Sermon: Baptism of our Lord – 2023

11 January 2023

Text: Matt 3:13-17 (Isa 42:1-7, 1 Cor 1:26-31)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

John had been prophesying of the coming of the Messiah, and baptizing people with a baptism of repentance, to help them prepare for the coming of the kingdom.  It was revealed to St. John the Baptist that the Messiah, the Christ, was none other than his cousin Jesus.  But what John finds incredible is that Jesus has come to him for baptism.

For John’s baptism was for sinners.  And so, when Jesus came to him, John was taken aback: “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”  John “would have prevented Him,” in fact, precisely because this makes no sense.

However, in God’s kingdom, this does make sense.  John doesn’t yet realize that Jesus is taking the place of all of humanity.  His baptism is part of our Lord’s ministry that He describes as “to fulfill all righteousness.”

For this is what Jesus does, and Jesus uses baptism to this end.  And so at the beginning of our Lord’s earthly ministry, Jesus receives Baptism, and we see the action of the entire Holy Trinity in, and with, the water.  And at the end of His earthly ministry, just before He ascends into heaven, Jesus will empower and command His apostles to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And this is, once again, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

For this is ultimately the mission of the Christ.  He is our Savior, and He rescues us from sin, death, and the devil.  Our sins are transgressions of the Law.  And the entire collapse was started by that first sin in the Garden of Eden.  From that fateful day, we have been in a death spiral, all of humanity.  We cannot save ourselves, fix ourselves, or rescue ourselves, no matter how hard we try.  We are dead in our sins, and we need this promised Hero to redeem and revive us, to rebuild our fallen humanity. 

As the hymnist wrote five hundred years ago: 

As by one man all mankind fell
And, born in sin, was doomed to hell,
So by one Man, who took our place,
We all were justified by grace.

Jesus is the New Adam.  He is the recapitulation of mankind.  He is faithful where we are not.  He keeps the Law where we do not.  And so He submitted to circumcision, baptism, and ultimately the cross: living a perfect life and dying a sacrificial death, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

At His baptism, the Holy Spirit came to Him and rested upon Him in a visible way, taking the form of a dove.  And the Father came to Him as well, causing His voice to be heard: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.”  God is pleased by the obedience of His Son.  The Spirit descends through the opened heavens.  The Son stands in human flesh representing all of humanity, upholding the Law, but bearing its punishment, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

Of course, Jesus will fulfill all righteousness each and every day of His earthly ministry: fulfilling prophesies and removing the effects of sin, such as sickness, birth defects, guilt, condemnation, demonic possession, and even death itself.  And He calls men and women to follow Him, then and now, becoming disciples, taking up their own crosses, and following Him.  He calls men, then and now, to go and preach this Good News of the coming of the kingdom, to forgive sins, to baptize, and to administer the Lord’s Supper “for the forgiveness of sins.”  Our Lord not only fulfills all righteousness, but gives His church the Office of the Holy Ministry, His Word, and His Sacraments to “fulfill all righteousness” for those who hear, believe, and are baptized.

The prophet Isaiah reveals the coming of the Holy Spirit to Jesus: “Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights, I have put My Spirit upon Him.”  And from this prophecy, we learn that our Lord Jesus Christ will not break a “bruised reed” or quench a “faintly burning wick.”  In other words, even when our faith is weak, Jesus does not crush us or abandon us.  He is with us in our struggles, our pain, our temptations, our doubts, and our trials.  “He will not grow faint or be discouraged.”  He says, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you.”

This is what it means, dear friends, that He has come to “fulfill all righteousness.”  He fulfills it by His own blood, and He fulfills it in you!  We may be tempted to look at ourselves and wonder if this is true.  For when you look at yourself in the mirror, when you examine yourself according to the Ten Commandments, when you compare yourself to the perfection and righteousness that God intended at your creation, do you see the fulfillment of all righteousness? 

Indeed, as St. Paul points out, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.”

If you look in the mirror and see a basket case, rest assured that you are why the Lord came to “fulfill all righteousness.”  If you could accomplish it yourself, why would He die on the cross for you?  And God chooses the foolish, the weak, the low, and the despised of the world – people like you and me – “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

And so we were also baptized, dear friends, in imitation of our Lord, in obedience to His command, but most importantly, at His gracious invitation to receive the righteousness of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as a free gift, to be declared to be God’s child, with whom He is well pleased, to have righteousness fulfilled in us by virtue of His grace. 

For this is what it means that Jesus fulfills all righteousness: “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

For indeed, dear baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, “thus it is fitting” that for our sake, and by means of His grace and mercy, He has, for our sake and as a free gift, fulfilled all righteousness.  Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.