United with Christ Jesus in His Baptism, His Cross, and His Office

It was on this Sunday twenty-five years ago that I had the privilege of preaching for my father’s installation as the new pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Milford, Illinois. Not only does that make this a particularly poignant and nostalgic occasion for me, but I remain convinced — now as then — that the Baptism of Our Lord is an especially appropriate day for an installation, as a compelling opportunity to consider the meaning and significance of the pastoral office.

If I have understood correctly, it was almost nineteen years ago, Pastor Griebel, when you were ordained at Emmanuel-Soest and there received the special gifts of the Holy Spirit which are known collectively as the Office of the Holy Ministry: When you yourself — your body and soul, your eyes, ears, reason and all your senses, and all that you are — were given as a gift of the Spirit to the Church on earth; when the yoke of Christ Himself — the mantle of His holy Prophets and Apostles — was laid upon you, not as a burden, but as a joyous vocation under the Cross; when, in addition to your other vocations as a son (and a son of God in Christ), as a husband and father, you also became a shepherd of the Lord’s flock under the one Good Shepherd of us all.

From the first, there is a particularity to all of this. You were ordained at Emmanuel-Soest, but you were given to be the Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and thereafter to serve at the Veteran’s Hospital and later at Lutheran Life Villages. So, too, you have now been called and are here today given to be the Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.

This particularity — this “locatedness” of your pastoral ministry — is a continuation and extension of the very Incarnation that we have so recently celebrated in the Holy Nativity of Christ our Lord. For it is the scandalous particularity of the Christian faith, that we can point to this Baby in this place at this time — and/or to this Man on this Cross at this time — born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate — and precisely (and only) here in Him, we confess, is the one true God in the Flesh, who for us and our salvation came down from heaven to earth.

Now, to be sure, you are not God! You are not the Lord Jesus Christ! But we can point to you — here in this place and at this time — and rightly confess that you are here given to speak with the Voice of Christ to these people, and to administer on their behalf the works of Christ Himself.

That is the very point and purpose for the rite of installation this morning: that we might see with our eyes, and confess with our lips, that God has placed you here to speak and act for Him, and in your Ministry to be His active Gospel-presence among these dear people, for whom Christ died.

Today, you do not become what you were not, but what you have been, what God has given you to be in your Ordination nineteen years ago, is now given to and for Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church right here on St. Mary’s Avenue. In all of its particularities — and we might even say, in all of its peculiarities — God is present and at work in this place, at this time, in and through you.

In this respect, it is so fitting and appropriate that the Lord has chosen this day — the First Sunday after the Epiphany: the Baptism of Our Lord — to install you in this new Office of responsibility. For it is certainly the case that our Lord Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit for the first time at His Baptism (as though He were previously without the Spirit), but He was visibly and publicly anointed by the Spirit — when He descended bodily upon Him in the form of a dove — to “install” Him, as it were, into His Office and Ministry as the Christ or Messiah, the Lord’s Anointed.

He is the Son of God and bears the Holy Spirit from all eternity, but in the waters of the Jordan River, as the Son of Man, He is bodily anointed as our Substitute and Savior. As St. Luke puts it, “When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized.” Henceforth, all that He is and does is for the sake of our salvation. And so also for you: Henceforth, all that you are and all that you do — as a minister of Christ and as a pastor of His Church on earth — is for the people of Trinity.

Now, there are many who would say that your ministry is an extension of your own Holy Baptism. But that is only indirectly true, and it is a bit misleading to follow down that road of logic. By all means, there is no greater treasure in your life than Holy Baptism! But it is not by virtue of your Baptism that you speak the Words and work the works of Christ Jesus as a pastor of His Church. Rather, as the Liturgy of the Holy Communion has taught us so well, it is by virtue of your Office as a called and ordained servant of the Word that you forgive sins, and preach the Gospel, and baptize, and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ to and for His people (now also in this place), all in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Make no mistake, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism belongs to all of this, and the waters of your own Holy Baptism are certainly also involved. For in the washing of those waters with the Word you have been united with Christ Jesus in His Cross and Resurrection, anointed by His Holy Spirit, and adopted by His God and Father as a beloved and well-pleasing son. And, as a son of God in Christ, you bear His Holy Name in all of your various vocations. Indeed, your entire life in all its aspects, including your vocation as a minister of Christ, is an ongoing confession of the Christian Creed.

But your pastoral vocation was not given to you in your Baptism. There you were called to be and to live as a child of God. So were you called to be a child of your parents when you were born; you were called to be a husband when you were married; you were called to be a father when your children were born; and you were called to be a pastor when you were ordained to the Office of the Holy Ministry. And you serve faithfully in that Office, as in all of your vocations, because you are a baptized child of God who lives in Christ, and Christ in you, by grace through faith in Him.

But whereas your Holy Baptism united you with Christ in His Cross and Resurrection as a child of God, your Ordination united you with the same Lord Jesus Christ in His Office of preaching and teaching and otherwise administering His Holy Gospel of forgiveness unto others. By your Holy Baptism, you became a disciple. By your Ordination, you were called and sent to make disciples.

As a child of God, you stand in the waters of the Jordan with Jesus, and you hear the Voice of your dear Father in heaven declaring that you are His beloved son, with whom He is well pleased.

But as a minister of the Gospel, you stand on the banks of the Jordan with St. John, preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and baptizing other sons of God in Christ.

The nature of your pastoral ministry is, in many ways, very much like that of St. John the Baptist, but more so. You do not prepare for a Christ who is yet to come, but you preach and bestow the Christ who has already come, and you proclaim His death until He comes again. Even so, it is still the preaching of repentance, which the Lord Jesus Himself describes (on that first Easter Sunday) as being on par with His Cross and Resurrection in its divine necessity. Without such preaching, the forgiveness and life and salvation of His Cross would never be distributed and received.

Thus were the Holy Apostles sent to preach repentance in the Name of Jesus to all the nations. And so have you also been called, ordained, and sent to preach this same repentance in the Name and stead of the same Jesus, for the forgiveness of these dear people who are entrusted to your care.

This is the “Word and Sacrament Ministry” with which you are charged by Christ Jesus Himself. And this “Word and Sacrament Ministry” is no mere cliché. It is to be understood and carried out quite tangibly in your flesh-and-blood preaching, living, and embodiment of the Holy Gospel.

Which means that you will hear the confession of real sins by real sinners, and you will forgive those sins with the spoken Word of Holy Absolution. It means that you will visit frail and hurting people who are hospitalized or homebound, that the Word of Christ might dwell among them and with them in body and soul. It means that you will administer the Holy Communion, putting the true Body and Blood of Christ Jesus into the mouths of His people. And it means, of course, that you will Baptize young and old into His very real and eternally-significant Cross and Resurrection.

In the footsteps of the Holy Apostles, you are sent by the one Lord Jesus Christ in His Name and with His own authority — who is with you in all that you say and do — to baptize, to teach, to pray, to feed the flock with the Word and Flesh of the One who sends you; to speak with His Voice, and to work His own works with His own hands, as it were, all according to His Word:

Whoever hears you, hears Him who sent you; and whoever receives you, receives Him who sent you, even Jesus Christ, your Savior and your God.

With all this in mind, both you and the people of Trinity must realize that you are sent, not only to tell them “about” Jesus, “about” the Gospel, “about” the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation; but here among them you are given to embody the Gospel in your Office, to deal with them with the Law and the Gospel, as the one through whom Christ Jesus deals with them personally. He speaks and acts through you to forgive their sins in fact, and to bestow His own divine Life and eternal Salvation into their ears, their hands, their mouths, and thereby into their hearts and lives.

How shall you rise to this occasion and live up to this Office and responsibility? You shall not, nor can you. But Christ shall raise you up — and so shall He raise up His people here through you.

As a minister of Christ, as a pastor of His Church, you must also live from that same Word that you preach, from that same Body and Blood that you administer, and from those same holy waters with which you baptize. In this respect, you shall find your best example in St. John the Baptist when he was languishing in prison, waiting for his head to be removed, and suffering the doubts and fears of his own sinful heart. What, then, did he do?  He sought a Word from Jesus, the Voice of the Gospel; which is the one and only thing that will sustain you in the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The Lord will seek you out, because He loves you, and He will not let you go beyond the sound of His Voice. But you must also seek out His Voice for yourself, and give ear to it — from your Brothers and Fathers in Christ Jesus — through Individual Confession and Holy Absolution, and through the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren (especially within your Circuit).

And dear people of Trinity, as you also must live from the Word and Voice of Jesus, which you will hear from Pastor Griebel in this place (under the Cross, in the midst of all the hurts and frailties of life), remember that, as you have heard, so you should also speak a Word of the Gospel — a Word from Jesus — to your family and friends, to your neighbors and acquaintances, and so also to your Pastor, who lives by the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of the Lord no less than you.

Martin Luther offers a beautiful example of how to live such a life in such a way as that. It is said that he would get out of bed each morning and begin his day with the reminder: “I Am Baptized!”

That simple confession of faith sustained his confidence and hope in Christ Jesus, even in the midst of all sorts of personal doubts, ongoing challenges, and numerous threats from all around him. Whenever he was tempted or afraid, he likewise recalled his Baptism by making the sign of the Cross (as he did in all his prayers and at meals), marking himself as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified. He took comfort in the fact that he was baptized into the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, that he had thereby received forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, and that he was thus a beloved and well-pleasing child of God the Father in heaven.

You have that same comfort in the waters of your own Holy Baptism — consecrated and set apart by Christ Himself today in His Baptism. To the human eye and senses, according to the wisdom of this world, it is nothing but a splash of ordinary water (an empty symbol). But to the eyes of faith, according to the gracious Will and Wisdom of God, it is a gracious water of life, a rich and full washing of regeneration. Indeed, it works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the Words and promises of God declare: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Grant this, Lord, unto us all!

