Mark 1:9–15

Baptism

Congregation may remain seated

DO NOT READ

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."

¹²The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

¹³And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

¹⁵and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

This past week a dramatic shift has occurred in the Church Year. We have begun the Lenten Season. Although Lent is today celebrated as primarily a penitential season, it did not begin that way. Lent was a catechetical season to prepare those who were to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. Ash Wednesday was originally the enrollment of the catechumens for Baptism and later became the pouring of ashes on those baptized members to signify repentance. Lent focused on Baptism and catechetical instruction. In fact, the entire life of the church revolved around bringing people to the waters of holy Baptism at the Easter Vigil.

So this year for Lent we remember our catechetical instruction. Our Sunday Morning sermons will form a series on the six chief parts of Luther's Small Catechism as we approach the Easter Vigil beginning today at the beginning of our life in Christ: baptism.

And just what is the Easter Vigil? It is the reverse of Good Friday. It is the service that takes us from the grave of Christ to His resurrection. On Good Friday we leave the church in darkness as the Christ candle is taken out of the church. It is the death and burial of our Lord. On Easter Vigil we enter into the darkened church processing in behind the Christ candle and the lights come back on as we celebrate new life in the resurrection of Christ.

In the ancient church new members were baptized at the Easter Vigil. Baptismal fonts were quite large. The catechumens actually sat down in the font, and their heads were dunked into the water for the baptism. Then they stood up, coming out of the water and stepping out of the font. Figuratively they were drowned in the water, buried in the font, and rose again to new life in Christ. Baptism is a death and resurrection. That's why baptisms were performed at the Easter Vigil; the service that takes us from the grave of Christ to the resurrection. It reminds us of when Abraham took his son to Mt Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. That was a death and resurrection. An innocent young man, the promised son of Abraham, was to die on the altar. A death was taking place. But he was saved out of death by the Angel of the Lord; as if he had been raised from the dead. A resurrection that gave him new life saved by the Lamb who took his place in death.

Thus baptism is a new life. In baptism we begin a journey. A journey in life leading from the slavery and bondage of sin and death, through the wilderness of this present world, toward the gates of heaven and into eternal life. This journey is not unlike the journey of the Israelites who came out of bondage and slavery in Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. Then they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until they came to the River Jordan which they crossed into the Promised Land and finally to Jerusalem, Zion, the new, eternal city.

The journey is the journey of Christ which began in Bethlehem and took him to Egypt. From there he came back to the River Jordan which is our sermon text from St. Mark, chapter 1: "In those days he came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Mark uses two small words here that are very significant: He says that the heavens were opening. The Greek word he used here literally means "torn open" violently rent asunder, ripped apart. Notice the violence here. Then Mark also says that the Spirit "drove" him into the wilderness. The word means thrown, cast, physically picked up and tossed into the wilderness. This violence reminds us of the beginning of the Israelite's journey and the plagues in Egypt and the death of the first-born. This violence reminds us of the violent death of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. All this violence points us to the violence of the cross when the full fury and wrath of God was laid upon Christ. It was this violent death that John the Baptist referred to when he said that Jesus would baptize with fire. It was this violent death Jesus spoke about when he asked, "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

So what does it mean that Jesus was baptized? He was perfectly holy and righteous. He didn't have any sins to be forgiven. He was the perfect Son of God without spot or blemish. He was the Lamb of God without defect to be offered as a burnt offering, a holocaust on the altar of sacrifice. Why was he baptized?

He was baptized because he took upon himself our sin. He absorbed our sin into himself as he was baptized in the waters. Thus he purified the water with his purity, his righteousness, his sinless and spotless life. He purified the waters so that when we are baptized our sin is washed out of us and pours into Christ and his purity is poured into us.

He absorbed our rotten, sinful, selfish life into himself, becoming sin for us. The wages of sin is death. All sin must be punished by death. All sinners must die. So what Jesus began in the River Jordan, absorbing all our sin into himself, was brought to completion on the cross where he was again baptized; this time with fire: the fire of God's wrath and fury fully released upon him on account of sin—our sin!

