the date. Then about ten years ago, I contacted my great-uncle’s son, and he had kept all of his father’s records, and so finally I found out the date of my baptism. And since then, I’ve also come across my baptismal certificate. It’s a good thing to take note of and remember the day of your baptism. For example, tomorrow, January 12, happens to be my wife’s baptismal birthday. So Sally will celebrate that great day--I was going to say, long ago, but maybe I should say, not so long ago--that happy day when her sins were washed away and she became a child of God. Happy baptismal birthday! But did you know that there’s a baptismal birthday also going on today? And this is one that all of us can celebrate. Because today is the First Sunday after the Epiphany, the day in the church year when we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. This is the day we remember that event when our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. So this is, in effect, Jesus’ baptismal birthday, today. The Baptism of Our Lord is an event recorded in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and also referred to in the Gospel of John. The accounts are very similar, except here and there one writer may include a detail that another leaves out, or one writer may use slightly different wording to describe the same event. So it is in our text today from the Gospel of Mark. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention that when Jesus was baptized the heavens were opened, but only Mark uses the exact word choice that we find today. He says: “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening. . . .” “The heavens opening,” or more literally it says, “the heavens being torn open.” “The heavens being torn open.” That’s an interesting way to put it, isn’t it? The word that’s used here in the Greek is the word, “schizo.” It’s the word from which we get our English words “scissors” and “schism,” “schizoid,” etc. “Schizo” means to “split,” to “rend,” “tear apart” or “rip open.” It has almost a violent connotation. So the heavens were being “split wide open,” “torn apart,” when Jesus was baptized. What do you think of when you hear that the heavens were “torn open?” What do you expect to happen next? When the heavens open up, what should come down? Usually when God splits open the skies like this, you would think it would be his judgment that comes slashing and flashing and crashing down, like lightning striking the earth. Think of the time of Noah, when God opened up the heavens and flooded the earth. The clouds burst open and it rained for forty days and forty nights. Massive, total destruction. A worldwide catastrophe. God’s extreme judgment on a wicked and corrupt humanity. In that case, the heavens being torn open spelled doom and disaster. Or think of the time of Abraham and Lot. The heavens opened up at that time, too, if you’ll recall. And what came down? Fire and brimstone. Yes, God sent fire and brimstone down as a judgment upon the perverse and wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. So the idea of the heavens being torn open is not usually a very pleasant or desirable experience in biblical thinking. Think of what the prophet Isaiah cried out to the Lord, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!” Isaiah wanted the judgment of the Lord to descend upon the wicked nations of the earth. “Oh, that you would rend the heavens! Split them open, Lord! Tear them apart and wipe out all the evil on this earth. Come down in judgment on sinful mankind.” This is a little background, then, that should form our expectations when we read here that at Jesus’ baptism the heavens were torn open. We would expect that God’s judgment should come crashing down. After all, look at the people who were being baptized. We read that all the country of Judean and all Jerusalem were going out to John, confessing their sins. Yes, these were sinners who were coming to John for baptism. And if they were sinners, then they were ripe for judgment. For the wages of sin is death. And that is true for us also, isn’t it? We too must confess that we are sinners, ripe for judgment. Yes, you and I have broken God’s commandments. We have not loved God or listened to him as we ought. We have not loved and helped our neighbors as we ought. We have therefore earned God’s displeasure and his wrath. His judgment should come crashing down on us. And the fact is, we all die. Is that it, is that the eternal death sentence? And when the heavens are torn open at the Last Day, will that be the final pronouncement of divine judgment? Back to our text. So here comes this man Jesus, coming to be baptized in the Jordan, just like all of those admitted sinners. And then, after he’s baptized, the heavens are torn open. And what comes down out of those heavens? Fire and brimstone? A wipe-’em-out flood? No, not fire and brimstone, not a flood, but rather a voice and a dove. A voice and a dove? What kind of judgment is that? Well, how does God judge and evaluate this man Jesus? The voice says, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Yes, this is who this man Jesus is. He is God’s own Son! As amazing as it seems--and it’s the most amazing thing in the world--this man Jesus is the very Son of God. True God and true man. God incarnate, God come down out of heaven