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

United with Christ: in His Cross and in His Office

By a son’s reckoning, it will be twenty years ago this June; if memory serves me well, it was on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist — or, in any case, it was close enough — when you were ordained as a Minister of Christ and a Pastor of His Church.  Even though you remained at Grace Lutheran, Wood River, Nebraska, where you had served as a Vicar in their vacancy, nevertheless, you were surely able to sense the profound difference that began with your Ordination: Not unlike the difference between engagement and holy marriage.

It was at that point, now almost twenty years ago, when you received the special gifts of the Holy Spirit which are known collectively as the Office of the Holy Ministry; when you yourself — your body and soul, your eyes, ears, reason and all your senses, and all that you are — were given as a gift of the Spirit to the Church on earth; when the yoke of Christ Himself — the mantle of His Holy Prophets and Apostles — was laid upon you, not as a burden, but a joyous vocation under the Cross; when, in addition to your other vocations as a child (and as a child of God), as a husband and father, you were also called to be a Shepherd of the flock under the Good Shepherd of us all, Jesus Christ.

From the first, there is a particularity to all of this.  You became, and you have remained, a Minister of Christ in His Church; and, as such, you have served in a wide variety of ways and places.  But you are (and you must be) also a Pastor of His Church in a particular place: At Grace, Wood River; at Peace, McCook, Nebraska; and now at Our Savior in Milford, Illinois.

This particularity — this “locatedness” of your pastoral Ministry — is a continuation and extension of the very Incarnation that we have so recently celebrated in the Holy Nativity of Christ our Lord.  For it is the scandalous particularity of the Christian faith, that we can point to this Baby in this place at this time — and/or to this Man on this Cross at this time — born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate — and precisely (and only) here in Him, we confess, is the one true God in the Flesh, who for us and our salvation came down from heaven to earth.

Now, you are not God!  You are not the Lord Jesus Christ!  But we can point to you — and, as of today, we can point to you here in this place at this time — and we confess that you will speak with the Voice of Christ to these people, and you will administer for them the works of Christ Himself.

That is the very point and purpose for which we have been gathered today: that we might see with our eyes, and confess with our lips, that God has placed you here to speak and act for Him, and in your Ministry to be His active Gospel–presence among these dear people, for whom Christ died.

Today, you do not become what you were not, but what you have been, what God has given you to be in your Ordination, is now given to and for the Lutheran Church of Our Savior here in Milford, Illinois.  In all of its particularities — even peculiarities, “warts and all,” as your dear wife might say — God is present and at work in this place, at this time, in and through you.

In this respect, it is so fitting and appropriate that the Lord has chosen this day — the First Sunday after the Epiphany: the Baptism of Our Lord — to install you in this new Office of responsibility.  For just as our Lord Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit for the first time at His Baptism (as though He were previously without the Spirit), but He was visibly and publicly anointed by the Spirit — when He descended bodily upon Him in the form of a dove — to “install” Him into His Office and Holy Ministry as the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

What He was from all eternity, He now becomes for us and our salvation, as He is baptized into the eventuality of His own Cross and Passion (unto death).  Henceforth, all that He is, and all that He does, is for us.  And so also for you: Henceforth, all that you are and all that you do, as a Minister of Christ and as a Pastor of His Church, is for Our Savior here in Milford.

Now, there are many who would say that your Ministry is an extension of your own Holy Baptism.  But that is only indirectly true, and it is misleading to follow down that road of logic.  By all means, there is no greater treasure in your life than Holy Baptism!  But it is not by virtue of your Baptism that you speak the words and work the works of Christ as a Pastor of His Church.  Rather, as the Liturgy of the Holy Communion has so well taught us, it is by virtue of your Office as a Called and Ordained Servant of the Word that you forgive sins, and preach the Gospel, and baptize, and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus to and for His people (and now also in this place), all in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

To be sure, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism belongs to all of this; and the waters of your own Holy Baptism are also involved.  For in the washing of those waters with the Word you were united with Christ in His Cross and Resurrection, anointed by His Spirit, and adopted as a son of God the Father.  And, as such a child of God, you bear His Holy Name in all of your various vocations.  So it is that your entire life, in all its aspects, is an ongoing confession of the Creed, including also your vocation as a Minister of Christ.

But this vocation was not given to you in your Baptism.  There you were called to be and to live as a child of God.  But you were called to be a child of your parents when you were born; you were called to be a husband when you were married; you were called to be a father when your children were born; and you were called to be a Pastor when you were ordained to this Office of the Holy Ministry.  And you serve faithfully in this Office — as in all your other vocations — because you are a baptized child of God who lives in Christ, and Christ in you, by grace through faith in Him.

But whereas Holy Baptism united you with Christ in His Cross and Resurrection as a child of God, your Ordination united you with Christ in His Office of preaching and teaching and otherwise administering His Holy Gospel of forgiveness unto others.  By your Holy Baptism, you became a disciple; by your Ordination, you have been sent to make disciples.

As a child of God, you stand in the waters of the Jordan with Christ Jesus, and you hear the Voice of your dear Father in heaven declaring, that you are His beloved son, with whom He is well pleased.

But as a Minister of Christ, you stand on the banks of the Jordan with St. John, preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and baptizing other sons of God through Christ your Lord.

The nature of your Ministry is, in many ways, very much like that of St. John the Baptist, but more so.  You do not prepare for a Christ who is yet to come in the first place, but you preach and bestow a Christ who has already come, and you proclaim His death until His comes again.  And yet, it is still the preaching of repentance, which Jesus Himself describes (following His Resurrection) as being on par with the Cross and Resurrection in its divine necessity.  Without such preaching, the forgiveness and life and salvation of the Cross would never be distributed and received.

Thus were the Holy Apostles sent to preach repentance in the Name of Jesus to all the nations.  And so have you been sent to preach this same repentance, in the Name and stead of this same Jesus, for the forgiveness of these dear people who are now entrusted to your care.

This is the “Word and Sacrament Ministry” with which you are charged by Christ Himself.  And this “Word and Sacrament” is no mere cliché.  It must be understood and carried out quite specifically and concretely in your flesh-and-blood preaching, living, and embodiment of the Holy Gospel.

Which means that you will hear the confession of real sins by real sinners, and you will forgive those sins with the spoken Word of Holy Absolution.  It means that you will visit those frail, hurting people who are hospitalized or homebound, that the Word of Christ might dwell among them and with them.  It means that you will administer the Holy Communion, putting the true Body and Blood of Jesus into the mouths of His people.  And it means, of course, that you will Baptize young and old into His very real and eternally-significant Cross and Resurrection.

In the footsteps of the Holy Apostles, you are sent by Christ with His own authority, who is with you in all that you say and do — to baptize, to teach, to pray, to feed the flock with the Word and Flesh of the One who sends you; to speak with His Voice, and to work His own works with His own hands, as it were, according to His Words and promises: He who receives you, receives Him who sent you; and He who hears you, hears Him who sent you, even Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior.

In this respect, both you — and these people of Our Savior — must realize that you are sent, not only to tell them “about” Jesus, “about” the Gospel, “about” the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation; but here among them you are given to embody the Gospel in your Office, to deal with them with the Law and Gospel, as the one through whom Christ, their dear Lord, deals with them Himself: to forgive their sins in fact, and to bestow His own divine life and eternal salvation in their ears, in their hands, in their mouths, and thereby into their hearts and lives.

How shall you rise to this occasion and live up to this Office and responsibility?  You shall not.  But Christ shall raise you up, even as He shall raise up His people in this place through you.

As a Minister of Christ, as a Pastor of His Church, you must also live from that same Word that you preach, from that same Body and Blood that you administer, in those same holy waters with which you baptize.  In this respect, you shall find your best example in St. John the Baptist when he is languishing in prison, waiting for his head to be removed, and suffering the doubts and fears of his own sinful heart.  What, then, does he do?   He seeks out a Word from Jesus, the Voice of the Gospel, which is the one and only thing that will sustain you in the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The Lord will seek you out, because He loves you, and He will not let you go beyond the sound of His Voice.  But you must also seek out His Voice for yourself, and give ear to it — from your Brothers and Fathers in Christ, through Individual Confession and Holy Absolution, as well as through the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren.

And dear people of Our Savior, as you also must live from the Word and Voice of Jesus, which you will now hear from this Pastor in this place (under the Cross, amidst all the hurts and frailties of life), remember, too, that as you have heard, so ought you to speak a Word of the Gospel — a Word from Jesus — to your family and friends, to your neighbors and acquaintances, and to your Pastor, who lives by grace and mercy and forgiveness no less than you.

And now, to all of you, a beautiful example of how to live such a life in such a way.  Martin Luther used to get out of bed each morning and begin his day with a reminder to himself:  “I Am Baptized!”

That simple confession of faith sustained his confidence and hope in Christ, even in the middle of all sorts of personal doubts, ongoing challenges, and numerous threats from all around him.  Whenever he was tempted or afraid, he likewise recalled his Baptism by making the sign of the Cross (as he did in all his prayers and at meals), marking him as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified.  He took comfort in the fact that he was baptized into the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, that he had thereby received forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, and that he was thus a beloved child of God the Father.

You have that same comfort in the waters of your own Holy Baptism — consecrated and set apart by Christ Himself today in His Baptism.  To the human eye and senses, according to the wisdom of this world, it is nothing but a splash of ordinary water (an empty symbol).  But to the eyes of faith, according to the gracious Will and Wisdom of God, it is a gracious water of life, a rich and full washing of regeneration; it works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the Words and promises of God declare: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.”  Grant this Lord, unto us all, for Jesus’ sake!

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Spirit of God the Father Is Yours in Christ Jesus

If you make something for yourself, or if you go out and buy something for yourself, and it doesn’t work, you’ll either try to fix it or replace it, or else just give up and throw it away.  But if you’re a father, then you love your children, you take care of them, provide for them, teach them, and train them, regardless of what might be broken or wrong or not working in their bodies and lives.

