The Baptism of Our Lord – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 3:13-17 “This is My Beloved Son”
March 2, 2025 | 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:
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, who is the beloved Son of God come down from Heaven to take your place, who makes the Father view you as one who He is pleased with, dear fellow redeemed:
As Taylor and I have been watching our friends have children, we greatly enjoy seeing pictures, watching their little babies grow up, and watching our friends grow in the process. As Scripture tells us how children are a great blessing to marriage, one look at young couples with their little youngsters and it is easy to agree with what God says. Now looking at our own childhoods, we see how our parents worked hard to give us a good life. They would make sacrifices so that we could have certain things or be in certain sports. It is easy to see the sacrifices our parents made for us once we have gotten older and have entered their shoes. We see the triumphs when children succeed, and we have pain when they fail to meet the expectations that were given to them. Now while we aren’t perfect and children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are not perfect, there is One child who was perfect in every way. He grew up perfect and He followed the will of His Father even when He knew that following it would lead to His bitter suffering and death. And as this suffering and death takes place with this perfect Son at the forefront, it is because of His work we can find comfort in the words from God the Father, “This is My Beloved Son.”
Like any parent, God the Father has been there for His Son. He has guided Him, as we see in Scripture how the Child grew in favor with Him and with man around Him. Growing in that knowledge, it became clear to Jesus where the heavenly plan would lead Him. At the age for society to call you a teacher, Jesus is now ready to begin His ministry. As society marks the days where boys turn into men, and like we mark off special occasions and ages, such as turning sixteen, eighteen, and twenty-one years old, Jesus will be marking the beginning of His public ministry. This marker would be done publicly. The will of God the Father is that His Son would be like us in every way and overcome it. He has put on our flesh as a thirty-year-old man and now He sets off to begin His ministry. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. Here in the beginning, why does the perfect Son of God need to be baptized?
Now the answer to this question is found by seeing that Jesus is not the only son of God the Father. Now while this will sound foreign to us, this concept of the beloved Son providing for the firstborn is found in Scripture. We see in the Old Testament God tell Moses, Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me” (Exodus 4:22-23a) Now the Father loved His firstborn. He took care of him and blessed him. And like children who will do good things to please their parents, the firstborn did things that disappointed his Father. He created so much disappointment that God uttered the words, they shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me (Hosea 11:5) Now all hope was not lost for the firstborn son. Right before this, God remembers the love for His firstborn. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son (Hosea 11:1) As God loved Israel, He calls out their deliverer. He calls Jesus out of Egypt to return to His home country, to grow and live for His people.
In our text we see Jesus accepting the call into the public ministry to serve out His Father’s will. As Jesus is about to start, it is met with a little resistance as John would have prevented Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” John is asking Jesus our question. John points out how as the firstborn, sinful, and disobedient children, the people need a baptism unto repentance. Even as John preaches this great message of repentance, he knows that he hasn’t stood up to the duties of the firstborn. He sees that the beloved Son hasn’t done anything wrong and doesn’t need a baptism. John’s realization is an exception to the many who do not acknowledge their failings. As John conducted his ministry, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were not getting baptized because they would not confess their failings. If there is no confession, then a baptism for repentance is meaningless to them.
For anyone who thinks they can compare to the beloved Son, Jesus knows how short we fall. The beloved Son is taking on our big problem. For us to think that we can manage it, Jesus gives a harsh response. We first hear it when He tells His disciples, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mark 10:38) Jesus is drinking the cup of wrath. He is baptized with the world’s sins. We know the crushing feeling of our sins. They nag on us and sink us every day. If the devil can get us to think we have a little leg to stand on, we see it is nothing to what Jesus is drinking and carrying. We are only a disappointment in God’s sight. But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. While we can hesitate to do what is right, Jesus begins His ministry to fulfill His duty. To save us and clothe us with His 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. As Jesus is anointed, the people witness and don’t realize how special this moment is for all the world. This ministry is going to be so hard and painful. To begin and have the knowledge and strength to do it, the Trinity comes together. The Holy Spirit, who is never seen but very active, is resting on the Son of God as a dove. The image of peace that comes to the firstborn because of the Son taking their place. When His ministry ends, it will end because Jesus is doing the job we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies. He isn’t being baptized because of suffering He deserved, instead, He drinks God’s cup of wrath willingly because only He can suffer the pains of hell for every single person.
The firstborn waited for this beloved son to take his place. This message was preached to them by the prophets. They heard, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1). The Son of the Father has arrived “to fulfill all righteousness.” He isn’t raising a stink when He knows what is going to come in the end. As Jesus faces His ministry head on, it is here on the bank of the Jordan even He sees that He won’t be alone. Though He put on our flesh, He does not give up being a person of the Almighty. Peter explains, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38). The beloved Son never lost these gifts, but it is here at the riverbank where the world sees Him only make use of what is needed for the world’s salvation.
As the Son and the Holy Spirit are together, the Father completes it when, behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The only begotten Son of God has come down in human flesh to take the place of the firstborn. The firstborn who was condemned to death because of his trespasses, failings, and disappointments. When the voice of the Father can be scary to hear, this is not one of those moments. While the people didn’t realize what was happening and being said, this is exactly what the world needs to hear. While you can’t appease God, God knows of One who can. Jesus’ baptism is a day for you to remember as He begins the work to take your place for your punishment.
Even though the road will be extremely hard, God the Father is happy in His response as He knows that His will is going to now be done to perfection. God the Father, for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Instead of being baptized for the forgiveness of sins, He is baptized to put on all your sins. This will not be an easy task. Yet, Jesus is the One who perseveres because as He feels all your pain in His flesh, it doesn’t destroy Him even as He hangs dying from the cross. St. Paul then asks the question to you about the importance of His baptism. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3) As He was baptized to take your sin away, He then commanded that you would be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. In your baptism that you remember every day, you put to death your sinful Adam in Christ. And as your Savior dies on the cross for your sins, it is there in the tomb they are left and remembered no more.
While you hold tight to your baptismal grace, there are many in the world who throw it away and when they do, Jesus says, “Whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16b). As the world struggles, there may be times where you might think, “how am I not counted among this group?” In times of struggle and disappointment, the font stands as a testament to what the beloved Son of God has done for you. St. Paul writes, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7) Hearing yourself washed anew, you can rejoice and find comfort hearing the beloved Son say, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16a). Grant this Lord unto us all. 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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