1.
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word this Sunday we
celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord is taken from Mark 1:4-11. Here we see, “Our Baptism in the Light of Christ’s Baptism,” Our baptism
acknowledges our sins; Jesus baptism fulfilled all righteousness (vv. 4, 5).
Our baptism confesses faith; Jesus’ proves he is the Savior (vv. 9–11). Our baptism makes us God’s children; Jesus’
baptism shows us that He is God’s Son (vv. 10, 11). Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
In
C.S. Lewis’ book from his Chronicles of Narnia Series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” there was a boy named Eustace
Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved that name. His mother and father called him Eustace
Clarence, his teacher Eustace Scrubb, but his friends didn’t call him either
because he had none. He didn’t call his
parents mom and dad, but Harold and Alberta.
Eustace behaves in a despicable way within the book and because of this
he’s changed into a dragon. This is the
beginning of a decisive change in his life.
As a dragon he begins to change and think about other people. He then flies about the island in Narnia to
secure food for people. Near the end of
the story, Aslan the lion, very slowly removes the dragon scales from Eustace
to make him a boy again. As Aslan tears
off Eustace’s scales he writhes in pain from the razor sharp claws that feel as
though they pierce his very being. With intensity, Aslan rips away layer after
layer, until the child is certain he will die from the agony. Once he’d taken off all of the dragon scales
of Eustace, Aslan the lion bathes him in water.
It was there that he found that he’d become a boy again. After Eustace came out of the water, Aslan
gave him new clothes to wear. When it’s
all over, Eustace delighted in the freedom, never before realizing the extra
weight that he’d carried as a dragon.
3.
This
story from C.S. Lewis, about Eustace being changed back into a new boy, is an
awesome story that can help us understand what happens to us in our
baptisms. Obviously, Eustace’s character
and sinfulness had caused him to be changed into a dragon. He’d treated his mother and father, his
teacher and everyone that he’d known terribly.
This character of his began to show as he was changed into a dragon. But, when he finally realized how terrible
his life had become. That is, how sinful
he really was, his life began to change.
When he repented of his sins, Aslan the lion, who in the Narnia
Chronicles is the depiction of Jesus Christ, came to take his sinful nature
away from him. Aslan tears the dragon
scales off Eustace, bathes him as Jesus has bathed us in the waters of holy
baptism and gave to him new clothes to wear.
This also shows what Christ has done for us by clothing us in his
righteousness, giving us newness of life.
As the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ.”
4.
Mark 1:9-11 says, “9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And when he came up out of
the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on
him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with
you I am well pleased.” Why would Jesus come to be
baptized? He's not a sinner! The Bible tells us that Jesus is “like us in every way, yet without sin.” What's
He doing? He's going where the sinners
are. They are baptized by John, confessing their sins. John baptized for
repentance unto the forgiveness of sins.
Those who were baptized went up with their sins forgiven.
5.
So
why is Jesus there? To fulfill all righteousness. Matthew’s Gospel says in Matthew 3:15, “But Jesus answered and said to [John the Baptist], “Permit it to be so
now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then [John]
allowed Him. (Matthew 3:15) What
does that mean to fulfill all righteousness? To take on our sins. Jesus has no
sins to get rid of. So He takes the sins of sinners. He doesn't hold Himself
aloof from the sinners as if He can stand by and watch them get baptized while
He stands there being all perfect and holy. No, Jesus goes where they are to
show that He came for sinners and to take their sins on and take those sins to Calvary
to get rid of them once and for all.
6.
The
Baptism of Jesus is a mirror image of your Baptism. In Baptism, your sins are
washed away. In Jesus' Baptism, He takes your sins and makes them His own. In
your Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon you to mark you as one saved by
what Jesus has done in His death and resurrection. At Jesus' Baptism, the
Spirit descends to show that He is the Lamb of God who does the taking away of
the sins. In your Baptism, the Father declares you are His beloved son and a
part of His family. At His Baptism, the Father declares that Jesus is His
beloved Son because He will obey the Father and go and die for sinners.
7.
Here
again what takes place at Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1:10-11, “10And when Jesus
came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit
descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my
beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
And immediately the heavens were opened… What wonderful words to hear!!! This is what Christ our Lord did for us
through His baptism and His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our
sins. Thanks to Jesus the heavens are
now open to us. God the Holy Spirit can
now descend from heaven to sinful people like you and me and work in us the
salvation Jesus has achieved for us. We
are now free from the guilt of sin, we can approach God in heaven in prayer and
after death live with God forever.
Thanks to Jesus, God has access to us and we have access to God. The lines of communication are now open
between God and people. In the Old
Testament Jacob saw in a dream a ladder between heaven and earth on which
angels were ascending and descending.
Now, through our baptism into Jesus, “we
can see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of
God.” (Acts 7:56). The heaven was
opened and now we can see that “inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us” (1
Peter 1:1). The heaven was opened and
now we can lift up our heads and see our redemption drawing near (Luke
21:28). The heaven was opened and now we
can see “this same Jesus who was taken up
into heaven…come in like manner as we have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts
1:11) as the angels told the disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven. The heaven was open and now we can see “the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”
(Rev. 21:2).
8.
Jesus
goes where the sinners are. That's good news for you. It means He's serious
about saving sinners. That's why He's the Beloved Son of God. And it is His
doing so that fulfills all righteousness so that in your Baptism, you receive
all of His righteousness and holiness and a good standing before the Lord. In
the Name of Jesus. This is Our Baptism
in Light of Christ’s Baptism. Amen.
9.
Please
pray with me: Lord you have received us as Your own in our
baptism and through the years You have been faithful to us. Give us the grace to hold fast to You as our
God and Father and to confess Jesus Christ as our Savior, who was washed and
cleansed us from all sin. Amen.
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