The Lord your God is your Maker and your Redeemer.  He has created you, and He has bought you back for Himself.  He has purchased you for His own possession.  But more than that, and better than that, He has also chosen you and called you to be His own dear child.  He has chosen in love to become your Father, and He has called you by His own Name in the waters of Holy Baptism.

The Holy Triune God is your Creator, not by necessity or compulsion, but by His gracious choice, for the sake of His divine and holy Love.  And He has not only made you and formed you, like a work of art or as a machine, but He has adopted you to be His child and heir, to share the Sonship and inheritance of Christ Jesus.  He disciplines you as a good Father, but He does not disown you.

He has created you and given you life, and He still takes care of you and provides all your needs.  But there is more to His being your Father than simply your ongoing existence and biology.

He is your true Father, your Dad or “Daddy.”  He loves you and honors you, because you are precious to Him.  He has redeemed you from your sin and death, and He daily forgives you all of your trespasses.  He rescues you from every evil of both body and soul.  And all that He is and all that He has, He freely bestows upon you by His grace, along with His Name and His Holy Spirit.

That is what it is and what it really means to be a father.  So, men, if you are given a family, learn from your God and Father in heaven — by whom all fatherhood on earth is named — learn from Him to care for your children on earth.  And whether you have children of your own or not, learn from your Father in heaven to care for His children within the household and family of His Church.

Women, know that your God and Father in Christ Jesus is faithful, loving, and true.  He does not take but gives you life, He loves you and delights in you, and He will never leave you or forsake you.  So, that is where and how you find the confidence and strength to live and love as His child; to honor your father and mother on earth; to submit to your husband, if you have one; to care for your own children, or for others; to love your neighbor; and to guard your heart and mind, your body and soul, in purity and peace.  You can do all such things with such a Father as you have.

Little children, you also are safe and secure in your Father’s loving care.  He hears and answers your prayers, no matter how small and quiet your voice may be, because He has named you with His own Name, He has adopted you to be His very own.  He loves you, and He listens to you.

Of course it is true that fathers on earth are not always like this.  Even the best of human fathers are not always faithful and kind; they are not always dependable, patient, or attentive.

And there are far too many fathers who are not like our God and Father in heaven at all.  Men who beget children outside of holy marriage, not by any gracious choice or with any commitment, but by fornication and adultery.  Men who become biological fathers, but are no real Daddies to their daughters and sons.  Men who neglect their wives and children; who berate them, demean them, or use them with selfish arrogance; who do not listen, are rarely there, and do not give but take.  Men who make demands and issue punishments, but who do not teach, and who do not forgive.

There are many men like that.  And in fact, as all men are sinners, all men are tempted and prone to such unfaithfulness.  Where you have been like that or done so, repent and become otherwise.

But that is not what it is or what it really means to be a father.  And that is not what your true God and Father in heaven is like.

Which is wonderful; except, how can you be sure and certain, confident, and at peace, that such a true and faithful Father as He is will not disown you and send you away in your guilt and shame?

After all, as surely as there are unfaithful, negligent, and absentee fathers on earth, so surely are there also rebellious and disobedient children — prodigal sons and wayward daughters — who dishonor their parents and daily sin much against the Father in heaven.  God’s holy and righteous Law requires that such children should be stoned to death.  In fact, in the case of such children,  the Law requires their parents to bring charges against them and to join in punishing them.

But you also have sinned against heaven and in God’s sight; and, as you confess, you surely deserve nothing but punishment.  For the soul that sins shall die.  You cannot fix or repair that.

How, then, can you be sure of your Father in heaven?  How shall you call upon His Name and have any hope or expect to be heard?  How shall you be released and set free from your sin and death?  And how shall your brokenness ever be repaired?

The answer is right here in the Baptism of our Lord, which has also been given to you as your own Holy Baptism.  And the certainty and the confidence of that answer is Christ Jesus Himself.  It is for His sake that the Father has created you in love, in order that His only-begotten Son should become the first of many brothers and sisters.  And it is by the same beloved and well-pleasing Son that God the Father has redeemed you, purchased and won you, from sin, death, the devil, and hell.

Christ Jesus is the Son begotten of the Father from eternity, and it is His divine Sonship that is now yours by way of your Baptism in His Name.  For He has become true Man, conceived and born of St. Mary, that you might be conceived and born again as a child of God in Him.  It is His Name — which He shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit — with which He has also named you.

So, too, it is the same Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified as one true God — one and the same Spirit who descends upon Christ Jesus at His Baptism and rests and remains upon Him, bodily — it is that same Holy Spirit who is also poured out upon you generously by and with and in the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

These gifts of God Himself, His Name and His Spirit, are granted to you, freely and fully, with all the steadfast faithfulness of the same Lord God who gives them, because they have been received by the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus, in His own Body of flesh and blood like yours, in your stead and on your behalf as the true Man; not arbitrarily, but with the justice and righteousness of God.

Have you not heard?  When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized.

When you were baptized — wherever and whenever you were baptized — Jesus also was baptized with you.  For He has taken His stand with you, there in the waters of the Jordan and in the waters of your Baptism, in order to pass through those waters with you out of sin and death into Life.

I baptize you and your children with water in the Name of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  But the One who is mightier than I — the Lord, your Redeemer, in whose Name I baptize — He comes to you by that washing of the water with His Word, by the ministry of the Gospel He has entrusted to me; and He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit through the forgiveness of your sins.

You die with Him in the water, as He has died for you.  That is what this is already all about, from the start.  And so do you also arise and emerge with Him from the water, from the dust of the earth, and from death and the grave, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns forever.

Having died with Christ Jesus, you are set free from your sins.  And rising with Him, you now live as He lives.  For He has taken you up in the water, in and with Himself, and out of the watery tomb into a wide-open heaven.  In His prayer you ascend to His God and Father in heaven.  And in His Sonship you are a beloved and well-pleasing son of His God and Father.  That is your relationship with God.  That is your righteousness, holiness, and life with God, as sure and certain as Christ Jesus Himself — as sure and certain as His own Body, crucified for your transgressions, raised for your justification, and ascended into heaven.  All of this has been made yours in Holy Baptism.

Therefore, the Fire of His Holy Spirit does not consume or destroy you.  You are not scorched or burned up, but cleansed and purified in body and soul for the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.

You don’t yet see it or experience it, not fully, but only in part.  For now, both death and life are at work in your body, as the Spirit has been poured out upon you bodily in Christ.  You suffer the consequences of sin in your mortal flesh and blood.  But so do you also bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in your body and life on earth.  And all of this is taken up and worked out in the ongoing significance of your one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins, as you drown and die through daily contrition and repentance, and as you rise and live with Christ Jesus through faith in His Gospel.

Already, His own Resurrection from the dead is your once-for-all Absolution, which is spoken and given to you, again and again, by the Ministry of the Gospel in His Name and stead.

As His Cross and Resurrection were the completion and fulfillment of His Baptism in the Jordan River, so shall your Holy Baptism be completed and fulfilled in the death and resurrection of your body, unto the Life everlasting.  That is already true and sure and certain for you in Christ Jesus; and then, at the last, it will be fully realized in you, in your body and your soul, forever and ever.

That is the great Glory of your God and Father in heaven, and that is your inheritance as His dear child in Christ Jesus, as His beloved and well-pleasing son or daughter.  He has staked the honor of His holy Name upon it, for with His own Name He has bound Himself to you, and you to Him.  And so has He also tenderly invited you to call upon His Name in faith.

Do not be afraid, but take refuge in Him here within His House.  It is your Father who feeds you at this Table with His beloved Son, because you are so precious in His sight.  He will uphold you, and He will guard your coming in and your going out from this time forth, even forevermore.

The Peace of the Lord be with you always.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The New Creation in the Baptism of Our Lord

The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a return to the beginning of Creation.  In fact, it is a renewal, a restoration, and a fulfillment of God’s good Creation.  The Baptism of our Lord, in particular, bespeaks and begins a New Creation through the forgiveness of sins.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  And He did so for the sake of His own divine Love, that of God the Father for His Son from all eternity in the bond and unity of the Holy Spirit.  For the sake of that Love He spoke and created.  And this gracious work of creation was (and is) the giving of Himself, His Life, His Light, and His Love, to His own creatures.  He does it all by the speaking of His Word and the breathing of His Spirit.  And it is no coincidence that He begins with water and brings all things into being out of the water.  Creation was the first big Baptism, which pointed to the Baptism of our Lord Jesus — and so also to your Holy Baptism.

The Lord’s creation of the heavens and the earth culminated in His creation of Man in His own Image and Likeness.  In this there was already an icon of Christ Jesus and His Bride, the Church — and it pointed again to Holy Baptism.  For Christ came down from heaven to seek His Bride and to give Himself for her, that He might cleanse her by the washing of the water with His Word.

All of this the Lord God did by His divine grace, and it was very good.

Then there was the Fall into sin and all the deadly curse and consequences of sin.  Man’s rejection and disobedience of God’s Word drives the Holy Spirit from man’s heart, mind, body, and life, breaks and shatters the Image and Likeness of God in man, and causes death and destruction and dark despair on every hand, making a desert wilderness out of the Lord’s formerly lush Garden.

And yet, the Holy Triune God remains — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — with Life and Light and Love for His creatures, even and especially for all the fallen and rebellious children of man.

So the Lord does not destroy His good Creation.  Even in the case of the Flood, with all its terrible death and destruction, the Lord was working to redeem and save His people — and pointing ahead to the saving waters of Holy Baptism.  The same waters of the Flood that drowned and destroyed the sinful world with all of its idolatry and unbelief, with all of its unfaithfulness and wickedness, also saved believing Noah and his family, cleansed the world, and gave new birth.  The Flood was the next big Baptism, pointing to the Baptism of our Lord — and so also to your Holy Baptism.

