Larry Devich
Sunday, January 07, 2007
January 7, 2007 - The Baptism of Our Lord
Yesterday, for the Feast of the Epiphany, I attended a retreat at Messiah with Dr. Arthur Just. He did a study of the book of Galatians, it was wonderful. I learned a lot of things about Paul I hadn't realized before. The main thing was the likelihood that Paul was in Jerusalem studying under Gamaliel at the very time when Jesus' ministry was taking place. Being high in Pharisaical circles he may very well have been involved in the plot to entrap Jesus and to get him killed! A bit of speculation there but it does fit with the facts as they are presented in scripture. In any case it was a wonderful three hour class followed by a yummy pot luck complete with Lutheran beverages.
Higher Things Epiphany Reflection:
January 7, 2007 - The Baptism of Our Lord
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.” (St. Matthew 3:13-17)
Imagine taking a bath in someone else’s bathwater. Yuck! Who would want to do something like that?
Jesus came to His cousin John to be baptized. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Sinners came to John. – tax collectors, prostitutes, soldiers, all sorts of “unreligious” unwashed sinners. Into that bathwater, teeming with the collective sin of the world, steps Jesus, the sinless Son of God.
John is properly troubled. “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?” It seems backwards. The sinless One should be baptizing the sinner. And yet Jesus says this is the right thing to do. “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
Jesus is baptized as a sinner in need of repentance. The spotless Lamb stands in solidarity with sinners. He is our Substitute Sacrifice, the Vicarious Victim who takes away the sin of the world. Here in the water of the Jordan, He shows what His work is: to be made our sin, to become the Sinner in our place, to immerse Himself in our filthy bathwater, turning it into a cleansing baptismal flood of forgiveness.
This is how “righteousness” is fulfilled. The Righteous One becomes the Unrighteous One. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God,” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Luther called it a “sweep swap.” Jesus gets our sin; we receive His righteousness.
The opening of heaven, the voice of the Father, and the descent of the Spirit show and tell us that this is the way of righteousness. The Son of God, the Anointed One, the Messiah – Christ of Israel, must be treated as a sinner. Already in His Baptism is His Cross. Jesus’ baptism sets Him on the road to Calvary, where He takes the sin of the world and dies. Righteousness is fulfilled.
In your Baptism, you, a sinner, covered with the filth of Adam’s disobedience and the muck of your own rebellion, were washed clean in the water in the Name of the triune God. As the branch in the wilderness made the bitter waters of Marah sweet, so the Branch of Jesse, Jesus the Son of God, has made the water of Baptism a sweet stream of cleansing for you.
“To Jordan came the Christ, our Lord, to do His Father’s pleasure. Baptized by John, the Father’s Word was given us to treasure. This heav’nly washing now shall be a cleansing from transgression. And by His blood and agony release from death’s oppression. A new life now awaits us.” (Lutheran Worship, #223) ¶ 1/07/2007 06:46:00 AM 0 Comments
Higher Things Epiphany Reflection:
January 7, 2007 - The Baptism of Our Lord
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.” (St. Matthew 3:13-17)
Imagine taking a bath in someone else’s bathwater. Yuck! Who would want to do something like that?
Jesus came to His cousin John to be baptized. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Sinners came to John. – tax collectors, prostitutes, soldiers, all sorts of “unreligious” unwashed sinners. Into that bathwater, teeming with the collective sin of the world, steps Jesus, the sinless Son of God.
John is properly troubled. “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?” It seems backwards. The sinless One should be baptizing the sinner. And yet Jesus says this is the right thing to do. “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
Jesus is baptized as a sinner in need of repentance. The spotless Lamb stands in solidarity with sinners. He is our Substitute Sacrifice, the Vicarious Victim who takes away the sin of the world. Here in the water of the Jordan, He shows what His work is: to be made our sin, to become the Sinner in our place, to immerse Himself in our filthy bathwater, turning it into a cleansing baptismal flood of forgiveness.
This is how “righteousness” is fulfilled. The Righteous One becomes the Unrighteous One. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God,” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Luther called it a “sweep swap.” Jesus gets our sin; we receive His righteousness.
The opening of heaven, the voice of the Father, and the descent of the Spirit show and tell us that this is the way of righteousness. The Son of God, the Anointed One, the Messiah – Christ of Israel, must be treated as a sinner. Already in His Baptism is His Cross. Jesus’ baptism sets Him on the road to Calvary, where He takes the sin of the world and dies. Righteousness is fulfilled.
In your Baptism, you, a sinner, covered with the filth of Adam’s disobedience and the muck of your own rebellion, were washed clean in the water in the Name of the triune God. As the branch in the wilderness made the bitter waters of Marah sweet, so the Branch of Jesse, Jesus the Son of God, has made the water of Baptism a sweet stream of cleansing for you.
“To Jordan came the Christ, our Lord, to do His Father’s pleasure. Baptized by John, the Father’s Word was given us to treasure. This heav’nly washing now shall be a cleansing from transgression. And by His blood and agony release from death’s oppression. A new life now awaits us.” (Lutheran Worship, #223) ¶ 1/07/2007 06:46:00 AM 0 Comments
