Baptism of Our Lord – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 3:13-17 “Now is the Time”
February 15, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, You manifested Yourself, with the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of grace at the baptism of Your dear Son, and with Your voice directed us to Him who has borne our sins, that we might receive grace and the remission of sins: Keep us, we beseech You, in the true faith; and inasmuch as we have been baptized in accordance with Your command, and the example of Your dear Son, we pray You to strengthen our faith by Your Holy Spirit, and lead us to everlasting life and salvation; through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 152)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 3rd chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, the One who following the will of His Heavenly Father, put on your shame willingly, to wash you clean with His Holy Blood, dear fellow redeemed:
In Scripture, there are times where it appears as though God isn’t there. The world begins with God Himself walking in the Garden of Eden. From there, He sometimes was seen in the likeness of man. He also appeared in dreams. When we arrive to Israel and their wandering in the wilderness, He traveled with the people in glory as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. Continuing into the end of the kings of Israel and Judah, we find the history of the Babylonian captivity, God doesn’t seem to be there anymore. He isn’t mentioned speaking in the book of Esther. There would be some prophets after the return, but once we get to Malachi, God is quiet. There is another time where we see quiet when we see the boy Jesus in the temple go off to grow with His parents, being obedient to them. From twelve years old to thirty, this was the last quiet time as Jesus next recorded words of speaking in Scripture, from the question, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house,” Jesus now answers “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
For this to be the right time, the time for complete action from our Lord who has never left us, the forerunner had to prepare the way first. This forerunner didn’t decide to go out, he was called, for during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the song of Zechariah in the wilderness (Luke 3:2). In dictating the right time with the calling of John, God also knows what is the right message for the people to hear. John was preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). He pointed out the wrongs of many without fear. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). While many would hear this rebuke and realize they were not ready for the kingdom of God, the Pharisees and Sadducees would not take John’s message to heart. They did not care about the time and were not baptized by John.
In discussions with John, John was not at all saying that he was the great judge. John knew One who was greater was going to come and John would need Him too. Can you hear the shock of John’s voice when he says to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” John was excited about the timing of the Messiah and joyfully prepared the way for Him and here is the time. As John gives in because he believes in Jesus as the Messiah, the same people who were mad at the first rebuke, wanted to know why all these guys were showing up trampling on their power. Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23) If they had just listened to John, they would have seen the timing. The timing from God the Father witnessed by many, as He exclaims from the clouds, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Authority comes from God and what is more important than the Father and His only begotten Son?
John is going to see this timing happen before his eyes as Jesus responds to him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” When it comes to the timing, the key word in this sentence is the word “all.” Jesus is going to fulfill all righteousness. The mark of this day is the mark of what Jesus work is, and now everyone will publicly witness it. He was already growing perfectly in favor with God and man. He has already been fulfilling righteousness by living a perfect and obedient life for mankind. Our time on earth is on display. Jesus is revealing what partial fulfillment looks like and we see from His life already, before He even has started His public ministry, we haven’t even done that. We don’t come close to perfection as Jesus looks to be baptized with a baptism for repentance. Seeing Jesus already, having grown in favor with God and man, grown in perfection, Jesus doesn’t need a baptism of repentance.
This baptism doesn’t do Him any favors in life either. Scripture points out this baptism was done with love for a wicked world. The psalmist writes, you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions (Psalm 45:7). Even though it is done in love, this anointment will come with great challenges. Jesus would reveal, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:49-50) We can’t get through the perfect living part in this life, add the weight of our sins on our shoulders, we know all we do is crumble. To fulfill all righteousness was to be baptized with a baptism of repentance for sins that will cause great distress. Great distress until it is all accomplished. This account of Jesus’ baptism points out the two ways in which we can see what He has done for us. We can see it as the Pharisees and Sadducees, wondering how He can have such authority to be the judge over us. We can question His authority and ignore His authority because why change when no one else is. The other way is to have the reaction of John. John reveals a fear even as the great preacher of the wilderness, and he understands this timing and moment.
After following the command of God, John now witnesses the moment of the beginning of the end of the fulfillment of all righteousness. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” This decree was history in the making. From the first promise in the Garden of Eden, it was heard again in history by King David. He would write, I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you (Psalm 2:7). Publicly, and what would be confessed as great turmoil, Jesus would not complain one bit. He knew who’s will He would follow perfectly. He knew whose will was asking for Him to make this loving sacrifice. In this moment, the kingdom of God is revealed as we confess, the kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and live godly lives here in time and hereafter in eternity (The Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer). The Holy Spirit who first lands on the Son of God who will live the perfect and godly life in time and hereafter in eternity.
This can only happen with Jesus doing what He told John saying, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” And fulfill He does as He is baptized with the sins of the whole world on His shoulders. Shoulders that can carry sin where our sins weigh us down to where we can’t walk no more. Righteousness that sees sins completely wiped away with the fulfillment of Christ’s death on the cross. A cross He wants each one of us to hold firm to, and find our comfort and strength in. A cross we are tied to through our own baptism for the forgiveness of our sins. We can find comfort in that day as St. Paul writes, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3) In a world that searches for power, you see how you are brought right into the care of the power of the cross. As you know your imperfections, it is Christ perfection on display when you confess the effects of what the fulfillment of all righteousness entails for you. Baptism effects forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and give es eternal salvation to all who believe this just as the words and promises of God declare (The Blessings of Baptism). You would have and should have faced all this wickedness on your own and wouldn’t have survived. Now you stand marked with a seal of fulfillment. A fulfillment in time, and hereafter in eternity.
Eternity will feel like a long way away. In this time of waiting, Satan will do all he can to get us to think that we don’t understand God’s timing. Or maybe God’s timing is simply nonexistent. If we inch toward the thoughts of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it can then be easy to doubt if we have even been marked by God. The devil points out how easy it is for us to throw it all away. There are many dangers, but in our confession, we know our baptism is much more powerful than our weaknesses. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Our mark that we have in our baptism is Christ Himself clothing us with His fulfilled righteousness. A fulfillment of prophesied love from long ago. A fulfillment that will carry on for hopefully many years. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you (Isaiah 54:10). In our Lord’s compassion on the day of His baptism, we see Him willingly and publicly declare that He is carrying our sins. He does so without complaint, knowing the great burden that would come. Yet, on the cross, we find our comfort. It is there we find our sins forgiven. It is there He unites us to Him through baptism and though we may not feel it, thankfully its power is on full display. A power that is in our time, and a power that will last forever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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