Parents tend to be proud of their children, at least most of the time. We celebrate the big moments in their lives. It can be an award ceremony or a graduation. Cheryl and I would watch with amazement at Brett’s precision marching during half-time shows while playing his tenor sax. Of course, when he graduated from college, we were again tearfully proud. That’s what parents do. According to Luke, God can be a proud parent as well.
Today is Baptism of Jesus Sunday, and this morning’s scripture readings speak of parental pride. In Isaiah 43, God says to Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isa 43:1). I hear in that message a bit of parental pride, especially since a few verses later, God tells the people of Israel they are loved and precious in God’s sight. God says something similar in Luke’s version of Jesus’ baptism.
On this second Sunday of the new year, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism. While we remember his baptism at the Jordan, we also get to remember our own baptisms. Later this morning we’ll have an opportunity to renew our baptismal vows, whether we made them or they were made on our behalf.
It’s a good thing to remember our baptisms because baptism is one of two sacraments of the church. While we partake of communion on a regular basis, most people undergo baptism only once in a lifetime. Although some of us have been baptized more than once, just so we covered all the bases!
When it comes to the meaning and purpose of baptism, there is no better place to turn than the document produced by the World Council of Churches in 1982 called Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry. While the churches are still trying to figure out how to fully implement the agreements made in the document, both Presbyterians and Disciples affirmed it. What that means is that the churches that affirmed the document mutually affirm each other’s baptisms.
The section on baptism begins with this word:
Christian baptism is rooted in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, in his death and in his resurrection. It is the incorporation into Christ, who is the crucified and risen Lord; it is entry into the New Covenant between God and God’s people. Baptism is a gift of God, and is administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. [BEM, Faith and Order Paper No. 111, p. 7].
It is also “the sign of new life through Jesus Christ. It unites the one baptized with Christ and with his people.” [BEM, p. 7].
With that introduction to the meaning of baptism, let’s turn to what Luke has to say about John’s baptismal ministry along with Jesus’ baptism. There are several versions of this story besides Luke’s, and each of them is a bit different. While Matthew and Mark describe John actually baptizing Jesus, the Gospel of John places Jesus near where John is baptizing but it doesn’t record Jesus being baptized. Although Luke does tell us that Jesus was baptized, he doesn’t actually describe the act of baptism. All that Luke tells us is that Jesus was counted among those baptized.
I picture a scene similar to the one featured in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou. The movie pictures a large group of people lining up to be baptized in a river while singing “Down to the River to Pray.” When Delmar, an escaped convict on the run, hears the singing and sees the people lining up to be baptized, he runs to the front of the line so he can have his sins washed away. When he returns to his two friends, who are also on the run, he tells them: “Well that’s it, boys. I’ve been redeemed. The preacher’s done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It’s the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting’s my reward.”
According to Scripture, the only difference between Delmar and Jesus is that Jesus didn’t have any sins that needed to be washed away. While Luke doesn’t explain why Jesus got baptized, the very fact that he did makes baptism all the more important.
Before we get to what happens after Jesus’ baptism, we need to step back to the opening section of our reading from Luke’s Gospel. Luke begins by telling us the “people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah.” That’s not surprising because John was drawing big crowds to the Jordan and wasn’t afraid to speak truth to the people in power. He even called them a “brood of vipers” (Luke 3:7). John responded to these questions by telling the crowd that not only wasn’t he the Messiah, but someone greater than him was coming after him. While he baptized with water, the one coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire.
When John spoke of fire, he had in mind God’s act of judgment. He told the people the coming one would use his winnowing fork to separate the wheat from the chaff and then throw the chaff into the fire. I have an opinion about what John meant by the chaff, but we need to leave that conversation for another day.
After we hear John’s response, we jump down to Luke’s account of Jesus' baptism, skipping over John’s arrest by Herod’s Antipas. We pick up the story in verse 21, where Luke tells us that “when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized,” Jesus began to pray. This verse is a good reminder that Jesus was a man of prayer. It’s during this moment of prayer that things get interesting.
Luke uses what scholars call apocalyptic language to describe what happens next. He tells us that heaven opened up, letting us know that God is about to speak, so be prepared to listen. After heaven opens, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove. Finally, a voice comes from heaven that declares: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
You may notice a Trinitarian pattern in this verse. Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit descends upon the Son, while God the Father speaks to the Son. While in Luke’s version, it appears that only Jesus heard the voice of God, it was nonetheless a voice of parental pride.
If we step back to Luke chapter 2, we will find the story of Jesus’ youth. Luke tells the story of the family’s visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, Jesus disappears and heads to the Temple where he discusses theology with the religious leaders. Then, after the family returns to Nazareth Luke tells us that as Jesus grew up, he “increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). That sentence speaks of a divine parental affirmation of Jesus. The next time we encounter Jesus, he is at the Jordan where he has been baptized. Now, with another word of parental pride and affirmation, Jesus is ready to begin his ministry.
Although our reading ends with verse 22, it’s worth noting that verse 23 tells us one more thing, and that is “Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work.” Then, at the start of chapter 4 we learn that “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil” (Luke 4:1-3). While that’s a story for another day, I believe that Luke would want us to know that baptism is only the beginning of a life of service to God in the name of Jesus, who was filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. Luke also reminds us that like us, Jesus was tested. If we turn to the book of Hebrews, we read: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
It is with this knowledge that we can remember our own baptisms and confessions of faith in Jesus. As we read in Isaiah 43, God says to Israel, and to us:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. [Isa 43:1b-4a].
As I read scripture, I find reminders that to be in Christ is to be numbered among God’s adopted sons and daughters, whom God loves and honors. It is through our baptisms that God puts a seal on us, a seal that includes the presence of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to serve God by serving one another.
In a moment we’ll sing “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry.” That hymn ends with these words:
I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
With this message from God, spoken to us in the context of our own baptisms, let us reaffirm our baptismal vows.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Troy, Michigan
Baptism of Jesus Sunday
January 12, 2025
Image attribution: Valente, Liz. Baptism of Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59319 [retrieved January 11, 2025]. Original source: Liz Valente, https://www.instagram.com/donalizvalente/.
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