in the flesh. “God in man made manifest.” That’s who Jesus is. And this is God’s judgment on him: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” God loves this man Jesus. And he loves what Jesus is doing, standing there at the Jordan, taking his place among all those sinners. He knows what Jesus is going to do for all of them, starting here at the Jordan, and God just loves that. Notice what he says: “With you I am well pleased.” God was well pleased to choose Jesus for this mission he is about to undertake. God is well pleased that Jesus voluntarily takes it up and enters into this mission. He’s well pleased that Jesus gets down into the water with sinners like you and me. Yes, God is very well pleased, in every respect, with this man Jesus. But where is the judgment? Where is the displeasure and the wrath? There is none. Just divine approval. You see, Jesus has no sins of his own to confess. He is without sin. He is holy and righteous, always, constantly, doing God’s will. Yet he takes his stand with sinners. He identifies with us. And here at the Jordan he undertakes his saving mission to rescue us sinners from the death and judgment we all deserve. So where and when will the judgment fall? Where is God’s displeasure and wrath? Not here, not yet. But it will come. At the cross--at the cross the righteous judgment of God would come crashing down. And it would land on the head of this man Jesus, like lightning hitting a lightning rod. The lightning rod takes the hit, and those around are spared. That’s Jesus, and that’s us. For the holy Son of God would take on himself the sins and the guilt of all mankind. At the cross, on the cross, Jesus bore your sins and mine. He suffered the judgment that we deserved, and in so doing, he took that judgment away from us. On that day, Good Friday, the heavens were not torn open, but rather they were shut and became as brass. The heavens were sealed shut to Jesus’ cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The beloved Son, the one in whom God is well pleased, takes the ultimate rejection and alienation from God once and for all. And he does it for you, that you would no longer come under that judgment. And it all starts, in full now, here at the Jordan River in the Baptism of Our Lord. That’s what’s going on here in our text. That’s what Jesus is saying yes to when he steps into that water. And it pleases God to no end. Because that is what it will take to save us: the Son of God, taking our place, to give us life that has no end. So there comes the voice of the Father, pronouncing his approval on his beloved Son and his saving mission. And there also comes a dove, descending out of the skies. Think of the dove that brought back word to Noah that it was safe to come out, that the flood and the judgment was over. There the dove became a symbol of peace. God was at peace with mankind. So it is here. In the person of this man Jesus, God was making peace with rebellious mankind. Jesus would establish that peace by his death on the cross. And so here at the Jordan a dove descends. But this is not just an ordinary dove. This is the Holy Spirit taking the form of a dove. Yes, the Holy Spirit, too, gives his approval to Jesus as he embarks upon his mission. And the Spirit empowers this man Jesus for his mission. God here is anointing Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. God puts his Spirit upon his chosen servant to empower him for his task. So here at the Jordan, at the baptism of Jesus, the heavens are torn open. But instead of fire and brimstone there comes a voice and a dove, the voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Divine approval and divine empowerment--approval of Christ’s person and empowerment for his work, his saving mission. Because, starting at his baptism, Jesus did carry out and complete that mission, now what happens at your baptism, your baptism into Christ? At your baptism, all your sins are washed away in those Christ-filled waters. And God says the same thing about you that he said about Jesus. He says, “You--yes, you--are my beloved child. I am well pleased with you for Jesus’ sake.” And the Spirit descends upon you, making you a new creation in Christ and empowering you now for service in God’s kingdom. So today we celebrate the greatest baptismal birthday of all, the Baptism of Our Lord and what it means for our salvation. It is his baptism that gives life and vitality to your baptism. And so, in that light, I encourage you to celebrate your own baptismal birthday. If you can find out the date, great. But whether or not you know the date, realize that today and every day you can celebrate your baptism. For in Holy Baptism God has joined you to his dear Son, he has made you his own dearly beloved child, and he has given you the gift of the Holy Spirit. Dear friends, by his baptism in the Jordan, by his death on the cross, and by his glorious resurrection, Christ our Lord has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Because of that saving mission, which our Lord began at his baptism, now heaven truly is open. It stands wide open for you. Charles Henrickson 4749 Melissa Jo Ln St. Louis, MO 63128 (314) 845-8811 (home) (314) 779-8108 (cell) [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. 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