January 10, 2021
Baptism of Our Lord
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Mark 1:4-11
New Beginnings
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus’ baptism. We mark this event every year on the first Sunday of Epiphany. Epiphany means “manifestation.” The season sheds light on Jesus’ identity. It reveals the shape of his ministry.
Jesus’ baptism launches this holy ministry. Jesus went into the wilderness area where John was baptizing people in the Jordan River. Now, the Jordan River conveyed hope and promise to the people of Israel. The river marked the end of Israel’s long 40-year Exodus when they returned to the Promised Land from slavery in Egypt. And now John the Baptist was conducting his ministry at this very place so bursting with significance.
John’s baptism was all about repentance from sin. John was calling people to take a good look at themselves. He wanted them to see where they had veered away from God’s will. His baptism called them to return to their true north. John was preparing Israel for the momentous thing God was about to do.
Jesus joins the throngs going to see John. This sinless Son of God waits in line to be baptized among all the unrighteous. Jesus certainly doesn’t need to be baptized. He is fully aligned with the divine will. But there he is. He stands along side of the tax collectors and soldiers and adulterers and cheats.
Jesus doesn’t need this, but there he is. This is how he initiates his ministry! There’s something about this baptism that is essential for Jesus. He NEEDS it, even if HE doesn’t need it. Being here on the banks of the Jordan River, Jesus begins his earthly work by succumbing to this baptism of repentance.
This rite marks the beginning of his ministry. How important are beginnings? For a brick layer, how important is that foundational row? Look how they take pains to measure correctly! See how they meticulously calculate and level! If that beginning is at fault, then all that follows will spin into a trajectory of failure.
Jesus shows up at this baptism for a reason. It’s significant, it’s essential. This divine Word took on human flesh. He came to be Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus’ objective was to dwell with us.
The essential quality of Jesus’ ministry is to accompany us in all of our humanity. He thirsts, he hungers, he gets sick. He is embraced and hurt by family; he is supported and deceived by friends. He sleeps, he shivers with cold and sweats from the heat. He gets cut and bleeds. He revels in good food and gets joyful from wine. He feels the pain of loneliness, the confusion of uncertainty. He is tempted.
In every way, Jesus came to fully immerse himself in our humanity. He came to identify with us completely. This is the heart and soul of his ministry and mission!
So Jesus begins his ministry with his baptism by John. And as he goes down in the waters of the Jordan, Jesus immerses himself in our condition. HE may not need repentance, but WE need it! WE need forgiveness of sin, WE need atonement for our wrongs and guidance from above.
And so Jesus gives himself to baptism. He submits his will and his destiny to that of the divine. For our sake, he enters the waters.
Jesus launches his ministry with this baptism. What his ministry will be remains to be revealed. But that ministry, every step between here and Golgotha, is built upon this baptism. His baptism lays the foundation upon which his entire ministry –
• every miracle
• every human interaction
• every healing
• every confrontation
• every lesson in his teachings
Down to his last breath on the cross, Jesus’ ministry is built on his baptism. In all things, he identifies with us. Our concerns become his concerns. He takes on our pain, our grief. And at the last, he takes on our sin.
The Greek word for “baptize” insinuates being immersed in water. As a secondary meaning, “baptize” was used to indicate drownings at sea. Reports of Greek shipwrecks spoke of the dead as “baptized.” So the word is connected with death.
Contained within Jesus’ baptism was the seed of his eventual death. The full extent of his ministry was not and could not be known that day on the banks of the Jordan River. But his baptism, his identity with our reality, found its full completion at Golgotha. His ending, his “baptism” on the cross marked our new beginning.
Our baptisms are connected to Jesus and his saving grace. As we entered the waters of our baptism, we were fully bathed by his saving acts. The one who took on our flesh, our savior who was baptized to fully identify with us, gives his righteousness to us.
This divine righteousness received in our baptism forms the foundational layer upon which our lives are now built. Christ’s redemption has given us a lasting imprint of divine righteousness. Sin and its corruption do not define us! There are no stains from yesterday’s failings and transgressions. We don’t need to bury them. No, we can confess them in complete honesty before God and to ourselves. In baptism we are given a new beginning, over and over. As Martin Luther said, “Day after day a new self arises to live with God in righteousness and purity forever.”
The meaning of our baptism isn’t something we can fully understand. We can look back at it today and reflect on that long ago event. But the implications of what took place on that day were just beginning to unfold. It will take the completion of our lives to understand the significance of our baptism. It will require the entirety of our days to unpack it fully.
In your baptism, you were adopted as a son, as a daughter of God. You were transformed by the loving actions of the one who came to identify with us in his own baptism and death. His righteousness became your righteousness. That is the foundation of your life in Christ!
What are you building upon the gift of your baptism? None of us can see it yet. Only in dying will the world behold what was built upon your beautiful foundation of righteousness. And in that end, there arises a new beginning. New life in Christ.
