St. Matthew 3:13–17
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I assume many of us have asked a question similar to John the Baptist: Why does Jesus need to be baptized? If He doesn’t have any sins, why is Jesus getting baptized with a bunch of sinners? And then I assume many ask a similar question for ourselves: So, I need baptism because I’m sinner, but once I’m baptized, why do I need to think about it anymore? In other words, what does baptism have to do with the rest of my life? These questions about Jesus’ baptism and our own go together, so we will answer them both.
First, why does Jesus get baptized? He tells us, to fulfill all righteousness. Everything He does, He does for us men and for our salvation. He does it to accomplish, to do every righteous thing in our place. He doesn’t get baptized because He needs it. He gets baptized because we need it. He gets baptized as our representative so that we can get baptized like Him.
So, He was baptized as a man. As the new man, the new Adam, standing in for all mankind, Jesus gets baptized. This makes it possible for all men to step into His place and get that baptism for themselves. The Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of the Father, already possessed the Holy Spirit. He was in perfect communion with the Father and the Spirit from before the beginning of time. But Jesus receives the Holy Spirit as a man in His baptism, so that He can give the Holy Spirit to us. Jesus didn’t need what He got in baptism. As true God, He didn’t need the forgiveness of sins, or the gift of the Holy Spirit, or the declaration of His Father’s voice. But Jesus got all of that as a man, so that we can get it too. He didn’t need to be purified or cleansed, but He hallowed the water. He is holier than the font, purer than the water—He is their source. He does not dirty the water with sins, but instead He cleanses the water, He makes it holy, so that when it is poured out on us, it makes us holy.
Everything Jesus does, He does for us. Everything Jesus is, He is for us. This is what St. Paul was saying when he wrote: you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Jesus became your wisdom—there’s no knowledge you can gain that will help you more than the knowledge of your Savior. Jesus became your righteousness—your sins are canceled out and His rightness, His good deeds, count for you. Jesus became your sanctification—His holiness makes you holy, filled with the presence of the holy God but not destroyed—a holy temple for Him to dwell in. Jesus became your redemption—He is your rescuer, He is your everything.
There’s nothing, no gift from God that you can get, that hasn’t been given to you in your baptism, because you are in Christ Jesus. He is redemption—you are baptized into Jesus, so you are redeemed. He is sanctification—you are baptized into Jesus, so you are holy. He is justification—you are baptized into Jesus, so you are righteous. He is wisdom—you are baptized into Jesus, so you are wise.
I don’t know how many more ways I can say how great a treasure and gift baptism is. And yet, we hear all that and ask, once I’m baptized, why do I need to think about it anymore? What does baptism have to do with the rest of my life? If I get all of that great stuff in baptism, then why do I need anything else, like the Bible, or the church, or the Lord’s Supper?
But think about it: if Baptism really is everything we’ve said it is—if Baptism is Jesus being and doing everything for you—if that’s what Baptism is, then how can you ever get done with that? How can that ever become old news? How can Baptism ever become an excuse to stay away from God and away from all the gifts He keeps on giving? If Jesus is your everything, for you are in Jesus, then Baptism is your everything. Baptism is not just the few moments it took to pour the water and say the words. Baptism is the whole of your life. It’s not just one thing you’ve got to do (as if getting the baby baptized is just this one little thing we’ve got to do but has nothing to do with living a Christian life connected to the church). Baptism is not just one bit, a part segmented from the rest of you. From your Baptism on, everything you get and everything you do you get and do as the baptized.
So, when you sin, you sin against your baptism. You sin against the Holy Name of God that’s been put on you. And when you repent, you are brought back to the effect of your baptism: you die to sin, you drown yourself, so that you only live for Christ, because your only life is in Christ. When you hear the absolution, you are renewed in the righteousness and holiness of Jesus, which you first got at baptism. And when you hear God’s Word you listen as a baptized child of your heavenly Father. You love to hear it—not only do you need to hear God’s Word and preaching, but you enjoy it. How could a baptized person do anything else? And when you receive the Lord’s Supper, you come as a baptized one. You’re someone belonging to Jesus, someone in Jesus. And then in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus comes into you, so that you are completely, fully covered and filled with Jesus. He is your wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption—your everything. Baptism puts you into Him, and the Lord’s Supper puts Him into you. It’s all one.
And then, when you go about your daily life, you go about it baptized.
So use your baptism well! You are made new—
In Christ a new creation!
As faithful Christians, live and do
Within your own vocation (LSB 596:6).
You’re a father teaching his children and bringing them to church, or a mother making sure the kids have clothes and food and a nice home to grow up in. That’s your baptism at work. When you do your schoolwork, whether you excel or struggle, you do your schoolwork baptized, which means doing your schoolwork becomes a holy work. And if you’re sitting at home by yourself, wondering what’s the point for you, then know that you sit there baptized. You’re not alone, and God’s point for you is that you’re His child and He loves you. When you’re supervising your workers or listening to your boss, when you’re shoveling someone’s sidewalk, when you’re cooking dinner, you’re baptized. And that means all of your work is baptized.
Every moment of every day, you are a beloved child of the Father. You are an immortal, walking in this dark and dying world like a burning torch. Just by being someone baptized, you shine the Light of Christ. You are a free lord over this world—nothing can destroy you or tear you away from your Lord Jesus. And you are a free servant, putting yourself under all others, willing to give yourself away for them as your free Servant Jesus did for you. All of that and more is Baptism. Do you think you could ever get done or get tired of that?
Jesus fulfills all righteousness, He is all holiness, and He gives it all to you. He gets baptized for you and you get all of Him in baptism. There’s no way for any of us to use it up or get through it all in this life. There’s never any “that’s enough,” never any “being finished” with the Lord and His gifts. Being finished with Baptism, not needing the Supper, going without the Word, that is just unbelief.
But instead, whenever the Lord gives us a gift, He presses our hands open more to receive yet another one. There’s always another gift from the Lord, And each gift leads on into the next. Baptism flows into hearing and learning the Word. Hearing and learning the Word stirs up the hunger and thirst for the Lord’s body and blood. The Lord’s body and blood satisfies that hunger and fills you with life: holy life here and now, holy life forever.
In the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
