THE LORD’S BAPTISM
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

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

Our text for this morning’s meditation is recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 3, verses 15 through 22–particularly these words:  “When all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens opened, 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.’”  This is our text.

In the name of our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, dear Christian friends. We have now entered the Epiphany season of the church year–and during this season, our Gospel readings are going to be taking a close look at the life and the work of Jesus Christ. Under the three-year lectionary series that we use, we have now left the childhood days of Jesus and are about to embark upon His life as he proclaims God’s message, as he heals the sick, and as he performs miracles that no one but God can do. We are going to see some of those events within his life that lead him right up to Palm Sunday, where he was proclaimed by the crowds as the promised Messiah, A king, the Son of David—and then only short days later, as he stood before Pilot and this time the crowds yelled, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!”

Today we are looking at the first step of Christ’s public ministry. Today we begin where His ministry began — at his baptism by John in the Jordan River.

As we survey this Baptismal scene, let’s look first of all at the people who came out to hear John preach. There was undoubtedly a crowd around John the day that Jesus came out to be baptized. Our text tells us, “The people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ.”

We are told that the people were in Expectation. They were looking for someone special to come. Rome controlled and ruled their country. The people paid heavy taxes to the city of Rome. The Roman soldiers, always present, were at times cruel and demanding. The people suffered under Roman rule.

And so the promises of God to send a King who would rule as David had ruled were once again burning bright in the hearts and minds of God’s people. They were in expectation, looking for this king to come — and come soon. A King to lead them in war against Rome! A King to gain their freedom! A King to establish peace in their land! A King like David!

So the people asked themselves, “Is John the promised one to come?” But John took no credit for himself. In fact, John made it very clear that he was not the promised one and that the people should indeed look for another. In our text for today, John says, “He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” And at one point in his ministry, John points at Jesus Christ and says, “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

As Jesus ministry developed following his baptism the people came out to hear what he had to say, and to learn from him, and to receive the message of God’s love and grace which he proclaimed. They saw him heal the sick, and raise the dead, and preach with authority like no one else could.

And yet Jesus was not quite what they were waiting for. He wasn’t the great military leader they wanted. He wasn’t the great political leader they wanted. Instead, he was just what John had said he was, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

The text in Luke concerning the baptism of Jesus doesn’t tell us a lot about John and how he felt about baptizing Jesus. But the account in Matthew tells us more. Matthew told us, “Then Jesus came to John to be baptized. John hesitated saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, but you come to me?’  But Jesus answered, ‘Let it be so, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.

At first John wasn’t too sure about baptizing Jesus. He recognized Jesus as the Christ. He knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God. And knowing this, he felt that Jesus should be baptizing him instead.

John did not fully understand what Jesus had come to earth to do. John was just a little bit like the other people — looking for something a little more than what Jesus appeared to be. Maybe that is why later, when he is in prison, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask him, “Are you the one, or do we look for another.”

John may not have understood why Jesus needed to be baptized by him, but he did as Jesus asked, “To fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus explained the why in the Sermon on the Mount, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them.”

John did know that the work of the Promised Messiah would be very important to all people. He knew that that work dealt with all people and their relationship with God. That is why he says in our text, “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.”

And indeed Christ did become the dividing point between the righteous children of God and the unrighteous. Christ became the center point and all things revolved around him. “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be condemned.” “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but by me.” “Jesus Christ is the only name given among men whereby we can be saved.”

Christ is the dividing post between the “wheat” and the “chaff”. He is the one in whom we, by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, place our faith, our trust, our hope, our confidence — for there is no other!!

And there was a witness to this fact on the day of Jesus Baptism. For just as Christ was coming from the Water, our text records, “The heavens were opened, 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.’”

God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit giving witness to God the Son. Here we see clearly the mystery of the Triune God, three separate persons, but only One God. Here we see clearly that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Promised Messiah, because God the Father, out of heaven, proclaims him to be, “MY BELOVED SON”

There can be no doubt. Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all God’s promises to his people. Jesus Christ was that Messiah for whom the people were waiting. Jesus Christ was that Messiah for whom John the Baptist was preparing the way. And now at his baptism, he continues the task for which he was born — His task of fulfilling all righteousness, righteousness that you and I could not fulfill. At this His baptism, he is your substitute and mine. From his conception until he ascends into heaven, everything he does will be done in our stead, in our place, and for our good. He will fulfill God’s Law perfectly for us. He will be falsely accused for us. He will die for us. He will arise from the dead for us. And to this task, the Father gives his blessings saying–“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

This is your Lord. This is your Savior. Trust in Him for your salvation—and Serve Him with all your heart, mind, and soul. To God be the Glory now and always. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.