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2025-01-12 Baptism of Jesus

ELC






Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!


Do you remember back when you yourself or maybe the kids were learning to ride a bike? What great fun it was to learn that new skill of movement and balance! It involved a lot of falling over, perhaps maybe a skinned elbow or knee, but eventually, down the road you went. This was thanks in large part to not having 2 wheels but rather having 4. The training wheels were there to help you feel the balance and keep you vertical. They revealed to you the reality that you can do this. You can operate this wheeled mechanism and appreciate going at least 17% faster than your non-biking friends! And eventually, you didn’t need them any more. You got to the point where you were comfortable with the balance and could peddle the bike for hours, maybe even going down to 1 wheel if you were an over achiever on a unicycle! An exciting career at the circus awaits!


Faith is much like riding the bike. Trust and belief in God can be a tricky thing to figure out and mainly this is because we rely on our eyes too much. And by this I mean that sight tends to be the sense that we trust the most. We need to see something for ourselves. Like St. Thomas, we will believe it when we see it. If we hear something that sounds fanciful or too good to be true, we want people to show us. If we see something with our own eyes, most of the time we consider that sufficient evidence. ... That was until they invented Photoshop and AI Video, but that’s a story for another time!


The issue at hand is this. When it comes to the way God works in our world, so often do not only our eyes but all of our senses fail to perceive it. You have an infinite God working in the midst of a finite people. Faith is required to perceive it. But thankfully, our Lord knows this about us. He created us. He put on flesh and dwelt among us that we might know it. He attaches His work to something our eyes can see and our senses perceive.


Enter: the Baptism of Christ our Lord. When Jesus goes to the river to be baptized by cousin John, not much looks out of the ordinary. The crowds are there with the faithful, along side the looky-loos and even the hostile antagonists from the establishment. For 30 years our Lord lived in anonymity with all of these people. He could come to the Jordan with all the crowd, stand in line and take a number to be baptized just like any of them, without causing much of a stir. But then, everything changed. Our Lord Jesus is standing in the river, still soaked and soggy from His baptism, then this happens: “the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (LK 3:22).


God the Father declares Him to be His beloved Son. The Holy Spirit descends upon Him. Our Lord is anointed for His office as the Messiah, equipped for the work and ministry He was about to do for the life of the world, all linked to this very visible and audible event of His Baptism!


This becomes one of, if not the, chief place in the Scriptures where God is revealed as Holy Trinity. It’s a grand Theophany - revealing exactly Who God is and what He has done for us and our salvation. This is Who God is and Who He reveals Himself to be. What only faith can grasp is revealed so that eyes can see it and ears can hear it! Truly it is miraculous in and of itself. Human eyes and ears function like the training wheels of faith, propping us up that we can receive the greatness of God on display. God is here, in the flesh, bestowing forgiveness, life and salvation for His unworthy people.


But we can unpack this event a bit more. John’s baptism was for the unworthy people - people who needed to repent of their sin. That is, lay aside and turn away from evil and iniquity and all that God says is wrong in the Scripture. Regardless of thought, word or deed, the message is repent. Confess your sins and have them warshed away by God’s grace. The curious thing is that Jesus our Lord doesn’t need this washing. He doesn’t need the cleansing that we need for our sins because He has no sins of His own. So why is He there in the middle of the river with the rest of the soggy bottom boys? He could have just stood on the shore and given John a public endorsement like a politician! “I’m Jesus, the Saviour and Messiah of the world, and I approve this message.” But of course, He doesn’t do this. He’s right in the midst of His people, for the exact reason that cousin John tells us: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (JN 1:29).


Our Lord is there to be revealed as the Messiah which the testimony of the Father and the Spirit both reveal. He identifies with us as people who need the heavens to be opened to receive God’s gifts. He prefigures His own death by “dying and rising” in the water, which gives Baptism it’s ultimate meaning. He sanctifies the water itself, causing it to become a lavish washing away of sin. He fulfills many of the Old Testament types of Baptism like Noah and the flood or when Moses led the people through the Red Sea or when the ark of the covenant was carried into the Jordan so the people could enter the promised land. He opens heaven to a world that was separated from God through sin, just like the tearing of the temple curtain when our Lord died on the cross. This truly is a momentous occasion for us and the life of the church!


But it doesn’t just stop there as a nice, historical thing that happened some 2000 years ago. The words spoken by our Heavenly Father apply to everyone who is baptized into Christ. This visible sign is how God works in our lives, assuring us of His presence, grace and pardon. It welcomes us and adopts us into His family as sons and daughters of the King (Gal 4:4-7). It assures us of the truth of what is not seen. For “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (JN 20:29).


Did you ever stop and wonder why the the Holy Spirit descended on our Lord “in bodily form, like a dove?” Wouldn’t it have been more exciting to see an eagle or a pterodactyl or something more majestic!? He could have descended in any bodily appearance, so why a wimpy dove? It’s yet another connection back to the Old Testament (Gen 8:6-12). “Just as a dove announced to Noah that God’s wrath had ceased, so too the Holy Spirit announces here that Christ has reconciled us to God by sweeping sin away in the flood waters of baptism” (Theophylact). The same Spirit Who hovered over the waters at creation comes to dwell in us through the promise of our baptism, making each of us a new creation in Christ (2Cor 5:17).


It’s exciting that you in your baptism, have been anointed for service in God’s kingdom! You have been chosen to bring the Epiphany light of Christ wherever you go. “Christians” are and ought to be like Christ. We are the “anointed ones” who bring God’s love in Jesus Christ to this dark world. How will you do that? It’s easy! You can tell people about what Christ has done for you on the Cross and in your Baptism. Tell people about your story with God. Consider how our Lord will use you and the gifts that He has given to you to serve in His kingdom. You have been made a new creation with a purpose: that you may serve, just as Christ was servant of all. Heaven has been opened for you and all humanity. Don’t be afraid to tell the story! Share the Good News that our Lord has revealed to the world in the river Jordan. Share the Good News that you likewise have received in your baptism now and always. Amen!

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