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Isaiah 43:1-7 But now, this is what the LORD says– he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth– 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Luke 3:15-18 15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
Luke 3:21-22 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
Up from the Waters
On this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we remember the truth of baptism, that we are claimed and called by God. reminding us of God’s promise in Isaiah (43:1-2): “I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” We are not alone. God is with us.
We had our first snowfall on Monday. I have mixed feelings about snow. I can enjoy the beauty of snow as long as all I have to do is look out the window at it but then comes the part of snow that I don’t enjoy, the work. I hate the cold and I have to go out in the snow! I have to clean it off my car. I have to shovel my sidewalk. I don’t like any of those things.
I read an article this week the was titled “Why The World Seems To Fall Silent After A Fresh Snow.” Have you ever noticed that? During the snowfall there is a hush, everything seems quiet, Turns out there’s a scientific reason behind this. Snowflakes catch sound waves and when sound is trapped, the world ends up sounding muffled and quiet. ‘
I knew I would be preaching on the Baptism of our Lord this Sunday and the idea of the world being hushed made me think of how the world would have sounded at Jesus’ baptism.
Luke has already told us that John the Baptist “3went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus was without sin so he had no sins to repent of but he was baptized. In Matthew’s gospel John objected to baptizing saying “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus’ baptism showed that He identified with sinners. His baptism symbolized the sinners’ baptism into the righteousness of Christ By baptizing Him, John was declaring to all that here was the One they had been waiting for, the Son of God, the One he had predicted would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire”.
I wonder what it was like at the moment Jesus was baptized? We know many people were gathered there to baptized by John. Josephus, a 1st century A.D. historian, estimated that as many as 300,000 people heard John preach! Thousands of people, think of the noise in a football stadium; it must have been incredibly loud. All the people were talking. That large a crowd would have been very noisy.
Think of how Jesus would have experienced it. He made his way through the crowd, through the noise. As his head went under the water all the noise would have hushed just like it does after a snowfall. Then Jesus would have come up from the waters of his baptism. The first thing Jesus hears is God, the father, declaring: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”.
Jesus hadn’t even begun his ministry. He stands in the Jordan River, dripping wet and God speaks from heaven. “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”. Wow! What marvelous affirmation! Before Jesus even begins His ministry God is putting His stamp of approval on His Son. It doesn’t come after Jesus accomplished something but right here at the very beginning. God spoke to the identity of Jesus. God named Him His Son, not only His Son but the Beloved. God spoke beautiful words of acceptance and gave the blessings of identity, worth, and unwavering love. God said He is pleased with Him. This pleasure comes before any accomplishment; God is pleased just because Jesus is. It isn’t something Jesus had to earn but was freely given.
(This is one of the few moments in scripture when we see each member of the Trinity represented. God the Father spoke from heaven. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove and Jesus witnessed both.)
How do we come up from the waters? Most of us in this room have already been baptized. It probably occurred when we were infants so we don’t remember it. So let’s imagine we are with Jesus as he is baptized. Close your eyes and picture this. You are among the crowd that has come to watch and listen. Suddenly, Jesus stands besides you and grabs your hand. He pulls you along with him down into the river next the John. Then we are plunged under the water, there is quiet, peace. And then we come up from the waters and hear God say, “You are my son, you are my daughter, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
We can’t actually go back and be baptized with Jesus but we can know that we are God’s son or daughter, we are the Beloved. This is what Jesus has done for us on the cross. He has saved us from our sins so we can become the adopted sons and daughters of God.
Just as God Almighty spoke to Jesus before Jesus had even begun his ministry, before Jesus had done anything to earn God’s praise we can know that God is pleased with us before we do anything. We do not earn our salvation, it is a gift freely given. All we have to do is accept it when we believe in Jesus.
Think of it this way. We have just celebrated Christmas when we have probably given and received gifts. Salvation is God’s free gift. We only have to accept this marvelous gift, invite Jesus into our hearts and peace, the peace of a new fallen snow, will enter our hearts.
Peace is wonderful, calm, quiet stillness. A place of serenity where we would like to rest, to remain.
Did Jesus rest after his baptism? No, he did not. After his baptism he is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for a time of testing. His faith was tested, his identity was tested. “IF you are the Son of God…” is what Satan said to him over and over. In other words, prove it.
How often is our faith tested? How often is our identity threatened? Were you mocked or made fun of in school? I know I was. I admit I was no good at sports, I was incredibly shy, I was smart, which the other kids hated. All the mocking was an attack on my identity. The world will try to label us in many ways throughout our lives. How much money we have, the type of house we have and what car we drive. Then there are the labels that are more personal. We are too fat or too skinny, too tall or too short, we are often judged by our appearance rather than, as Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, “by the content of our character”. All of these labels are attacks on our identity. It erodes our self-confidence bit by bit. Perhaps the world is saying to us, “IF you are the son, the daughter of God…”
I tell you this morning hold on to the truth. God has called you his daughter, his son and that will never change. You are the beloved of God. In you he is well pleased. This is your true identity throughout your life and beyond.
Do not listen to the world. Listen to God. You are the beloved child of God. This is your true identity.