- If you are clean, you don’t need to get washed, let alone in the water of a dirty river.
- Why then did Jesus come to the River Jordan and join the long line of people who came to be baptized by John the Baptist?
- These people came in response to John’s announcement that God was about to send the Messiah, His anointed King, to judge the broken world and usher in his kingdom on earth.
- They obeyed his summons for them to confess their sins and receive God’s pardon before the final Day of Judgment.
- They came to be washed clean from guilt for the bad things that they had done.
- They came to get rid of their sin.
- But what about Jesus?
- John knew that was not why Jesus had come to be baptized.
- After all, he would be the Judge of all people.
- And he was sinless and righteous, innocent and holy.
- So it was no wonder that John was shocked to see Jesus standing with all the unclean, guilt-stricken people.
- He was just as surprised as you would have been if Jesus had joined us earlier in the service when we confessed our sins and admitted that we deserved God’s punishment for the wrong things that we had done, or how you shocked you would be if he were to line up with you to drink his blood for the forgiveness of sins in HC..
- Nothing could be more improper, more back to front, upside down, out of place, and the wrong way round.
- No wonder John refused to baptize him.
- No wonder he tried to deter Jesus by saying, I need to be baptized by you. Why then have you come to me?
- The answer of Jesus was just as surprising as his desire to be baptized together with all those guilty people.
- He says, Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.
- God the Father had sent him to fix up the broken world and put it back in order again.
- But he was not sent to fix it up in the way that people wanted to happen by punishing evildoers and rewarding good people.
- No! As Isaiah had foretold, he would be numbered with the transgressors and pour out his life for them, because he would bear their sins and intercede for them (53:12).
- He would come to justify repentant sinners by pardoning them and making peace for them by the gift of a good conscience.
- So in his baptism God the Father commissioned Jesus to fulfill His righteousness by taking away the guilt of the people and putting them right with God and each other.
- Well, what was the purpose of his baptism by John? For him and you?
- At his baptism Jesus came to take away your sin and guilt and shame in exchange for three wonderful things for you: access to God the Father here on earth, the gift of His Holy Spirit, and the assurance that you are well-pleasing to Him.
- Matthew tells us that as Jesus came up out of the water, heaven was opened.
- It was opened for you and all baptised believers.
- You now have access to heaven through Jesus, the Son of Man, the representative of the human race.
- Human access to God’s presence has been lost since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin.
- They were driven from God’s presence in the Garden of Eden and exiled from life with him.
- Since then, all their descendants have been cut off from Him and are far from him.
- They are all plagued by a bad conscience and the fear of death as God’s just penalty for sin.
- But through the baptism of Jesus and his ministry, heaven is once again open for you, because you are united with Jesus in baptism and adopted by his heavenly Father.
- As the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus removes whatever separates you from the presence of his heavenly Father.
- Heaven comes down to earth in him as a man and reaches you where you are.
- As is shown by the picture on our screen, Jesus hands on what he receives from God.
- He brings you two heavenly gifts for your life on earth: the Spirit of his heavenly Father and His pleasure in you as His child.
- Matthew first tells us that when heaven was opened for Jesus he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him.
- After Jesus had been baptised, the Holy Spirit came down on him like a dove and overshadowed him, just as the same Spirit hovered over the waters of the chaotic earth in its creation.
- God’s Spirit did not just come down on him then, but it remained on him for the rest of his life on earth.
- The Spirit consecrated him to preach the forgiveness of sins and empowered him to help for people in need and heal those who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:36-38).
- So, since God the Father has adopted you in your baptism, He now gives you His Holy Spirit though Jesus
- The Spirit who came down on you at your baptism gives you faith and keeps your faithful as reborn children of God.
- Holy Spirit convicts you of sin and assures you that you are forgiven.
- The Spirit makes you a new creature and brings good order into your lives as he did at the creation of the world.
- The Spirit consecrates you to live and work with Jesus and equips you with his own righteousness and holiness
- The Spirit empowers you to live heavenly lives here on earth
- Finally, Matthew tells us that as God’s Spirit descended on Jesus, a voice from heaven said this to the people who had been baptised: This are my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
- Through his voice from heaven God the Father declares that Jesus is his beloved Son who has his unqualified approval.
- Since you are baptized and believe in Jesus, God the Father acknowledges you as His child and approves of you too.
- When He looks at you, He doesn’t see your old self, but the new person that you are by your union with Jesus and transformation by his Holy Spirit.
- He sees you without spot or wrinkle or anything ugly, but blameless and holy and lovely to Him.
- He tells you: “You are my beloved son; you are my beloved daughter; with you I am well pleased.”
- He is pleased to have you as His child and to love you as much as He loves Jesus.
- He is pleased that you trust in Him as your heavenly Father and in Jesus as your human brother.
- He is pleased to meet with you here today and enjoy your company.
- He is so pleased with you that he wants you to share His life with you now and for all eternity.
- Well why then does Jesus come to be baptised by John at the river Jordan?
- He joins you here on earth so that you can join him and his Father in heaven.
- By his baptism he involves you in a great exchange.
- In it he takes on your sin and guilt and shame.
- He stands in for you and takes the penalty for your evildoing, so that through your union with him in baptism you can get rid of your sin and the fallout from it.
- Then in exchange for your impurity and unrighteousness, he pardons you and opens heaven for you.
- He gives you his status as God’s beloved Son, so that you can now share in his close relationship with his heavenly Father.
- He shares his Father’s love for him with you and his Father’s approval of him with you.
- He offers you the Holy Spirit for you in your life with him here on earth this new year and assures you that he is well-pleased you because you trust in him.
- So let the peace of God the Father which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