The Lord God has not exterminated man and started all over from scratch.  Instead, He has become true Man in the Person of God the Son.  He has entered and become a part of His own Creation.  And in His own Body of flesh and blood like yours, He makes all things new.  He brings light out of the darkness.  He brings life out of death.  He restores the Image and Likeness of God in Man.

Once again, not by coincidence or accident, the Creator of the heavens and the earth begins with water — with the speaking of His Word and the bestowing of His Spirit.

The Baptism of our Lord is straightforward, short and simple, especially in St. Mark’s account.  But for all that, it is no less significant, no less fundamental.  It is profound, and it is permanent.  God has here established and accomplished something for all eternity.  For Christ Jesus, the Son of God, has taken His place with you and all people in His Baptism; so that all who believe and are baptized into Him are forgiven all their sins in His Name, and they are saved in and with Him.

As I have often said, Jesus here submits Himself to St. John’s preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Not for His own benefit — He has no need.  It is for the sake of Love.  And not for any sins of His own — He has no sins.  But it is for you and for all people, for the forgiveness of all your sins, for your life and salvation, on account of His divine and holy Love.

Here is the “great exchange,” as Dr. Luther liked to say.  The holiness, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness of Christ Jesus, in exchange for your sins, your death, and your damnation.  His Life and Light and Love, all given to you at His expense.  His Sonship, His Holy Spirit, His home in heaven with God the Father — all of this for you by way of His Cross and in His Resurrection.

You see, the Baptism of our Lord already anticipates and initiates His Cross and His Resurrection from the dead.  Here He is crucified, put to death, and buried in the water.  Here He emerges and arises from the water in righteousness and purity.  All of this in your place and for your benefit.

Everything that was yours is now His in His Baptism.  Your sin becomes His.  Your death becomes His.  The righteous wrath and judgment of God against your sins is here and now leveled against Him.  And everything that is His is now yours in your Baptism.  You rise with Him, and you live with Him.  You are a beloved and well-pleasing son of God by grace, anointed by His Holy Spirit.

This is how Christ Jesus baptizes you with the Holy Spirit.  It is in and with the waters of His own Baptism — which have become your Holy Baptism in His Name and with His Word.

So it is that the heavens are now opened to you.  And the Father’s heart is opened to you.  And the Father’s arms and His home are opened to you, never to be closed again.  All because Christ Jesus has suffered and died in your place, and He is risen from the dead as your Savior and Redeemer.

Now you are a New Creation in the same Lord Jesus Christ by the washing of the water with His Word and Spirit.  He has named you with His own Name, the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  And with His Name He has recreated you in His own Image and Likeness, in your heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit.  You are set free from the bondage of sin and death.  You are free to live as God lives.  You are free to love as God loves.  You are free to reflect and radiate His Light, as He enlightens you by His Word and Holy Spirit.  For the One who caused the light to shine out of the darkness has caused the Light of Christ to shine forth within your heart.

What, then, shall you do?  What shall you do with yourself and your life?  How shall you live?  How shall you exercise your freedom in Christ Jesus, since for freedom He has set you free?

Will you live to sin?  To serve yourself?  To go your own way?  To abandon the God who loves you and saves you and gives you life, in order to be your own false god and so to die in your sin?

May it never be!  You have been crucified with Christ Jesus, in order to live with Him.  You have died to sin.  Let it remain dead to you.  All that so appeals to the world — all that so appeals to your old mortal flesh — all that seems to be a source of life and freedom and happiness — it is really the false allure of slavery and death, beckoning you back to destruction and dark despair.  It is the idolatry that does not give but only takes.  It is a pantheon of false gods that destroy you.

But your true life is in Christ Jesus.  Your life is found, paradoxically, in His Cross and Passion.  And it is safe and secure in His bodily Resurrection from the dead, although it is now hidden under much weakness.  So, your life is found in repentance — unto faith in His forgiveness of your sins.

None of this is your own work or effort, none of this is your own choice or decision.  It is beyond you.  It is not something you can achieve for yourself.  But it is given to you freely by the Lord.  It is Christ’s work, and it is His good and gracious gift, freely given to be freely received in the Liturgy of His Gospel by the preaching of His Word and the working of His Holy Spirit.

Come, then, confessing your sins and receiving His free and full forgiveness.  Return daily to the significance of your Baptism by contrition and repentance.  Examine yourself, your heart and life, in view of the Ten Commandments and the place where God has stationed you.  Confess your sins, and hear the Lord’s Word of Absolution.  Die to your sins, and rise to newness of life in Christ.

Rely upon the Word and Spirit of Christ Jesus.  Avail yourself of the means of grace, which are His good work and His free gift to you.  Live in the freedom and the sure and certain hope of His Resurrection from the dead.  For your life is already manifested in His crucified and risen Body.

As you have died and risen with Him in your Baptism — never to die again, but to live forever with God the Father and the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son — do not be afraid to love and serve, to sacrifice yourself, and even to die for your neighbor.  Do not be afraid to forgive those who trespass against you, for your own sins are freely and fully forgiven in Christ Jesus.

So, give generously.  Serve faithfully.  Love freely.  Live gladly.  And at the last, depart from this body and life in the peace and joy of Christ Jesus, the beloved and well-pleasing Son of God.  For even though you die, yet shall you live.  For Christ has died, and Christ is risen, and you are His.

You are baptized, as He is baptized, and all that belongs to Him is yours most surely.  Your sins are all forgiven, the heavens are opened to you, and the Word and Spirit of God rest upon you.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You Are Baptized and Beloved of God in Christ Jesus

As the Boy Jesus submitted to His earthly parents in obedience and love, so does the same Lord Jesus now submit Himself to St. John the Baptist — to his preaching and baptism of repentance.  And no one is more surprised by that fact than St. John himself, who tries at first to prevent Him.

The people coming to be baptized by St. John come confessing their sins.  But Jesus has no sins of His own to confess, nothing to repent.  He comes, however, confessing your sins and the sins of the world, as though they were His own, as though He had committed all of them Himself.  He confesses all your failures to do what you should do, and all your wickedness in doing what you should not.  He confesses your murder and adultery of thought, word, and deed; your theft and false witness; your gossip and greed; your covetous idolatry and blasphemous speaking and acting.

And for all of these sins, which He takes upon Himself, He repents by way of His Cross, by His sacrificial Death and Resurrection.  That is the work He begins to do in the waters of the Jordan.

He submits to St. John’s Baptism in order to fulfill all righteousness for you and for all sinners, in order to reconcile the world to His God and Father.  To set all things right, as they should be.  To repair what has been broken, to revive and refresh what has been bruised and bent, and to establish a good and right relationship with God, a friendship of faith and love, a true sonship of peace.

In order to accomplish such great things for you, St. John’s fierce and fiery preaching of God’s Law is here set upon Jesus, so that all the righteous wrath and judgment of God against your sins, and all the punishment of your sins, now punishes Him.  At the same time, He also submits Himself to all the just demands of the Law — everything that pertains to faith and love toward God and belonging to love for His neighbors — that He should thereby perfect and establish all things in Himself, in His flesh and blood, in all of His relationships, vocations, and stations in life.  That is what He does for you and all, for your sake and for your benefit, in your stead and on your behalf.

In this way He puts not only His body and life on the line for you, but His divine, eternal Sonship.  In flesh and blood like yours He weathers the curse and consequences of sin and death under the Law, in order to give you His body and life and bestow His divine Sonship upon you by His grace.

All that has been yours becomes His, in order that all that belongs to Him should become yours.

On the one hand, the Law’s fire and brimstone fall upon Him; and on the other hand, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in bodily form as a dove, anointing Him as the Christ.  Thus, in Him, the fire does not consume you, but purifies you as silver and gold are purified by fire; and likewise, the same Spirit that descends upon Jesus is poured out generously upon you, in order to sanctify you in body and soul, and to give you Life with God in Christ Jesus, both now and ever after.

As Jesus went into the water for you, and He came up out of the water, so do you drown and die to sin in the waters of Holy Baptism, and you emerge and arise from that watery grave to a new life.  By the water, Word, and Spirit of Christ Jesus, you are a new creation.  You are a Christian, anointed by the Spirit of Jesus, the Christ.  You are a beloved and well-pleasing son of the Father.  As He speaks from heaven concerning Christ Jesus, so also of those who are baptized into Him.

Heaven is now opened to you, and it shall not be shut to you again, because all of your sins have been washed away, and thus are you clean.  The righteousness of God in Christ is yours.  Because His Baptism is not only for you; it has been given to you, and so it is yours.  His repentance, His confession and forgiveness are yours.  His Cross and Resurrection are yours, not only once upon a time, but once and for all, for every day of your life on earth, by His grace through faith in Him, by His Word and Spirit, until your Baptism shall be completed in the death of your mortal flesh and in the resurrection of your body to the Life everlasting, immortal, imperishable, and glorious.

Your Baptism is the beginning of that good work in you, which the Lord has already accomplished and completed for you by His Incarnation — by His Nativity and Holy Baptism, by His Life and Ministry, by His Cross and Passion, and by His Resurrection and Ascension.  That is the good work that He is bringing to completion in you by His preaching of repentance and by His daily forgiveness of your sins, unto the day of His glorious appearing for the final Judgment.  Then the righteousness which is already yours by faith in Him shall be openly declared before the face of all the nations, in the presence of all your enemies, in defiance of sin, death, the devil, and hell.

Just as surely as Jesus came up out of the water and out of the tomb, so surely are you justified and sanctified in Him.  And it is just as true and sure and certain that you shall be raised from the dead at the last and live forever and ever in your body and soul with Christ Jesus and all the faithful.

It is true that every day your sins are putting you back into the ground, returning you to the dust of the earth from which your first father was taken.  With every covetous and hateful thought, with every false and hurtful word, with every selfish and abusive act, old Adam buries you again.

