Why Baptism? Matthew 3:13-17 Baptism of our Lord
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" (v.13)
Why do we do this thing where we bring our babies up front and then put water on their heads? Why do parents often confess that they feel a strong urge to have this done for their children? Why do grandparents often take a rather intense interest in the baptism of their grandchildren? And why do I myself, count baptism to be one of the coolest things that I get to do as pastor? Obviously, it is more than a nice custom; more than a mere formality; more than some rite of passage. We know that; we sense that; we believe that. And we are right to believe that. For the scriptures make it clear that there are great blessings to be had in baptism; blessings that are sorely needed by us. The Bible says that we are born sinful. We confess with David “Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Ps. 51:5) Yeah, yeah, there are some who would disagree with that, but they usually dwell in ivory towers and think of children in a theoretical way.. Those who have raised kids know that they are not without sin. We admit that we are born sinful. And our Lord promises forgiveness of sins in baptism. Of course, he also promises forgiveness through the hearing of the Gospel and through communion. But babies can’t receive it in that way. And so baptism remains the only way in which forgiveness is applied to a baby. It’s how the Lord reaches out even to infants. After hearing Peter’s Sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Many of the people who heard it were deeply moved. They came to Peter and said “What shall we do?” And he said “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38) But then he also added “And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children.” (Acts 2:39) The importance of this last bit cannot be overstated. We receive God’s Holy Spirit in Baptism. God’s Spirit enters us! And what does he do there? He does battle against the sinful nature with which we were born and will later help us in the fight to overcome our weaknesses toward sin. He gives us faith. You don’t know this, but there are many many times, when people in their mid 30’s will simply appear at church having been absent for many years. When the opportunity arises, I’ll ask them how they came to be here, and they’ll say “I felt like it was time” or “It seemed like something I should do.” You see long ago they were baptized. And that Holy Spirit they received at their baptism is not about to let them get away that easily. Forgiveness of Sins; Holy Spirit; God’s command and God’s Promise in Baptism. This is why we do it. This is why we feel compelled to do it. We know, from a deeply personal perspective that it is absolutely the right thing to do. Now if there was anyone who understood the rightness of baptism, it would be John the Baptizer. This was his deal. This is what God called him to do. He went through the Judean Wilderness preaching repentance and baptizing repentant sinners who came to him. He understood what baptism was for. It was for sinners. So when Jesus came to him to be baptized. He says “What? No No No No....this is not for you Jesus! Baptism is for sinners! Your not a sinner! If anything, it is I who should be baptized by you?” The poor guy was quite perplexed by this! Jesus was not a sinner, he was the sinless son of God, he was the lamb without blemish he was the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior sent by God and therefore Jesus did not need to be baptized! But Jesus replied “Let it be so now: it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Now what does that mean? Well, righteousness is what we sinners need...righteousness is what Jesus came into the world give us. Jesus came to fulfill all the righteous requirements of God’s law for us...that’s how he saves us. And submitting to a baptism that was meant for sinners, would forever identify him with the sinners. As he engaged in his ministry, holier than thou people would often criticize him. They’d say “Look at that guy! He eats with sinners.” And to that Jesus would say “It is for them that I have come” Later on, of course, as went to the cross, he would certainly identify with the sinners. He would become the focal point of a world of sin. Paul the apostle says when Jesus hung there dying, that he “was made to be sin for us.”. The righteous requirement of the law was death and damnation. This requirement was met in Jesus for us. Our sin became his sin. Our death became his death. Oh yeah, Jesus identified himself with sinners. He identified himself with you and me. Now this is where it gets cool In Romans chapter 6, the epistle lesson for today, Paul says that when we are baptized, we are “baptized INTO his death.” Into! Into! That’s an important word! Let’s hear the dictionary definition: “Into: expressing movement or action with the result that someone or something becomes enclosed or surrounded by something else.” enclosed, or surrounded. By baptism we are enclosed or surrounded by his death for us. But you say “Hey, What about my sins”. And Paul says you are enclosed or surrounded by the one who died in your stead. You are therefore forgiven, justified, and saved. We are covered protected and preserved for all eternity through our Savior Jesus and it is by our baptism that we become enclosed in his loving arms. You’ll often see me take a child in my arms after a baptism and then walk up to the altar. But that’s just a symbol of something that just happened that is far greater: In truth, Jesus has taken the child and enclosed him or her in his arms. By his baptism, Jesus identified himself with sinners. By our baptism, we sinners are identified with Jesus. AMEN |
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