The First Sunday After the Epiphany Righteousness Means Good Behavior Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In today’s Gospel, Jesus comes to be baptized by John, in order “to fulfill all righteousness.” Dear Christian friends, Righteousness means good behavior. A lot of people would protest and say that righteousness means than that. For example, the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament needed nearly twenty pages to define what righteousness means. Countless additional books have been written about it, and certainly more could be written, if anyone would read them. Perhaps I am guilty of oversimplifying the word, but if we were to slog our way through all the books, we might see that it is all a variation on this one theme: Righteousness means good behavior. · Do, say, or think the right thing and you have acted righteously. Do, say or think the wrong thing and you have acted unrighteously. · If you only behave well and never do wrong, then you may claim to have righteousness. If you have behaved badly—if you have wrongness written into your permanent record—that stuff is evidence of your unrighteousness. 1. Righteousness means good behavior. Jesus wants you to know that you must have good behavior. That is why Jesus said to you in His Sermon on the Mount, “Unless your righteousness—your good behavior—exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). 2. Jesus also knows that it is totally impossible for you to behave well enough. Even on your best days and in your most angelic moments, your righteousness—that is, your good behavior—still compares to a pile of filthy rags that no one would touch (Isaiah 64:6). The disease of sin is too deeply imbedded in all of us. The disease of sin has moved the standard for good behavior (the Ten Commandments) far beyond our reach. That is why Jesus said that you will be happiest if you seek some righteousness—some good behavior—that is not your own. “Seek first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness—HIS good behavior,” says the Lord (Matthew 6:33). Again God says, “Blessed—happy—are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—happy are those who are so empty of good behavior that they need someone else’s good behavior to be given to them like food and drink—for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). So here we are, standing by the river in today’s Gospel, watching our Lord descend into the water of His Baptism. Use this Word righteousness—good behavior—as a way of understanding what Jesus and John the Baptist are doing for you: 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.” We should pause for a moment and think about those two other vitally important Words that Jesus used along with the Word righteousness in this Gospel: FULFILL and ALL. It is fitting for Jesus to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” · Fulfill means to make complete. Fulfill means to accomplish, satisfy, and fill to the brim. Fulfill means live up to, bring to completion, provide, supply, finish. When you fulfill an order, it means you provided what was requested. When you fulfill a prophecy, it means you prove to be the exact thing that was promised. When you fulfill a person’s expectations, it means that you have done everything and there is nothing more you need to do in order to satisfy that person. Jesus was baptized “to FULFILL all righteousness.” Fulfill means that righteousness is now finished and complete and totally accomplished by Jesus. · The Word ALL might be the most precious Word in today’s Gospel. Latch onto the Word ALL and do not let go of it! All means everything. All means everyone. All means complete, entire, whole, total, each and every one. All means that nothing was missed or forgotten or excluded. Jesus was baptized “to FULFILL all righteousness.” All means all. When Jesus was baptized, there is no righteousness that remained incomplete or imperfect or partial or unfulfilled. Righteousness means good behavior. What has Jesus done for us? Everything we cannot do. “Let it be so for now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all good behavior.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus is telling you: · that your righteousness—your good behavior—really has nothing to do with what you do or what you have done. Yes, you must behave in a certain way, and yes, other people around you will hold you to account if you fail in your behavior. But at the end of your life’s day, when you are done with everyone around you and you must render your accounts to God, your righteousness—your good behavior—really has nothing to do with what you have done. Jesus’ Word ALL in today’s Gospel includes also you. The phrase “all righteousness” includes all your righteousness. The phrase “fulfill all righteousness” indicates that your Lord Jesus has already performed all your good behavior for you and there is nothing more for you to add or contribute or perform. · where your thirst shall be satisfied, where you will find what you seek. o “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—for good behavior—for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). In today’s Gospel, Jesus wants you to know that you, if you indeed hunger and thirst after righteousness, His Baptism will satisfy you. Jesus’ Baptism will fill your belly with righteousness, so to speak, because He fulfilled and completed all your righteousness—your good behavior—when He entered the water. o “Seek first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness—HIS good behavior” (Matthew 6:33). In today’s Gospel, Jesus shows you where the kingdom of God and His righteousness may be found. These are found in that place where your Lord Jesus stands in the water; where your Lord Jesus has joined Himself to the water; where your Lord Jesus acts for you in the water. Do you want God’s kingdom? Then head toward the baptismal water. Do you want His righteousness—His good behavior? Then do not stray away from that place where Jesus still stands in the water. Yet another Word has “come from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) in today’s Gospel, and this miracle-producing Word is also brimming with forgiveness and life for you. The Word is FITTING. Jesus said to John, “Let it be so for now, for thus it is FITTING for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Fitting means suitable, proper, and appropriate. Fitting means right, correct, and timely. When your God does something that is fitting, it means He is acting according to His divine dignity and glory. Look how the glory of God shines in today’s Gospel! 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.” With these Words, Jesus your God wants you to know that He did not enter His creation—and enter His Baptism—because it was a dirty job and someone had to do it. Jesus came to His creation; Jesus came to His Baptism; Jesus came to His death and resurrection because it was fitting—it was suitable, proper, appropriate, right, correct, and timely. Even more than that, Jesus does these things because it accords with His divine glory to act for your salvation; it fits His divine nature to fulfill all righteousness for you; it is His greatest glory to provide all things for you and to you. For your part, you ought to stay out of God’s way and allow Him to be your God. Keep spending every effort to treat your neighbor well, but stop trying to impress God with your good behavior. Look at your life closely and identify all sorts of unrighteousness, then forget about it all. Get over your guilty conscience and quit beating yourself up over the stupid, selfish things you have done. Jesus was baptized to fulfill all your righteousness—all you good behavior—and He was glad to do it. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