But your sins do not bury Christ Jesus or put Him back into the ground.  Having died once for all, and having risen from the dead, He will never die again.  Death no longer has any mastery over Him.  Nor does death have any lasting hold or power over you, since you have already died with Christ in your Baptism, and sharing His death you also share His Resurrection.  The life He lives, He lives for you in the presence of God in all righteousness, innocence, blessedness, and purity.

As often as the old Adam in you, with all your sinful lusts and desires, puts you to death and buries you in the tomb, so often and even more decisively does Jesus Christ, the New Man, put your old Adam to death and raise you to newness of life in Himself, in peace and reconciliation with His God and Father in heaven.  His Voice and Spirit descend to where you are, even to the depths of Sheol, in order to raise you up and make you brand new through His forgiveness of all your sins.

Your sins put you to death because they separate you from God, but the Father has reconciled you to Himself in Christ Jesus, the beloved Son, and He has anointed you with His Spirit, adopted you as a child and heir by His grace, and bound Himself to you, and you to Him, with His own Name.

Your sins are deadly, but they cannot destroy you in Christ.  Death is brutal and devastating, but it does not have the last word concerning you, and it is not permitted to keep you.  The devil is cunning and powerful, but he has been robbed of all his weapons against you — for Christ has fulfilled and satisfied the Law, atoned for all your sins, and overcome your death; He has risen from the dead for your justification and ascended to the right hand of the Father for your glory.

This same Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and St. Mary’s Son, crucified and risen in the flesh, has been baptized for you.  Therefore, your Baptism into Him avails for you at all times and in all places.  What this means for you is that even sin and death must serve the purposes of God and not of the devil; they drive you to repentance — from idolatry and unbelief to faith in Christ Jesus.

And so it is that the death of your body in this wilderness of tears does not mean the end of your life with God, but only the end of sin and every evil in your flesh.  Until then — though you daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment — the Jordan River of Holy Baptism is constantly washing away your sins and preserving you with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

His mercies are new every morning, and from the waters of your Baptism, day by day throughout your life, He makes of you a new creation.  The same waters that drown and destroy your sin and death, lift you up and save you aboard the Holy Ark of Christendom.  They stand as a mighty wall against your enemies, a tidal wave drowning proud Pharaoh with all his chariots and horsemen, keeping them at bay, while opening up the way out of Egypt before you — through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus — into the good Land that God has promised and given to you in His dearly-beloved and well-pleasing Son.   Holy Baptism thus stands for you at the foothills of the Lord’s Holy Mountain, on the cusp of the wilderness, and at the threshold of Paradise.

The new and better Joshua has entered those waters ahead of you, in order to open up the way for you and for all; and He has established Himself in the midst of the Jordan until you and all His chosen people have passed through those waters into Canaan.  He shall not be moved.

The waters that would have dashed you against the rocks and swept you away have swept over Him and swallowed Him up.  But just when it seems as though He has been drowned and died forever, His body never to be recovered, He rises from the water and lives.  And in that sacred bath, in that washing of Jesus in the Jordan River, which you share with Him by the washing of water with His Word — in that Baptism is your repentance, forgiveness, faith, and resurrection.

And here is the reason why: When Jesus, the unblemished Lamb of God, came to St. John, the son of a priest and more than a prophet, and submitted to his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, He was humbling Himself before God, putting Himself under the Law, and obeying His Father in perfect faith and love by submitting Himself to the suffering and death of the Cross.

So, then, already in His Baptism the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ began putting Him to death for the sins of the world — for all of your sins — until this Baptism which He undergoes for you would be fully kindled in the fire of His Passion and finished in His atoning Sacrifice.

God put Him to death for your sins.  And God raised Him up again, the very One who died for you.  That is your Absolution, your righteousness and holiness, and your resurrection, now and forever.

So, then, as you have died with Christ by your Baptism into His death, and as you are risen with Him by faith in His Resurrection, your life in both body and soul is safe and sound — hidden with Christ in God by the Holy Spirit, who lives and abides in you by the Ministry of the Gospel.

Set your heart and mind, therefore, on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.  Set your sights on Him and on His sacred and eternal things, and do not cling to the perishing and temporal things of this dying world.  Do not invest yourself in those things which do not last and cannot give you life, but fear, love, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is not to say that you neglect or ignore your body and life in this world.  On the contrary, it is by faith in Christ that you live your life here and now, and love your neighbor as yourself, and do the work that God has given you to do, and bear the Cross in the hope of the Resurrection.  As Israel proceeded from the Red Sea to the Jordan, and as Christ Jesus proceeded from the Jordan to His Cross and Passion, so do you live and work in the wilderness on your sojourn to the Land that God has promised — from the waters of your Holy Baptism to the resurrection of your body.

Whether you are an officer and leader of our congregation, a father or mother, a husband or wife, a brother or sister, or whatever your callings and stations in life may be, your labors of faith and love are not in vain.  For you are baptized into Christ Jesus, and though you die, yet shall you live.  So shall He guard your body and soul in His righteousness throughout your pilgrimage on earth, and so shall He preserve you steadfast in His Word and Holy Spirit unto the Life everlasting.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Baptized into the Cross and Resurrection of the Christ

As Advent has given way to Christmas and Epiphany, as the divine Word has become Flesh and dwells among us, and as the preaching of the Holy Gospel leads you to the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus at His Altar, so does St. John the Baptist decrease as the Lord Jesus increases, as He manifests the divine Glory of the Holy Triune God by the Epiphany of His own flesh and blood.

As a case in point, although it is St. John who baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River, St. Luke makes a point of locating St. John the Baptist in prison before he mentions the Baptism of Christ Jesus.  Why?  Because the Baptism of our Lord is a decisive turning point, a startling transition, and the beginning of all that will be accomplished and perfected by His Cross and in His Resurrection.

The liturgical year, like the Holy Gospels, moves very quickly from the Nativity of our Lord to His Baptism.  Of the four Evangelists, only St. Luke writes anything at all about the time in between — the story of the Boy Jesus in the Temple (as we heard on the Ninth Day of the ChristMass).  For St. Mark and St. John, the Gospel basically begins with the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

His Baptism marks the beginning of His public ministry.  But it is more than just that.  In some respects, today is not only the Octave of the Epiphany but the onset of Lent and Holy Week, as well.  As Jesus enters the waters of the Jordan He passes the point of no return on His journey to the Cross and Tomb.  As He submits Himself to those waters, He commits Himself to be crucified, put to death, and buried.  Everything that happens to our Lord from this occasion onward — up to and including His Cross and Passion — is one, long, continuous Baptism into His own death.

As Jesus puts it to His disciples at one point: “I have a Baptism with which I must be baptized, and how distressed I am until it is completed!”  So does He describe His sacrificial death for your sins.

And so does His Crucifixion begin in the Jordan River with a Baptism that continues until death.

Likewise, your life as a Christian from the Font until the grave is one continuous Baptism, which signifies that your old Adam should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all your sins and evil lusts, and that you should daily emerge and arise from death and the grave, in and with the New Man, Christ Jesus, to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

In either case — for Jesus and for you — it is a lifelong Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection.

Now, the practice of a “baptism” per se was not entirely new with St. John.  The Jews were already accustomed to many ceremonial washings, or “baptisms” (from the Greek).  Especially significant is the fact that Gentiles were sometimes “baptized,” as it were, when submitting themselves to the life and laws of Judaism, as God-fearers who recognized the authority of the Lord God of Israel.

But in the case at hand, St. John the Baptist was calling the Jews themselves to undergo a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Although they were the biological descendants of Father Abraham, their sins cut them off and kept them far away from the Lord their God, as much or more than any Gentile.  To be and to live as His children, they also needed to be cleansed and forgiven.

There has actually been rather a lot of debate and differences of opinion among theologians and Biblical scholars as to the precise nature and purpose of St. John’s Baptism.  But whatever it may have been beforehand, when the Lord Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan and submitted Himself to St. John’s Baptism of repentance, it was changed forever after.  His Baptism “consecrated and set apart the Jordan and all water as a salutary flood and a rich and full washing away of sins.”

This is no abstract theology or merely poetic piety.  It is of the greatest significance to your life.  For the Baptism of our Lord has become your Holy Baptism.  Only, what is Law and sin and death and judgment for Christ Jesus, is for you the sweetest Gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

To begin with, you know from the preaching of St. John, as we have heard during Advent, that Baptism calls you to repentance and bestows the forgiveness of sins.  But you receive forgiveness in your Baptism because Christ has received your sins in His Baptism.  It is the place of a great exchange, in which Christ Jesus goes into the water holy and sinless and perfect, but He comes out drenched in your sins, in your death and damnation; whereas you go into the water saturated with your sins and covered in filth, but you come out clothed in the beautiful white robes of Christ and His perfect righteousness.  Your sin and death in exchange for His divine life and eternal salvation.

All of this, as St. Paul writes, because you have been united with Christ in His death by your Baptism into His Cross, that you might also rise with Him in His Resurrection and so live with Him forever.  So it is that your Holy Baptism is your personal Good Friday and Easter.

That is the significance of the Crucifix and Paschal Candle which stand alongside our Baptismal Font as visual confessions of the Gospel.  They declare that you have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him by your Baptism into His death; and just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, so does He arise and emerge in you, and you arise in and with Him, in the Spirit of His Resurrection from the dead, to live as a beloved child of His God and Father.

Everything that happens to Christ Jesus is for your sake, and He receives all things in heaven and on earth on your behalf.  Thus, you have a new identity, a new reality, and a new life in Him.  And when the Father looks at you, He does not behold the sinner that you are, He does not look upon your sins; He sees instead His own dear Son, and He speaks His divine blessing from an open heaven, now also to you in Christ Jesus: “You are My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

So have you also been given the Holy Spirit in your Baptism, the same Spirit who descended on Christ in the form of a dove at His Baptism.  For all that He has received is given to you, as well.

Thus do you now bear in your body and soul the Spirit of God, who unites you with Christ Jesus as a member of His Body and Bride, the Church.  And in this Christian Church, by and with the Word of the Gospel, He strengthens you and keeps you steadfast in the one true faith; He helps you in your weakness; and He teaches you to pray to the Lord God Almighty as your own dear Father.

