Sermon manuscript:
The word “Christ” means “anointed one.” Anointing is to have
a liquid poured over something. In the Old Testament there were a couple of
anointings that were especially important. Being anointed was one of the things
that was involved in becoming a priest—someone who could serve before God in
the Temple at Jerusalem. Another important anointing was when someone became
king. They were anointed with oil.
Anointing has not been important in our society’s culture.
The way that someone is put into office among us is by an oath, perhaps while
laying one’s hand on a bible. Before this our leaders were crowned—a metallic
circle was placed on their head as a symbol of who they were.
Since anointing is such an unfamiliar practice among us, it
might be helpful to think of Jesus’s baptism being like a coronation. Jesus is
publicly made known as the Christ at the Jordan River. He becomes king, you
might say. But his anointing was not just with water, nor even with oil, but he
is anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Father speaks from heaven: “This is my
Son whom I love. I am well pleased with him.” Having been crowned, Jesus
then begins his reign.
Being crowned is a big deal. Everybody knows that. This is
also how a person must understand baptism as well. Immediately after Jesus was
baptized, he was kicked out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Then he came up into Galilee, the region where he grew up, and began to cast
out demons from those who were possessed, healed the sick, and preached the
Gospel. As you know, there are many other things that Jesus did; many other
things that Jesus taught. It finally all culminated in Holy Week. Jesus once
referred to what was going to happen to him at Golgotha as a baptism. He said,
“I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is
accomplished.” With this baptism he would not be anointed with water, but
with blood.
This second baptism of blood is a new phase of Jesus being
the Christ. Perhaps you remember the splendid title on Jesus’s cross. It read,
“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The Jews wanted Pilate to change it so
that it read, “This man said he was king of the Jews.” Pilate was already
grumpy enough from his dealings with the blood thirsty crowd and said, “What I
have written, I have written.” This was no accident. Although Jesus’s enemies
were trying to mock him with that placard, it actually preached the Gospel to
those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Jesus is king. He is crowned with thorns. He is anointed,
baptized, with blood. From his side come blood and water that cleanses the
whole world from its sin. With this new phase of Jesus’s kingship his reign
would go out into all the earth. He went from a local presence to a presence
everywhere. After his baptism in the Jordan Jesus cast out the demons and
healed the sick of those who came into contact with him as he went about that
region. With his crucifixion, resurrection, and especially his ascension and
Pentecost, his saving work extends to wherever and whenever the Gospel is
preached. To those who believe in his name, he gives the right to become
children of God.
Thus you can see that Jesus was not exaggerating when he
said on Holy Week, “Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this
world will be thrown out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all people to myself.” He was saying this to indicate what kind of death he
was going to die. Jesus the king, anointed with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan,
was going to use that kingship to defeat his enemy, the devil, the prince of
this world, the one to whom all people have been enslaved after the fall into
sin.
The way that he does this is by his baptism of blood on the
cross. When he is lifted up on the cross, he draws all people to himself. He
draws all people to himself already now, in time, through his pronouncement of
peace and reconciliation between God and sinners. Thus you are drawn to him
already now by faith. Soon we will be gathered, body and soul, from the ends of
the earth to celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom, which has
no end. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.
Thus you can see that the scope of Jesus’s baptism could not
be grander. Heaven and earth, the universe, all that God has made, visible and
invisible, are sept up and renewed when the Son of God is baptized in the
Jordan. Thereby Jesus is set on his course with the approval of God the Father.
The Father says from heaven, “This is my Son whom I love. I am well pleased
with him.”
The Father was well pleased with everything that Jesus did.
So he was pleased when Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the
dead. He was also pleased when Jesus did things that not everybody liked. He
was pleased with Jesus when he spoke to the crowds about his life giving flesh
and blood, that they must eat and drink, and they became disgusted and went
away from him. The Father was well pleased with Jesus when he pronounced woes
upon the church leaders and told them that the prostitutes and tax collectors would
enter into the kingdom of God before they did. He was pleased with his beloved
Son when he sweat blood, when he was covered with spit, when the soldiers and
the Jewish leaders were laughing at him, and when he breathed his last on the
cross. He was also pleased with Jesus when, after being silent for so long, he breathed
again, when his cold, pale flesh got its color back, when he sat up in that
tomb that was hewn out of the rock.
