In the Name of Jesus, our Savior who justifies us, Amen.
Let us pray: God’s own child I gladly say it, I am baptized into Christ, Amen.
My Wife, Allison, and I will be celebrating our 5th year anniversary this June, the 3rd to be exact. Just a few weeks ago Allison and our eldest son, Lonny, were in a wedding of a good friend. As goes with any person that is married, going to another wedding brings back the memories of your own wedding. You remember the rehearsal at the church. All your loved ones, some you haven’t seen in a while and those you hope to not see for a while all gathered to see the blessed event. Your friends are there wishing you the best during your years as a couple and mooch off your dinner and reception food and festivities. Finally, the day of the wedding arrives. Everyone is in their best attire, the men in the tuxedos and the women in beautiful dresses. The pastor is adorned in vestments and the church decorated with majestic flowers and ribbons. However, these all look to the beautiful woman walking down the aisle to be united to the man that God has given to her. Allison’s dress a stunning and glorious pure white. You could tell that she had taken care of that dress and would take care of it after the wedding and for years to come. Allison takes great care of her white gown, for it is a dress of purity, beauty, life, and union with her husband.
Hear now the word of the Lord as recorded in the Gospel according to St. Matthew that says, then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
St. John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance. Therefore, anyone who desired to be baptized by John must first and foremost be a sinner. Why then does Jesus come to be baptized by John? Is He not the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the blessed Virgin Mary and therefore not a sinner like you and me? Why then does Jesus stand with the sinners and descend into the Jordan in order to be baptized by another sinner, John?
Why are you baptized? Unlike Christ our Lord, you and I are conceived and born in sin. This original or inherited sin we received from our parents with an evil inclination all our lives. We are not born as children of God pure and holy, but rather as St. Paul declares in Ephesians, we are born as children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Does Baptism just wash away and forgive this inherited or original sin? After Baptism, do we change and desire nothing but the goodness of God? Do you desire and yearn for nothing more than to live in pure faith toward God and unconditional love for your neighbor?
Just like my wife’s wedding dress, all of you who are baptized received a gown of righteousness of pure white. For in Baptism, you received forgiveness of sin. But what do you do with your dress? Do you take care of it? Take the wedding dress for example. How many brides take their wedding dress after the ceremony, grab a shovel, and go clean a pile of horse manure out of a stable? Do they go, white dress and all, and march into the dirt and filth left over by the beasts? Do they get their dress covered in horse droppings without any chance of it ever being clean again?
If a bride were to do this you would call her crazy or at the least unappreciative of her dress. But this is what you do with your baptismal robe of righteousness. For you take the sin that is forgiven, both your original sin and all actual sin or sin you commit, and you march right into the manure of this world and its master the devil. You forget the truth that you are baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and you cling to the things of this world. For your white robe of salvation is quickly stained and torn to shreds the moment you resurrect from the font. For sin doesn’t smell like manure to we who are fallen, but rather, sin has the sweetness of roses and honey in our nostrils. Sin doesn’t have flies swarming around it that reveal its stench. NO, the devil displays a beautiful bouquet of flowers that is whatever sin you commit. You and I both have them. Those sins that we just can’t stop committing. NO matter if we know it’s manure in the eyes of God, we continue to commit the same acts of unbelief. For you know that gossiping is wrong, but you keep on doing it, yearning for that next rumor to rise up so you can add fuel to the fire of division and deceit. You continue to march into the grotesque sin of this world with your robe of righteousness without a care that you no longer have the appearance of Christ, but of the devil. Hear the same words that Christ heard from John, Repent. For you’ve been judged guilty of desecrating your everlasting salvation by living with sin as your master, in place of the One True God.
But this isn’t enough. You can’t just repent and believe. Without a payment you remain guilty of your trespasses. Without sacrifice, you still receive the punishment for your abandonment. Without the ransom paid, you remain captive to the will of sin and the devil and your tongue remains a den of demonic language. Your repentance cannot save you. For God only hears the repentance of the sinner.
This is why Christ Jesus stood amongst the sinners before the Jordan River. For He who knew no sin, became sin for us. Christ stood amongst the sinners and was baptized by John in order to fulfill all righteousness. For after Christ was baptized Behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Christ Jesus had no need to be baptized. However, The Son came down from heaven, not to condemn the world, but to redeem it through his precious blood and sacrifice. Christ was baptized for in taking our flesh, He became the sin of the world, not just the chief sinner, but the sin of us all. Christ stood in the Jordan as the only sinner worthy of condemnation in the eyes of the Father. For this is why the Father is well pleased with His Son. For Jesus saves, not by example, but by the merciful act of standing in our stead in order that the wrath of the Father may be consumed in Him. This is why He is baptized. He carried the sin of the world into the Jordan in order for it to be forgiven. Dr. Martin Luther declares the words of Christ to John saying,
That is why it is necessary for Me to be baptized and to receive the forgiveness of sins, so that, hereafter, My Baptism may be poured out and preached in the whole world: that I have borne and baptized the sin of the world and washed it away and obtained the forgiveness of sins, so that whoever believes in Me and is baptized according to My command is also cleansed from his sins and pure and has a merciful God.
Christ Jesus took my sin and your sin upon Himself. Yes, we committed the sin and deserve the punishment thereof, but because Christ had borne them in His very flesh and taken it to the cross, it no longer belongs to us, but to Christ. Our sin belongs to Christ. For in Baptism, Christ Jesus took your sin away and washed you clean of your transgressions. Cling therefore to your baptism for in it you have the forgiveness purchased for you by Christ the crucified one.
You can’t keep your robe pure and white. Attempt not to attain your own salvation by making deals with God and goals for yourself to live a better life today. Hear the words of Christ Jesus, I forgive you your sin. Because you are baptized, you are forgiven your sin. Your deceitful tongue is forgiven as the precious Body and Blood of Christ Jesus pass over your lips for forgiveness, life, and salvation. Know this today, that all Christians who have been baptized have the heavens opened to them and God shall never shut them to you. For Your Baptism is Christ’s baptism. He has consecrated every font where His Holy Word is joined with the water in order that the Father may behold you and be well pleased. The Father does not see you, a sinner, but the righteousness and purity of His Son, Jesus Christ. If you fall and sin out of weakness, which you will, be not long from your baptism, in the Spirit, crawl to your baptism for there were you washed not just of one sin, but all your sin. Dear Christian firmly hold this gift and give God thanks forever, for it gives the power to uplift in all that you endeavor. For when nothing else revives your soul, your Baptism stands and makes you whole, and then in death completes you. God bless and keep you all in your baptismal grace until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come Lord Jesus, Come, Amen.
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