When God Gets Into The Water


Text: Matthew 3:12-17

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River.  Thousands upon thousands of people came to confess their sins and were baptized. In other words, the water of the Jordan River was stained with the confessed sins of the people.  Sins like the worship of false gods, profanity, apostasy, defiance, homicide, loathing, perversion, pornography, homosexuality, infidelity, adultery, divorce, theft, laziness, blackmailing, deception, fraud, greed, gluttony, lying, slander, envious desires, and jealousy.  All those sins – and many more - were mixed in that Jordan River when John was baptizing. 

And so, crassly stated, the Jordan River was a cesspool of sin.  It was like dirty bath water. And yet, that cesspool is where Jesus came to be baptized.  That dirty river of sin is what would bathe the sinless Son of God in baptism.

Considering this, it now makes sense why John the Baptist objected to baptizing the sinless Jesus.  He did not want to pour polluted water over the perfect Christ.  But that is where it is different with Jesus.  

Dear friends, your Jesus does not shy away from sin.  You see, at that Jordan River, Jesus took dirty sin upon Himself.  All those sinners in the Jordan River, He made their sins His own when He got into the river with them. 

But why did Jesus get into that cesspool called the Jordan River? 

The answer is that it was right there in that dirty water of the Jordan River that Jesus began His ministry for sinners – His baptism in the Jordan River is where He started His 3 ½ year journey to the cross.  To paraphrase Martin Luther, that day, Jesus became a sinner by entering into the place of sinful humanity, taking upon himself sins that He did not commit and wiping them out…  (AE 51:3)

Listen carefully; all those sins in the polluted waters of the Jordan River were taken up by Jesus and found their end at Mt. Calvary’s cross – the place where Jesus bled and died for sinners. 

That begs the question, though, what about our baptisms today?  In other words, if Jesus stepped into the dirty waters of the Jordan River to identify with sinners, bear the sin of sinners, and then journey to the cross to die for sinners, what about our baptisms today?  Are they just mere symbols – recollections of Jesus’ baptism long ago?  Is the water in our baptismal font just plain water that cannot do great things?

Dear friends, every time we baptize here at St. Paul’s, we pray what is called ‘The Flood Prayer.’  Yes, ‘The Flood Prayer.’  Let me share a portion of it with you. 
"[Heavenly Father] through the baptism in the Jordan of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, you [O God] sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood, and a lavish washing away of sin.”
Now, what does this mean? 

Well, it is quite simple. The water in the Jordan River was just plain water, dirty as it was. Likewise, the water in the baptismal font is just plain water as well.  There is nothing holy or special about it.  We do not have jugs of special holy water in the pastor’s office or sacristy.  The water for our font comes straight from the water tap.  And so, when other well-intentioned Christians say that plain water cannot do great things, they are right. If you and I go to the mall wearing religious garb and splashing plain water on people, nothing will happen, except we may be beaten up or, worse, arrested.  In the end, we must affirm that water is water.  Again, the critics are right; plain water cannot do great things.  However, what happens when God gets into the water through His Holy Word?  That is right; what happens when God gets into the water?   When God gets into the water by His Holy Word – when God’s Word is in and with the water, baptism becomes holy and powerful. Things are different then.  

Please remember that at the Jordan River, Jesus got into the water and was baptized in the water.  And so, Jesus connects all those sinners in that Jordan River to Himself, and He then begins His journey to the cross.  If Jesus hadn’t gotten in that water and had not gotten baptized, well… then what’s the point? 


Baptized Saints, open your ears!  Those people who confessed their sins and were baptized in the Jordan River were not left in their sins but were forgiven of their sins because the Baptism of John the Baptist was loaded and connected to the Son of God, who came into that water and took their sins with Him to the cross of Mt. Calvary. The same is true for all baptisms done today in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Where there is water and the Name and Word of God, there you find a holy-sanctified baptism – a lavish washing away of sin.
 

But that begs a second question: how are sins lavishly washed away?  


Baptized Saints, hear this loud and clear - when you were baptized with water and God’s Holy Word, you were joined to Jesus’ death at Mt. Calvary and joined to Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb. In baptism, you are joined to Christ, which means that your old self – your sinful nature – is crucified and brought to nothing – and simultaneously, you are given faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit – new life in Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 6.


* * *

At this baptismal font before you, just as there were only sinners in the Jordan River, every baptism at this font has been a baptism of a sinner.  For almost a century, only sinners have been baptized at this font.  But keep in mind, just as those sinners in the Jordan River received forgiveness of their sins because Jesus entered that water to bear their sins, every person baptized at this font with the Lord present through His Word has received the same forgiveness of their sins. 


Furthermore, for our little ones who are baptized, we wrap them in a white blanket made by grandmothers of the church to signify the forgiveness and righteousness of Jesus that they receive at this baptismal font.  The white blanket signifies that the child has been buried in Christ and raised in the radiant righteousness of Jesus, who covers all their sins. 

But as you know, tragically, death stings, and we then have funeral services at St. Paul’s. When we have a funeral service, though, we don’t leave the casket as it is, but we wrap the casket not in a blanket but in a white pall.  Then we wheel their casket right down this center aisle back to where everything started – the baptismal font.  Indeed, our deceased loved ones are brought right back where Jesus incorporated them into His death and resurrection.  And then, once they are pressed tightly to the baptismal font, the funeral service begins, and the Pastor says,
“In Holy Baptism, John was clothed in the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin.  St. Paul says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”
And the congregation will respond, saying,

“We were buried therefore with Jesus by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Jesus in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Jesus in a resurrection like His.”
Baptism: it is just plain water, that is until the Lord gets into the water – for you.


In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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