In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

 John the Baptizer had been sent from God to prepare the way of Christ.  To do this he was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  John said to those who were coming out to him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits worthy of repentance."  Certainly not a very popular message, but one that needed to be spoken nonetheless.  For only through true repentance would the people be made ready to receive the Messiah who would soon be revealed.  They needed to come to terms with the reality that they were a brood of snakes, children of the serpent of Eden, with the venom of sin coursing through their beings.  They were full of self-righteousness and worldliness and corruption and false penitence.  They needed to be brought to their knees through John's preaching of the Law and wrath so that they might be lifted up through the preaching of the Gospel of the Messiah and the baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

 John's message is also for you still today.  For the spiritual condition of mankind hasn't changed.  At heart you are no different than those Israelites of old.  You too are a nest of snakes.  You too are by nature children of the evil one, under His power, filled with His poison.  Now your old Adam doesn't like to hear that sort of preaching.  When I speak that way, your sinful nature says, "Come on, I'm not that bad.  Sure, I'm not perfect, but who is?  Compared to a lot of other people I think I'm doing OK.  What I really need isn't repentance, just a little self-improvement." So shrouded is fallen man in deceit that God has to reveal the way things really are.  And so John's message of repentance still rings out, saying, "Give up your proud, self-reliance, which produces only cold worship and self-gratifying prayer.  Conform yourself no longer to the ways and the wisdom of this world, which results only in ungodliness.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Die to yourself, that the Lord may raise you to His life.   "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

 And indeed, it is.  For the King of the kingdom of heaven now makes His epiphany at the Jordan River.  The Messiah manifests Himself publicly and comes to John.  But what does Jesus do?  He asks John to baptize Him!  Now why would He do that?  After all, John's baptism was for sinners, and Jesus is sinless.  John's was a baptism of repentance.  Jesus didn't need to repent!  What is going on here?

 The answer to that question comes from the exchange that is recorded between John and Jesus.  The Baptizer tried to stop Jesus by saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to Me?"  John thought it improper to do such a thing.  But Jesus persuaded him with these words, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  In other words, Jesus was saying, "This is what must be done to fulfill the righteous plan of My Father who sent Me.  I must be counted among the sinners and become one with them in order to make them righteous."

 It is written, "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  Jesus became a sinner so that you would become saints–not that He ever sinned Himself, but rather that He took upon Himself the sin of all mankind.  John the Baptizer Himself said of Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  Here at the Jordan then, Jesus was beginning His sacred journey to Calvary. He was bearing and carrying the sin and the judgment that you deserved, for which He would ultimately pour out His holy blood on the cross for your salvation and your forgiveness.

 At His baptism, then, Jesus was showing forth His solidarity with fallen human beings.  As it is written, "He was numbered with the transgressors."  Not only did our Lord humble Himself to take on your flesh and be born of a Virgin, but now He takes the next step, and in the water He stands shoulder to shoulder with you and absorbs into Himself the curse of your sin.  He goes so far as to take your place and put Himself into your bondage in order that He might burst the bars of your captivity and conquer your satanic captor.  As Isaiah prophesied, God's Servant Jesus will "bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house."  Thus, our Lord's Baptism and His holy cross are inseparably connected.  For on both occasions He is there as your substitute.  Your sin becomes His sin; His righteousness becomes your righteousness.  He trades places with you to set you free from the power of death and to give you the glorious liberty of His everlasting life.

 This is why we hold baptism in such high regard.  This is why it is such a powerful act of God and a true Sacrament.  Our Lord Jesus has put Himself into it!  He who paid the penalty for our sins on the cross has sanctified the water with His real presence.  Christ is in the water to make baptism a fountain of grace and forgiveness and life.  There are those who hold baptism in low esteem and consider it to be a mere ceremony or human act of dedication.  And so the Small Catechism poses the question, "How can water do such great things?" like rescuing from death and the devil and giving eternal salvation to all who believe.  The answer: "Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water."  Do you see?  It's not mere water that does these things.  It is the Word of God that is in the water, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, whom our hearts cling to and trust in.  His presence makes baptism a life-giving, faith creating event.  As Titus chapter three says, "[God the Father] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior."  He who needed no baptism put Himself into the River in order that your baptism might be a holy cleansing.

 Since Jesus stood with you in the Jordan, and since you are joined to Him by water and the Word, that means that what took place here in the Gospel is true also for you.  It is recorded that when Jesus had been baptized, He came up immediately from the water and the heavens were opened to Him.  So also heaven has been opened to you who are in Him by faith.  That pathway that once was closed has now been cleared for you through Christ the Mediator.  For He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  Just as Israel crossed the Jordan to enter into the promised land, so now you cross the Jordan with the Lord Jesus to enter the promised land of life with God and of heaven.

 The Gospel also records that Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  That, of course, does not mean that before this time Christ did not possess the Holy Spirit.  For the Holy Spirit is His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Jesus.  Rather He received the Holy Spirit in this way so that the Spirit might be poured out on your human nature with all of His gifts, your nature which Christ took upon Himself at His incarnation.  Here Jesus was anointed both as true God and true man for the task that lay before Him as the Messiah.

 So it is that the Holy Spirit descends on and is given to those who are baptized in the name of Jesus.  Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters at creation; just as the Spirit of God blew across the waters after the flood to dry them, and a dove was sent out from the ark to verify that all things were made new and were safe for life–so the same Spirit that alighted upon our Lord comes to you in the water to recreate you and give you new life.  As it is written, "Unless one is born [again] of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."  United with Christ in His baptism and death, you are also united with Him in His resurrection.

 When the Father saw His Son humbly and willingly taking on the task of becoming the Redeemer of the world, His voice came from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  All three persons of the Trinity were revealed at this momentous event.  So also this same threefold God was present to put His name on you as you were baptized by the Spirit into the Son of God, and the Father's voice declared, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  At the holy font you truly were Christened, incorporated into Christ's body, made to be the temple of His Spirit.  Having been Christened, you've become part of the divine family, children of the heavenly Father, with whom He is truly well-pleased.  For it is written, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."  No longer are you the brood and offspring of the serpent.  You are sons of God in Christ, forgiven and redeemed and holy children.

 Brothers and sisters of Christ, you were reminded at Christmas that for us the manger of Bethlehem is the holy altar on which Jesus is cradled in bread and wine.  Let us learn today that for us the Jordan River is the holy font of baptism in which our Lord yet wades.  Let us daily return to our baptism through repentance and faith in Christ.  Let us never stray far from the River.  For our Life is in the water.

  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit