1st
Sunday in EPIPHANY
Rev. Norman F. Seeger
Matthew 3:13-17
13 Then Jesus came
from
15 Jesus replied,
“Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all
righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus
was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:13-17
"JESUS’ BAPTISM / INSTALLATION / INAUGURATION…”
1. Turns Our Eyes Toward His
Cross
2. Identifies & Introduces
Our Savior to Our World
Dear faithful followers of Jesus the Christ,
As Al Nelson & other Iowans first caucused – as
New Hampshire voters cast primary ballots – several presidential candidates stepped
forward, but only one (whose name we do not yet know) successfully took a
little step along their still more-than-twelve-month journey to next January’s inauguration
when they will start to serve as our American president. Is uncertainty surrounding our search for
someone to lead our country for the next four years exciting? I pray we appreciate even more our exciting opportunity
to install an associate pastor for Good Shepherd this afternoon – a pastor
already selected from among many qualified candidates as the Lord led us to
call & then God graciously guided Pastor Werre to accept our call to serve the
Lord with us for as many years into the future as our Lord will desire. As we eagerly anticipate our new pastor’s
installation this afternoon, this morning I pray we will appreciate our
privilege of observing an even more important installation or inauguration as Jesus’
baptism leads him into a new phase of ministry. At the
“Then,” Matthew writes – following thirty years of silence after he recorded
baby Jesus being worshipped by wise men, carried to Egypt & returned to Galilee
to be raised in Nazareth – “then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan
river to be baptized by John.” Living
a perfectly righteous life ever since he was circumcised the 8th
day, presented & redeemed in the temple the 40th day;
celebrating the annual Passover since he was a twelve-year old – actively
obeying God’s law as our Substitute every minute of his life -- Jesus was already
acquiring the holiness he would wrap around us.
Please notice, Jesus will not begin to serve as our Savior when he is
baptized by John – not anymore than Pastor Werre will begin his ministry as he
is installed this afternoon. Pastor
Werre will simply move into a new phase of ministry when we install him as our
associate pastor. In these coming years
he will serve the Lord with God’s people at Good Shepherd in Sioux Falls
instead of serving our Lord with the saints at Mighty Fortress in Red
Deer. Similarly, Jesus steps into a new
phase of his ministry as he is baptized by John, turning our eyes toward a
cross where he will erase our sins’ death penalty by passively suffering sin’s
punishment as our sinless Substitute after he finishes making us perfect in
God’s eyes by actively living the law as our righteous Replacement.
As he asks to be baptized, Jesus’ perfection first
puzzles John. In fact, “John
tries to deter Jesus.” John
argues against baptizing Jesus because John was calling people to “confess
their sins.” John was “baptizing
people with water for repentance,” but Jesus has no sins to confess; no
need to repent. John was promising
people, “After me will come one more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not
fit to carry…one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit & with fire.” When this all-powerful person now appears,
John rightly declares, “I need to be baptized by you; do you come
to me?” Undeterred, yet never
disputing John’s accurate assumptions, Jesus simply says, “Let it be so now; it is proper
for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
“…to fulfill all righteousness?” I pray we understand, baptism was not commanded by the Lord’s
law – circumcision was commanded the 8th day. Jesus is not just checking off another item
on our righteous “to do” list nor is he completing God’s commandments as he
steps into the
“Fulfilling all righteousness” – doing everything right in the eyes
of God -- from ‘A’ to ‘Z,’ from the beginning to the end, Jesus will follow every
detail of God’s gracious plan for our salvation. Jesus, who “had no sin,” was “made
by God to be sin for us, so that in him – in a great & gracious
exchange -- we become the righteousness of God.”
Stepping into our shoes, Jesus steps into the
Just as next January’s inauguration will identify
& will introduce to the world some election-winning politician as our new
American president – just as a special installation service this afternoon will
identify & will instroduce Pastor Werre to the world as our new associate
pastor at Good Shepherd – so God uses Jesus’ baptism to specifically identify &
to unmistakably introduce our Savior to the world. “The moment Jesus comes up out of the water
– stepping up onto the riverbank
-- heaven is opened. Jesus sees the Spirit of God descending like
a dove & lighting on him. A voice
from heaven announces, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased.’”
Jesus’ installation or inauguration, we realize, is very
public as well as personal. John, like
Jesus, sees the dove descending & hears a heavenly voice. John, who had no Secripturally recorded
contact with Jesus before he came to be baptized, obviously gets God’s message:
“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a
dove & remain on him,” John will testify to his own followers &
to the crowds in the coming days. “I
would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water
told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down & remain is he who
will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I
have seen & I testify that this (Jesus) is the Son of God.”[JN 1]
People in the crowds coming to be baptized by John in
the
Do you believe in Jesus? Your sins are forgiven. Do you see this sign John the Baptist saw -- the
Spirit of God descending from heaven like a dove & lighting on Jesus –
do you see the promised Savior John clearly saw coming to sacrifice himself for
our sins & for the sins of the whole world? Your guilt is gone. Do you see a descending dove & hear a
heavenly voice as Jesus stands on the banks of the
What a privilege, what a pleasure it is for us to hear
Jesus identified & introduced as our Savior after his baptism! More exciting than any January’s
inauguration! Bringing us blessings
better than any presidential candidate can possibly promise! Bringing us eternal blessings – forgiveness,
faith, unending life in Christ – bringing us eternal, spiritual blessings our new
pastor will also deliver in the coming days as we are preaching God’s gospel
truths, Jesus turns our eyes toward his cross as he steps up out of the
Amen.