Accordingly, your Holy Baptism is far more than a single red-letter day on the calendar of your life or a page in your scrapbook.  Indeed, your Baptism into Christ Jesus has an ongoing, daily, and lifelong significance, which defines who you are and gives meaning to all that you say and do.

The drowning and dying of your old Adam and his evil cohorts, which began with your personal flood in the Baptismal Font, is a drowning and dying that must continue throughout your life on earth.  In this body and life, there is never a point when you could say that sin is once and for all behind you.  It is a battle that rages until you depart from this vale of tears and enter into heaven.

That battle, however, which you are called to engage against your fallen flesh and sinful heart, is not won by any good intentions or firm resolve on your part.  Discipline your body and life by the Word and Spirit of God.  And just as Christ the Lord defeated Satan by clinging to the promises of His Father, unto His death upon the Cross, so do you triumph by clinging to the Word of the Lord which puts you to death and raises you to newness of life in Christ by repentance and faith.

It is for this reason that Dr. Luther describes Confession and Absolution as the continuation of Holy Baptism and a regular return to the significance of your Baptism.  That is to say, confessing your sins and receiving the forgiveness of your sins in the Name and stead of Christ is an exercise of the ongoing reality of Baptism in your body and life.  Which means that it is not only for those who find themselves in a crisis over some great unusual sin.  It is rather the most natural thing in the world for you as a Christian.  It is a confession, not only of you sins, but of your faith in Christ.

By this ongoing exercise of repentance and faith, Confession and Absolution, your Baptism into Christ is your crossing of the Red Sea out of Egypt and your crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  It is no coincidence that Christ our Lord was baptized in the Jordan River, that He might bring you into the Good Land of God, into His Kingdom, His Church, on earth as it is in heaven.  By His Baptism there and then, He brings you through the waters of your Baptism into the freedom of life and salvation with Him.  Because the Font is the Jordan River here and now for you, and by its waters you share in the Baptism of our Lord, in His Cross and Resurrection.

Thus may you also follow Dr. Luther’s good example in greeting each new day with the confident confession and assertion: “I Am Baptized!”  That was the sure and certain hope that sustained him in the face of all sorts of threats and challenges, doubts and fears.  And it is your hope, no less.

Whenever he was tempted or afraid, he recalled his Baptism with the sign of the Cross — as also in the morning, at every meal, and at night — marking himself as God’s own child.  He laid hold of the fact that he was baptized into the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, whereby he received the forgiveness of sins, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the gracious adoption of God the Father.

You have that very same comfort in the waters of your Holy Baptism, waters encompassed by the Lord’s command and promise and administered in His Name; waters sanctified by His Baptism for you and all the people in the Jordan River.  To the human eye and your fleshly senses, according to the wisdom of this world, it is nothing but a splash of ordinary water, an empty symbol, and a worthless ceremony.  But to the eyes of faith, according to the gracious Will and Wisdom of God, it is a gracious water of life, a rich and full washing of regeneration.  It works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the Words and promises of God declare: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.”

For Christ also was baptized, once for all, the Just for the unjust, the Righteous One for all of us poor sinners, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in our flesh, but made alive in the Spirit of His God and Father.  Participating in that good work of His, your Holy Baptism in His Name now saves you.  Not as a removal of dirt from your face and hands, but as the testimony of a good conscience in the presence of God through the Resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead — in whose crucified and risen Body you are now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  By your Baptism you have died; and by your Baptism your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What the Baptism of Jesus Means for You

Here at the waters of the Jordan, God the Father in heaven speaks to you in Christ: “This is My beloved Son; and here is My Holy Spirit, who is poured out upon you in Him, unto eternal Life.”

The Lord God, almighty and all-merciful, is with you, and He loves you, in the waters of Holy Baptism.  Here He has opened heaven to you.  Here He has anointed you with His Holy Spirit, in order to give you His divine, eternal Life in Christ Jesus.  Here He has declared Himself for you.  He has named you with His own Name, to be His own dear child.  He Has granted you His Peace.

If you would discern whether you are a Christian, do not try to fathom what is in your heart, and do not try to fathom what is in your head.  Do not look first of all to your good works and actions.  But consider your Baptism into Christ.  Consider what God has said and done for you there.  For your Christian faith and life are found entirely there in the waters of Holy Baptism.

And if you would consider whether your neighbor is a Christian, do not try to guess what is in your neighbor’s heart or head, either; and do not pass judgment on your neighbor’s outward actions.  But consider what God has said and done for your neighbor in the waters of Holy Baptism.  And then, as needs may be, call your neighbor back to the gracious Word and promises of Baptism.

And you, likewise, return to your Baptism.  Know that your life is there, because your God is there.

Christ Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God in the flesh, has fulfilled all righteousness in Baptism.  He says so Himself.

The people from all the surrounding area were coming to John, confessing their sins and being baptized.  In this the Kingdom of God was at hand.  But it all hinged on this One, the Lamb, the Son of God, who also comes to John at the Jordan.  He has no sins of His own whatsoever, but He comes confessing the sins of the world.  He comes confessing your sins as though they were His.

He comes confessing your sins and the sins of the world, and for all of those sins He repents.  He submits Himself to John, and to God the Father who sent John to preach and baptize.  He submits to the Law and to the Prophets, and to all that God has said.  All of this He does for your salvation.

It will all come down to His Cross and Passion.  That is already what His Baptism means.  For already here and now, the Lord Jesus buries Himself in the watery grave of the Jordan.  When He steps into those waters and says to John, “Permit it now,” He is already committing Himself to suffer and to die.  He willingly takes upon Himself the sins of the world and bears the curse and consequences of those sins.  He trusts the Word of His Father, and He goes to His death in faith, in the confidence of the Resurrection, in order to save this world of sinners in His love for them.

This is what His Baptism means for Him.  And this is what Baptism means for you, also.  This is what repentance looks like: To be drowned and die with Christ Jesus, and so also to live with Him.

This is what it means to entrust yourself to God, to live by faith in His Word and promises.  And this is what it means to love your neighbor; to do for your neighbor what your neighbor does not deserve and cannot do for himself, but you do it for him in love.

This is what it means to live unto God, to go in the way that He has given you to go, and not to protest or argue that it’s not fair, but to go in peace, in faith, hope, and love.  This is what it looks like to be and to live as a child of God, as a beloved son of God in Christ your Savior.

Repent, therefore.  Hear and believe the Word of God, and love your neighbor as Christ loves you.

Baptism in itself is the good and gracious work of God.  It is His free gift.  Your Baptism, then, is perfect and complete.  There is nothing lacking there: Not in the Word of God; not in the water administered with God’s Word; and not in His Name, which certainly is holy in itself.

But as for what your Baptism means for you, what it means for your daily occupation and life, that is not a done deal.  That is not a day once-upon-a-time in the past.  It is an ongoing engagement.  It is a daily call to repentance.  It is a daily call to die and rise with Christ by His Word and Spirit.

Baptism has not made repentance unnecessary.  No, your Baptism has made repentance possible.  Where previously you could not do this — you could not choose to repent; you could not turn yourself around, away from sin and back to God — now Christ, by His Baptism, even unto death on the Cross, He has opened the way of repentance to you and to all who are baptized into Him.  And in this way, by His Cross and in His Resurrection, He has opened heaven to you and to all.

Repent, therefore, and live henceforth in Christ.  As He has fulfilled all righteousness for you and for all people, and as He has established justice for the nations, so you also live righteously and godly in Him, even in the midst of this present evil age.  Do not live any longer in your sins, but live unto God.  Think of your neighbor as Christ Jesus thinks of you and of your neighbor.  Speak to and concerning your neighbor as Christ Jesus speaks to and concerning you and your neighbor.

Live as a child of God, for so has the Father spoken of you by His Son and through His Spirit in the Gospel, in the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism.  He has named you as His own, and so you are His very own.  Live, then, as His child.  Live in the righteousness of Christ.

What does it mean to live as a child of God?  How is His Name kept holy in your life?  It depends first of all on hearing what He speaks, on giving attention to His Word, on living to hear His Word.  Listen to what He says.  Believe it, and confess it.  Speak what is true because God has spoken it.

Confess what is true concerning yourself and your sin.  And confess what is true concerning Christ and His Salvation.  Confess it with both your words and your actions, in all that you say and do.

Do not be true proud or too ashamed to confess your sins, which the sinless Son of God has confessed in your place, taken upon Himself, and borne in His Body to the Cross in order to get forgiveness for you.  Confess your sins because that is the truth.  And confess your sins in the sure and certain confidence that, for Christ Jesus’ sake, the Lord your God forgives you.  That is what it is to live by faith.  That is how you live in Christ.

Speak also what is true concerning Christ, His Cross, His Resurrection, His Baptism in the Jordan River, His preaching, His miracles, His Holy Sacraments, and His Church.  Confess the Word and work of Christ, because He is true, and His Word is the Truth.  Confess it because your neighbor needs to hear it in order to live.  And, confessing it, so also live according to it in your own life.

In your Baptism you have died with Christ Jesus, and your life is now hidden with Him in God.  You have died to yourself, to your sins, and to the world, but you are raised up with Christ through His forgiveness of your sins.  Return, therefore, to your Baptism, and to the significance of your Baptism, through contrition and repentance, through confession of your sins, and through Holy Absolution.  And thus returning to your Baptism, dying with Jesus each day, and rising to live with Him each day by faith in the Gospel, so live in Him.

Do not cling to your life in this world, as though this life were all there is.  Do not cling to your life in this world, as though it were your treasure and your god.  Rather, sacrifice yourself entirely unto God, your body and your life, as a living sacrifice — that is how St. Paul describes it.  Place yourself entirely into the hands of your Father who loves you, in the hope and confidence of the Resurrection and the Righteousness of Christ.  And living in Christ, pour yourself out for others.

You need not be afraid.  Your Father in heaven will vindicate you.  He has already raised you up in Christ Jesus.  He raises you again, day after day, by the Spirit of His Son through the Gospel.  And on the Last Day He will raise you and all believers in Christ to eternal life in body and soul.

You are free to love and serve those whom God has placed around you, even those who don’t love and serve you.  For you are free to forgive and gladly to do good to those who sin against you.

Do not worry that you will be used and taken advantage of, and that you may lose everything in this body and life.  In truth, the world may put you to death, as much for your righteousness as for your sins and failings!  That is what it did to Christ, though it never did have the upper hand on Him, who laid down His life and gave Himself willingly for the salvation of sinners.  And that was not the end of His story; nor is it the end of your story in Him.  If you perish, you perish, so be it.  But as you die in the faith of Christ, yet shall you live in His Resurrection from the dead.

It is to faith and love that your Baptism into Christ daily calls you.  Your Baptism does not live in the past, but you live in it now and ever, in the hope and promise of the future, in the neverending Day of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.  So, then, return to your Baptism each day.

Go out to the preacher and baptizer of repentance whom God has sent to you.  Confess your sins.  Be forgiven.  And live in the Holy Absolution of Christ, your Savior.  For He remains steadfast and certain for you.  He has taken His stand with you in the waters of the Jordan, and His feet remain there planted until all of Israel has gone through the water into the Promised Land.

He will not run away and hide.  He will not abandon you.  As often as you fall, He lifts you back up again, out of the waters of death, into the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.

Heaven is still open to you in Christ Jesus.  The Holy Spirit of God is still poured out upon you abundantly through His ways and means of the Gospel.  He comes to you and rests upon you, not in the form of a dove, but in water with the Word of God; in bread and wine, which by the Word of Christ are His Body and His Blood.  The Spirit rests and remains upon you in the Body of Christ.  And He is breathed into your body and your soul through the words of a man, upon whom God has laid His yoke, that He might speak to you in love and thus forgive you all your sins.

The Lord Jesus Christ is your permanent foundation.  He is faithful and true.  It is in Him that you live; in Him that you are beloved of God; in Him that you are well pleasing to your Father in heaven.  Hear what He says to you today: This is My Body.  It is given for you.  This is My Blood.  It is poured out for you.  Eat and drink, and know that your God is here with you and for you.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Baptized into His Death and Resurrection

The way that St. Luke presents the Baptism of our Lord — after he has already described the imprisonment of St. John the Baptist — underscores that the time and work of preparation is complete.  Now Christ Himself is among us, and the Kingdom of God is fully present in Him.  The Bridegroom has arrived; He is here, so the best man hands the bride over to Him and steps aside.  He who is the true Lord must increase, and the one who has gone before Him must decrease.

By the same token, St. Luke also indicates that, even though it is St. John who administers the Sacrament of Holy Baptism — the washing of the water with the Word — it is in fact the Father Son & Holy Spirit who actually bestows the gifts and benefits of this Holy Sacrament.  No less the same is true for you in your Holy Baptism: Though it is the pastor who administers the water with the Word of God in Christ, it is the Holy Triune God who is actively present and at work — in, with, and through that very water and Word — to baptize you, to make you His own dear child, to anoint you with the Holy Spirit, to unite you with Christ Jesus, the beloved Son, to crucify and bury your old Adam, and to raise you to new life as a “New Man.”

St. John’s baptism with water is filled with the Holy Spirit and fire by the Word of God in Christ.  It is not “just plain water,” but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.  Thus, in St. John’s baptizing — and in the baptizing of the ministers of Christ to this day — the Holy Trinity is cleansing and forgiving, rescuing from death and the devil, and giving life and salvation to all who believe this, according to His Word and promises in Christ Jesus.

The Baptism of fire is God’s working of repentance in you, and the Baptism of His Spirit is the gift of His forgiveness of your sins in Christ Jesus.  He has filled the waters of Holy Baptism with such fire and with the Holy Spirit, by submitting Himself to St. John’s Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  He fills those waters with Himself, with His own righteousness, innocence and blessedness.  And in exchange, He takes upon Himself and bears in His own body to the Cross all of your sins, all of your death and damnation.  Thus, He suffers Himself to undergo the fire and brimstone of God’s righteous wrath.  And He extinguishes those otherwise unquenchable flames with His own holy and precious blood, by His innocent suffering and death.

You see, the Lord Jesus Christ has come, as St. John proclaimed, to cleanse His threshing floor and to burn up the chaff with divine fire.  But He has come to do so in accordance with His divine love and mercy; otherwise, we should all be swept into that never ending fire.  For you, by sinful nature, are the chaff, and you deserve nothing but punishment.  Yet, Christ has come — and in His own Holy Baptism, He has now begun — to bear your sins and the fire they deserve, unto the bloody “Baptism” of His Cross and Passion.  He has taken your place under the judgment and wrath of God, in order that you might receive, by grace, His place under the blessing of God.

By His voluntary suffering and death, He has destroyed death.  It could not hold Him, nor does it have any more dominion over Him.  Having died once for all, He dies no more, nor shall He ever die again.  So also for you, who are baptized into Him, crucified and buried with Him through Baptism into His death.  The purifying fire of Holy Baptism destroys the old Adam in you, with all your sinful lusts and desires.  But just as Christ has been raised through the glory of the Father, so are you raised with Him to newness of life.  All that you were by sinful nature, subject to death and the devil, has died, and now you live a true, divine, eternal life, safe and secure in Christ Jesus.  As a member of His Body, you have become pure wheat, and you are gathered into His barn — into His Church on earth, and hereafter into Paradise and life everlasting.

Take note that Jesus is found together with “all the people” when He is baptized.  He identifies Himself with all people, and in particular with all the baptized.  He identifies Himself with you, poor miserable sinner though you are.  He stands with you, in your place, under the Law, under the judgment of Almighty God.  He assumes your place even to the point of His death on the Cross, which is precisely what His Baptism already anticipates and begins to accomplish.

In His Baptism He has made Himself to be like you — a cursed sinner condemned by the Law — so that, in your Baptism, by virtue of His Cross and Resurrection, He makes you to be like Him: forgiven and alive forevermore.  He first binds Himself to you, and then He binds you to Himself in Baptism.  And the Holy Spirit is the Bond of unity between Christ and you, as also between Christ and His Father.  So are you taken into the embrace of the Holy Triune God.  And to that end, the Father gives you His own Name in Christ the Son, adopting you to be His own dearly beloved child.  He covers you, surrounds you within and without, upholds and supports you, guards and protects you; and He shall never leave you nor forsake you.  You are His own, and He is yours.

If anyone shall lay a hand on you to hurt or harm you, they shall be laying hold of Him, and they shall have met their match.  When sin, death, and hell attack you and attempt to destroy you, their jaws are broken upon Christ, who is far more than they can chew.  And when the devil tries to lay claim on you and steal you away from Christ Jesus and your Father in heaven, you can spit in his face and renounce him, and boldly declare that your life, both now and forever, is in the Maker of the heavens and the earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit Himself bears witness that you are a child of God, a joint heir with Christ, and He commands that Satan, all his works and all his ways, and every unclean spirit must depart and be gone!

The fact is that heaven has been opened to you in Christ Jesus, by His Baptism unto death and in His Resurrection and Ascension, all of which you share by your Baptism into Him.  As He breaks the surface of the water, so does He break through the wall of sin and death which separated you from God; and as He rises out of the water, so does He rise from the tomb into heaven with you now in tow.  As Christ thus brings you to the Father in and with Himself, so does the Father open up, not only heaven, but His kind fatherly heart of love and mercy toward you in His Son.  He opens His heaven to you and pours out His Spirit upon you.  He opens His heart to you in mercy and forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, and He opens His mouth to speak His Word to you in peace.

In hearing that the Holy Spirit has come down upon Jesus in His Baptism, in bodily form as a dove, you receive the testimony of God that His Spirit is likewise poured out upon you in your Holy Baptism.  And so does He continue to come in bodily form.  Not as a dove, to be sure, but in the earthly, tangible means of grace, that is to say, in the water with the Word of Holy Baptism, and in the bread and wine which are the very body and blood of Christ Jesus in the Holy Communion.

As Christ openly received the public anointing of the Spirit in His body of flesh and blood, so does His holy body bear for you and convey to you the same Holy Spirit in the Ministry of His Gospel.  When your body is anointed with the waters of Holy Baptism, and you are thereby crucified and buried with Christ in His death, and raised with Him in His bodily Resurrection and Ascension, so does the Father pour out His Spirit generously upon your body and soul.  And when the Lord Jesus places into your mortal body His own holy body and precious blood, these also bear His Holy Spirit into your flesh and blood, into your heart and soul, into your body, mind, and spirit.

Likewise, it is the Voice of God the Father that speaks to you from heaven in Christ Jesus, in the Ministry of the Gospel-Word and Sacraments.  The voice of your pastor, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” is the Voice of the Holy Triune God giving you His own Name and proclaiming that you are now His child and heir, that you are beloved of Him, and that He is pleased with you for Jesus’ sake.  And again, the voice of your pastor in the Holy Absolution, “I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” is the Word of God in Christ, returning you to the cleansing waters of your Holy Baptism, and raising you up again as a brand new man, woman, or child in Christ Jesus.  So also, here and now, in this preaching of the Gospel, it is the Voice of God the Father which says that you are His own dear child; that He loves you with His whole heart; that He is pleased with you and delights in you.

It’s true.  I am not lying to you.  The Father does not lie to you.  He is faithful to all His Words and promises.  Do you protest, “but I am a poor, miserable sinner”?  Yes, you are!  But Jesus, the Son of God, has taken His stand with you.  He has identified Himself with you.  He has taken your sin upon Himself, carried it in His body to the Cross, and put it to death by dying the death that you deserve.  All this He has done, beginning with His Baptism, for the forgiveness of your sins.  And in exchange, in your Holy Baptism, He has given you Himself, His divine sonship, His life in place of your death, His heaven in place of your hell, His salvation in place of your eternal damnation.

Everything you were by sinful nature, He has taken away and replaced with everything He is, with everything He has, and with everything He has done for you.  He has not only filled you with Himself, but also clothed you with Himself, covering you with the beautiful white robes of His own perfect righteousness, like a gorgeous bride adorned and made ready for her husband, without any spot or wrinkle or blemish or flaw of any kind.  This is who and what you are in Him.  This is what the Father sees when He looks upon you in His love.  And though you do not yet see it or feel it in yourself, in your life and experience, you shall know it fully and truly at the last, in the resurrection of your body, and in the life everlasting of your body and soul in heaven forever.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The New Creation in the Baptized Body of Jesus

So this is the beginning of the New Creation in the Body of Jesus.  When darkness shrouds the whole world, and thick darkness permeates the hearts and minds, the bodies and souls of all the people; when the chaos of Satan’s wicked lies and savage tyranny seems to have the upper hand; when all appears to be for naught, the Spirit hovers over the waters and God the Father speaks.

And in the baptized Body of the incarnate Son, the Holy Triune God brings forth new Life from out of death and causes the true Light to shine forth in the darkness.  Instead of doom and gloom and deep despair, He gives hope, new confidence, and courage in the promise of the Resurrection.  For all of Creation, all things in heaven and on earth are made new in the Body of Christ Jesus.

This divine good work of the New Creation is brought about through the repentance of St. John’s preaching and baptism unto faith in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting with God.  And be sure of this, across all these many years and all the many miles, you also are called to this same repentance and faith, as you are baptized into this New Creation.

But it is first of all accomplished for you and for all by the Lord Jesus, the Son of God and Mary’s Son from Nazareth in Galilee.  He who is true God and perfect Man, the very Word made Flesh — all the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily among us, sinless and holy, flawless in every way, without any blemish or defect — He humbles Himself and takes His place with all the people, with you and all the other sinners.  He comes and numbers Himself with each and all of us in the waters of the Jordan, and submits Himself to St. John’s preaching and baptism of repentance.

This is what it means for Him to be the sacrificial Lamb of God, as you sing to Him in the Liturgy, in the Agnus Dei, in the Holy Communion.  Namely, that He takes upon Himself and repents for the sins of the world; He drowns and destroys them in the waters of His Baptism; He puts them to death with His own flesh and blood upon the Cross.

He is baptized for the forgiveness of all our sins.  Though none of them were His to begin with, He makes all of them His own, and He makes Himself accountable for them in the River Jordan.

So does He also achieve and establish repentance concretely in Himself, in His Body of human flesh and blood, in His dying and His rising, for you and for all the people of all times and places.

His going into the water is already His Crucifixion, death, and burial, wherein He bears the full responsibility for all of the sins of the world, from Adam & Eve to the close of the age.  Although He committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth, it is as though He were the worst of all the sinners, indeed, the only sinner ever.  As though He were the One, the only One, who had actually committed all of your sins.  As though He alone were guilty of all the bad stuff in you.

Hence, the profound paradox of the “happy exchange,” as Dr. Luther loves to call it: The dear Lord Jesus goes into the waters of His Baptism all clean and sparkly, absolutely perfect in every way, and He comes out of the water all dirty and dying, stained and stinky with the whole world’s sin; whereas you go into the waters of Baptism dirty and dead, and you come out alive and clean.

Now, then, you wanna tell me what’s “fair,” and what’s “not fair,” in your experience of life?

It is for your sins of thought, word, and deed; for your unbelief and false belief; for your refusal to love anyone as much as yourself; for your selfishness and greed, your covetousness and bitter envy; for your laziness and neglect, and your unfaithfulness in your vocations; for your cheating and shortcutting; for your apathy and anger, your antagonism and arrogance — for all of that, and for everyone else’s sins, all of which Jesus receives in His Baptism — it is for all those sins that Jesus suffers and dies.  Which is why His Baptism is an immersion in His own Cross and Passion.

Yet, even bearing the sins of the world under the judgment of the Law — and even though your sins alone are a crushing and damnable weight, which daily threaten to take the very heart of you and drive your conscience to despair — yet, the Lord Jesus remains faithful and obedient, holy and righteous, even unto death.  He does not whine or complain.  He prays and confesses.  He does not waver or fall, but walks forward.  He does not balk or resist, but He lays down His life willingly.

As the true and perfect Man — and this is what it means to be truly human — He lives by faith in His Father, in the Word and Promise of His own God and Father.

I especially want you to take careful note of this: Although He is thoroughly soaked and saturated with the sins of the whole world in the waters of His Baptism, Jesus emerges and arises from those waters and receives the Word and Spirit of His Father from a heaven that is torn open to bless Him and receive Him.  The heavens are rent and the Spirit comes down, not for the condemnation of the nations, but for the demise and destruction of death and the grave.

The true Holy of Holies made without hands, eternal in the heavens, is opened to the One who is both Priest and Sacrifice; so that all of the people of God may enter with Him through the Veil of His Flesh, by the cleansing of His Blood, to live by His Holy Spirit in the presence of His Father.

This Promise He receives from heaven, by and with and in the Word and Spirit of His Father, as He who bears the sins of the world comes up out of the waters of the Jordan.  It is thus already the Promise of His Resurrection from the dead, which is the proclamation of forgiveness for all those sins that He carries, and of justification and sanctification for all who are members of His Body.

It is, in short, the Pledge and Promise of the New Creation in the baptized Body of Christ Jesus.

Jesus lives, and He goes to His death upon the Cross, in this faith and confidence; which is to say that He lives in the significance of His Baptism.

So are you likewise called to live in the significance of your Baptism; which is to live by faith in the Cross and Resurrection of this same Lord Jesus Christ.  And what does this mean for you?  The Word of the Lord has taught you, and tells you again this morning: Daily to repent of your sins, not only in your heart and mind, in your thoughts and feelings, but in your words and deeds, in your body and your soul.  You are to become altogether new, altogether other than you have been; to live and die righteously; to confess your sins, and to rely upon the Absolution of the Gospel.

It is a completely false understanding of Holy Baptism to suppose that it sets you free from any accountability or responsibility before God.  It does not save you from God, but sets you free from sin, death, and the power of the devil.  It is the fountain and source of your identity and calling to be and to live as a child of God, that is, according to His Word, by faith in His Word and Promise.

Your Baptism calls you to trust the Lord your God, to rely upon Him for all that you need and for all good things, and to pray to the Father in the Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ.  It calls you to flee from sin and every evil, and to do as the Lord commands within your own station in life.  It calls you to confess His Holy Name, and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it.

To be baptized in the Name of the Lord also means that you belong, not to yourself, but to Him, and to His people, His Church.  For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, one Holy Spirit, one true faith, one Holy Baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and one God and Father of all Christians.  As you are baptized into Christ, you are a member of the one Body of Christ Jesus, and therefore a fellow member with all His brothers and sisters.  You are not a free agent, but a servant of the Lord.

You live in this significance of your Baptism, as a child of God, by faith in His Word.  There is no other way to live, not really.  As all of Creation is enlivened by the Holy Spirit, the Author and Giver of Life, so also do you live by the Spirit of Christ Jesus.  You can’t catch the Spirit or keep Him by any power or intelligence of your own, but you receive Him in the Ministry of the Gospel, in the water and the Word of Holy Baptism, and in the Body and the Blood of Christ Jesus.

It is the gracious good work of God that, day by day, He separates the Light from the darkness in you by calling you to repentance and faith in His forgiveness of all your sins.  Though you wander and get lost in the wilderness, and you keep returning to the same old, same old bad habits, to the sinful lusts and wicked desires of your fallen flesh, and to the deadly patterns of your inheritance from Adam, the Lord continues to send His messengers to preach to you in the wilderness, to call you back, again and again, to the significance of your one Baptism into Christ Jesus, so that you should die to sin, to yourself, and to the world, and that you should live unto righteousness in Him.

Not that you should pull yourself up by your own bootstraps!  But that you are raised from death to life by the grace of God, by the Word and Spirit of the Father in the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  For His free and full forgiveness is given to you in His means of grace.  Not as permission or license to keep on sinning, but as genuine freedom from sin and death, and from the tyranny of the devil, so that you are free to live in Christ as the true man or woman that God created you in love to be.

Your sin no longer has the upper hand, because your dear Lord Jesus is risen from the dead, and the Spirit of His God and Father has come down upon Him, upon His Body of flesh and blood.  God and Man are permanently reconciled and united in harmony in that baptized Body of Christ; and as His Baptism, His Cross and Resurrection have become your Baptism and your repentance, so is His crucified and risen Body your Justification, and His Holy Spirit your Sanctification.

In the bodily Resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead is the fulfillment of His Baptism and the restoration of the Image of God in Man.  He is Himself the Image of God in His Incarnation, because He is the Word made Flesh, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.  But you are recreated in the Image of God by your Baptism into the Baptism of our Lord; for so do you share His Cross and Resurrection, His faith and faithfulness, His Righteousness and Holiness in your own body of flesh and blood, in the life that you now live by faith in Him.

So it is, by the Ministry of the Gospel, by the preaching of His Word, and by the Holy Sacrament, that God raises you from the dead, from the dust of the earth, and breathes His Holy Spirit into you through His forgiveness of your sins.

And you really do live in the true Light of His Salvation, in righteousness and purity before Him.

Indeed, His Word to you in Christ Jesus is that you are His own dearly-beloved son or daughter, and that you are well-pleasing to Him.  For His forgiveness of your sins is not a joke or let’s pretend or wishful thinking, but is as tangible and certain as the waters of your Baptism, and as real and complete as the Resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead — in whom all of Creation is made brand new and is perfected, and in whom you also are a New Creation, now and forevermore.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.