There stood Jesus on the banks of the Jordan, ready to embark on his mission to redeem all creation. There, on the banks of the Jordan, the Spirit of God is poured out on Jesus and so he will pour out the spirit on those whom he baptizes; those baptized in his name. But along with the Spirit, the fire of God's wrath is placed on Jesus because Jesus is baptized with the baptism intended for sinners who need repentance and cleansing. Jesus takes the place of sinners and begins his ministry as the Lamb of God, the bearer of the world's sin. From Jesus' baptism on, He is marked as the bearer of God's wrath that burns with unquenchable fire. The fire of God's wrath will reach its full and complete fury at his crucifixion. So, already at his baptism Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem where his blood is poured out for all sinners and God's anger at sin burns against Jesus.

That same spirit that descended on Jesus at his baptism, is the spirit who baptizes us with fire. But not the fire of God's wrath, rather with the purifying fire of the refiner. It is the same purifying fire that the Spirit poured out upon the church at Pentecost. That same spirit that hovered over the waters at creation and gave life to the first Adam, now descends to participate in the work of re-creation.

It was no coincidence that Jesus began his work as the New Adam full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit to the wilderness to do what Adam and we cannot do—be faithful to the Father in all things.

Jesus' water baptism begins his journey and Jesus' baptism on the cross is a baptism in blood; a baptism in the fire of the full wrath of God against the entire sin of humanity that burns against him.

When later, Jesus rises from the dead as the New Adam, he brings all creation with him. The fire of God's wrath has been quenched on the cross and the purifying fire is poured into us at our baptism. The spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism, the fire of God's wrath consumed Jesus at his crucifixion, and God's wrath was quenched by Jesus' bloody baptism. After Pentecost, the spirit of Christ now rests upon the church and is poured forth from that church as the apostles baptize in the name of Jesus. In Christian baptism water, spirit, and fire are now combined in the believer's incorporation into the body of Christ.

In baptism we are united to Christ and begin our journey in Christ. As Christ began his journey to the cross in baptism, so we begin the journey of our life in Christ in baptism. We are poured into him at his baptism and he is poured into us at our baptism. Our lives become a journey together. That means that when Jesus died on the cross we went to the cross with him. When God unleashed his anger on Jesus, he was unleashing his anger at us; our sin. When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him. Our sinful nature, our old man, our sin, our death all died on that cross on Calvary 2000 years ago.

All this becomes a reality for us personally in our baptism. We are joined to Christ in his death. Our sin died! Our death died! In baptism His suffering becomes our suffering. His death becomes our death. His resurrection becomes our resurrection. His holiness and perfection become our holiness and perfection. His eternal life becomes our eternal life. His joy and peace become our joy and peace. His righteousness becomes our righteousness, and his love becomes our love.

In our baptism our journey with Christ began: our journey from baptism to death, which is the entrance into eternal life and full communion with Christ. From our birth at baptism we are on a journey with Christ and along the way Jesus catechizes us, teaches us, just as he taught the disciples. He catechizes us in worship by speaking his word to us. The readings from the Old Testament, the Epistles, and the Gospels are Christ himself speaking to us and teaching us. He catechizes us in Psalms and Hymns. Thus we enter the church at the font of baptism, then we continue past the pulpit where we are instructed with the Word, and finally come to the altar.

There at the altar we come to the cross of Jesus. On the altar of the cross he broke his body and poured out his blood for us and at the altar in church he serves them to us for us to eat and drink. There our lives are mingled with his and we share in his sufferings as he lifts the burdens of sin and death from our shoulders and carries them on his. At the altar we pick up our crosses and follow him. As he suffered in this life, so we too will share in his suffering because our life and his life become intertwined and become one.

The question of life is this: what does it mean to live in Christ in the world of today? It means beginning our journey in baptism, walking past the pulpit being instructed by God from his word, and going up to the altar where we join with Christ in his suffering on the cross and take up our crosses to carry the sufferings and burdens of those brothers and sisters who join us at the Lord's Table. At the table we pick up and carry one-another's burdens. Living in Christ in this world today means walking in the paths of Christ, loving our neighbor and sacrificing ourselves for him. Walking with Christ right up to our death which is the portal through which we enter into full and complete communion with Christ forever.

Amen.