It wasn’t as though the Father did not know who Jesus was or
what he would do when he spoke at the Jordan: “This is my Son whom I love. I
am well pleased with him.” The Father knew all that Jesus would do, and
approved of it, because thereby sinners would be redeemed and be made
righteous.
You can see, therefore, that Jesus’s baptism was not an
isolated, curious spectacle. In a way, it is the beginning of the story. It is
when the work of Jesus being the Christ begins in earnest, even though this had
already begun with his conception in the womb of the virgin Mary. At his
baptism Jesus is recognized as the anointed one, the Christ, the King. As King
he would renew all things. So there is a great deal of meaning to Jesus’s
baptism.
The same thing is also true of your baptism. The
significance of it cannot be overstated. When I spoke earlier about Jesus’s
reign as king over the whole earth, drawing all people to himself—it is through
baptism that this is accomplished. Baptism is not a human invention. It is
God’s baptism. The apostles did not decide to baptize on their own because they
thought it was a good idea. The Lord Jesus commanded them to baptize. “Go,
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The Scriptures say a great deal about what God does in
baptism. It is said to be a new birth. Jesus calls it a birth from above by the
water and the Spirit. Paul calls it a rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. A
new birth, without entering a mother’s womb a second time, but just as real
nonetheless, is perhaps the preferred way that the Scriptures talk about
baptism.
But this is not a second birth that is off by the side, a
mulligan, a do-over, where we wait and see whether you’ll screw it up a second
time. This rebirth is one that takes place through death—Christ’s death. Paul
says in Romans chapter 6 that when we were baptized we were baptized into
Jesus’s death. We died. We were united with him in a death like his, so that
we will be united with him in a resurrection like his.
In this way, through God’s baptizing of us, we die to our
old selves. We die to our flesh. We die to sin. And we live to God. Those who
are baptized are not free agents, free to construct their own values or
meanings for life. Those who are baptized are set on the course of Jesus’s
life. Christian disciples learn from their master’s teachings what is good,
what is desirable, what we should live for.
And the answer is not that we should live for ourselves.
Jesus came not be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.
The Gentiles like to be greatest and lord it over one another. “That’s not
how it should be among you,” Jesus said. “Instead, let the one who wants
to become great among you be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must
be your slave.” The highest ambition anyone can have is to be like Jesus, the
Son of God. And Jesus was one who loved, even unto death. The best thing that
there is, is love. God is love. A life of love is the best life that can be
lived.
Baptism is the only way that that life can be lived. It’s not as though God gives us the instructions, or
that the Bible is a big manual that he slaps into our lap, and now we need to
figure out for ourselves how to bend our will to doing these things. No,
baptism actually works. It does things. Just as the Gospel does things. Just as
the Lord Supper does things. These are not dead things, disconnected from God.
The Holy Spirit is always in these things and works without fail every time.
Only see to it that you believe what God says about these
things. That is to say, don’t think that God is a liar or full of hot air when
he says, “I baptize you,” or “I forgive you,” or “This is my
body given for you; this is my blood shed for you.” Indeed, if you think
God is a liar or a fool, then these things will still do something to you, but
it won’t be good for you. Your unbelief will be strengthened. Your heart will
grow colder. You will hate God more and more, rather than loving God more and
more. The Holy things of God are not play things. Nor are they empty signs or
symbols. They are God’s own wills and testaments with the power of God behind
them and in them.
But let’s not focus too much on unbelief. Unbelief happens,
of course, but it is not what God has in mind when he makes known his will to
mankind. Whether people believe or don’t believe is not the main thing. It’s
not as though God is in a lab, conducting experiments on rats, seeing whether
they will believe or not, whether they will take the bait or not. The Gospel,
baptism, the Lord’s Supper—these things must be thought of more properly as
love letters or the kindest and most gracious greetings there ever were. If
ever you have tried to put someone at ease, if ever you have wanted someone to
know that they are loved, then you have a small inkling of what God is saying
in these things.
God grudges salvation to no one. He did not come to condemn
the world, but that the world might be saved through him. There is no one whose
sins Jesus did not atone for. There is no one whose sins are not completely
done away with and forgiven in Jesus. That’s what Jesus did as king. He kicked
out the ruler of this world and draws all people to himself. All people may
hear and believe. All people may be baptized and believe. Whoever believes and
is baptized shall be saved. Whoever does not believe, will be condemned.
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