January 10/11, 2010

Pastor Waldschmidt
January 10th , 2010
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED TOO!
I. To Show He was the Savior.
II. To Do His Father’s Will.

In the name of Jesus, who was baptized too, dear fellow redeemed children of God;
It has been a while since I've heard of this, but I remember books and movies that showed the benefits of taking cod liver oil. I’ve never tried it, but I don’t think one of the benefits was the taste. In fact in the books and movies in my memory banks, I remember the mom or dad begging and pleading and finally offering “Daddy will take some too.” And as I recall Daddy was not real thrilled about being included.
God’s Word today takes us to the banks of the Jordan River. John the Baptist is there with his camel’s hair outfit clothes and his lunch box filled with locusts and wild honey. He is busy baptizing and preaching about a change of heart. John looks up and there is Jesus. He is now 30 years old and ready to begin his public ministry. You can imagine the crowds of people being baptized sort of parting as Jesus approached and then Jesus is baptized too. It’s not a painful dose of awful tasting medicine but instead it’s a beautiful part of God’s Word that brings comfort and peace. Jesus was baptized too! I. To show everyone he was the Savior. II. To do His Father’s will.
John talked with the people about repentance to get the people ready for Jesus coming. Now, I’m impressed seeing and hearing John the Baptist on the pages of scripture. The people who heard John preached must have been impressed too. Some of them wondered if John might himself be the Messiah. That’s one of the reasons Jesus was baptized too- To show everyone who the Savior was. “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.” John certainly made an impression but at the baptism of Jesus, John made clear that God had someone far greater than him in mind. “John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
John’s job was simply to prepare the people for the coming of the Savior. The Messiah’s power and tools to do His work would be far greater than John’s. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The coming Messiah would not only be the Savior of the world who would send the Holy Spirit to strengthen His followers but as John points out will one day sit in judgment of the whole world. Jesus, not John, would be the one to follow! Jesus would be the one to listen to! Remember the time when John’s disciples came to him complaining that more people were following Jesus and John explained, “He must increase, I must decrease.” With the heavens open, as Jesus stood in the Jordan River praying, it was made clear to everyone that Jesus was the Savior.
Scripture says, “Be baptized and wash your sins away.” But Jesus didn’t have any sin. He was sinless. So why was it so important that he be baptized too. We got a clue about that in the Old Testament Lesson today. Remember that when God chose a prophet, a priest or a king for His people, they were anointed. When a person was anointed, God’s prophet would pour oil on their heads. This simple act was God’s way of telling everyone that the person who had been anointed had been reserved or set aside for a special job. In the case of David, he was set aside as the king. God didn’t hang a sign or badge on David to say he would be the next king but that’s the anointing showed everyone.
At Jesus’ baptism God showed everyone that He had set aside a descendant of King David for a special purpose – for a special job- to be the Savior of the world. There on the banks of the Jordan River God made clear to everyone that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. Jesus was the prophet who would proclaim freedom and forgiveness for those held captive by sin and death. Jesus was the priest who would sacrifice himself as full payment for the sins of the world. Jesus was the King who would fight for His people and win the victory over the devil. The scene there on the banks of the Jordan told everyone Jesus was the Savior. The disciple John records for us, John the Baptist’s reaction, “Then John gave this testimony; “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him. I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God.”
I picture John the Baptist as kind of guy you might feel a little uncomfortable around. Not so much uncomfortable because of the way John looked. No I think it would have been interesting to find out how locusts taste or if the camel’s hair was scratchy. I think people would have been uncomfortable because of what John talked about. He talked plainly about sin and how uncomfortable it will be for sinners standing before the sinless one. No one could stay standing there thinking, “I glad the Messiah is coming to be the Savior for all those people. As for me I really don’t need a Savior. I haven’t been so bad.” John’s word burned in their hearts. “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." King David later talked about our need for a Savior in one of his psalms. “Surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
No one can stand here this morning on the banks of Jacobi thinking “I’m glad Jesus came to be the Savior for those people. They sure need a Savior. As for me I haven’t been so bad.” John’s words burn in our hearts. “His winnowing fork is in his hand…He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” We need a Savior. Because of God’s grace we have a Savior in Jesus. Jesus being baptized showed everyone that Jesus was the Savior. At the same time John the Baptist made people comfortable because he talked to them and to you and me about our Savior. “And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.”
At first, John was sort of taken back when Jesus came to him to be baptized. The Gospels record his reaction, “John tried to deter Jesus, saying “I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Right from the very beginning of His ministry Jesus ties himself to sinners. Remember the Bible said that “Jesus would be numbered with the transgressors.” No “t’s” would be left uncrossed, no “i” undotted in the plan of salvation God was now unfolding. . “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened.” Jesus was baptized too-to do His Father’s will.
Jesus was doing all things right in our place. Jesus does things right for us. As He begins His ministry, there He is, praying. Just think about that for a moment. Ask yourself how your prayer life is? Do we check in with our God at the beginning and end of the day or do we pop out of bed at the beginning of a new day of blessing without even a word of thanks or fall into bed at the end of a day with an acknowledgement that he was the one who got us through the day? Here’s Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry doing things right for us. The things we’ve failed to do right Jesus did right in our place. In God’s wonderful accounting book of grace, God transfers Jesus’ record for us.
Still today, tonight because of Jesus, it is because Jesus did His Father’s will that God opens heaven to us to hear our prayers. God stoops to hear the things that are on our minds and hearts. He tells us, “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will glorify me.”
Some might say that you are weak if you do what someone else wants you to do. Others have written that a person is weak if they have to pray. But look at Jesus! He is the one whose sandal shoe string John was not worthy to untie but yet here He is praying- here He is doing His Father’s will.”
And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Here we can see God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all working together. No person of the Trinity is going rogue. No, your salvation and my salvation was the something that Three in One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, worked out. Jesus was indeed carrying our His Father’s will.
Some might wonder how this event in the squishy mud of the Jordan River has an effect on us. In Baptism God tied you and me to Jesus in faith. This one who is the Savior is your Savior. This one who did the Father’s will did it in your place. All of the events of Christmas with the angels and the manger and the shepherds and the wisemen- benefit you. Jesus went to Calvaryt for you. You are tied to Jesus. You are a member of God’s family. God says of you “This is my son or daughter.” He looks at those trusting in Jesus with His Jesus’ glasses on and says, “With Him I am well pleased.”
Are you feeling a little alone lately? Maybe all your friends and much of your family has gone home to heaven. Maybe you are feeling like sort of an outcast from your family, like you don’t fit in. Trusting in that one who was baptized too, you are a member of God’s family.
They say the Jordan River plunges downhill at a furious pace, falling nine feet per mile. The 158-mile river begins in the snows of Mount Herman at a point 260 feet above sea level. By the time it empties into the Dead Sea, at a point 1,287 feet below sea level, the water has reached the lowest point on earth. At the high points of life and at the low points of life we can take comfort from something that happened in the Jordan River. Jesus was baptized too! Amen.