Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’
Reflection - Do you believe... really believe?
Do you believe? Do you believe or don't you believe? You do have a choice you know. God has given us a choice from the beginning. Adam and Eve both were given a choice. They could eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or they could choose not to eat. God loves us enough to give us a choice. So, the question posed here is do you believe?
After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples and gave them what for. Did they believe the accounts of his resurrection from the dead? Did the disciples believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Did they believe in Jesus? Or were they just going to be stubborn? Was their faith lacking in what Jesus had told them all along. Jesus told them that he would rise again. Do you believe? Then Jesus went on to tell them to tell the account of his resurrection to all the world. Jesus went on to speak to their ability to choose to believe.
Mark 16:16 - "The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned."
So, do you believe? You can be baptized, but do you believe? We can go through the motions, we can be part of the ceremony, the sacrament, that awesome gift of baptism freely and graciously given to us by God... but we still must at some point believe. So, do you believe?
It's not just about some water and some words spoken by a pastor. It's about water and God's Word. God's Word with a capital W. The Word made flesh that dwelt among us. It's about some water, that we can relate to... and a promise from God that if we believe and are baptized we will be saved. Our lives will change. Our actions will change. We will be saved, not by our own actions... not even our action of coming forward for baptism or the actions of our parents or sponsors presenting us for baptism. We will be saved through God's mercy.
Titus 3:4-8 - "But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure."
Now... do you believe? It's your choice you know. God has given you this choice. So, do you believe?
And if you do believe... so what? So what about it?
Romans 6:1-11 - "What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
In the passage, of this day, Jesus was baptized. He wasn't baptized by John really... Jesus was baptized by God. When we are baptized, we aren't baptized by the pastor or some other person; we are baptized by God. This isn't just some words spoken by a person. This isn't just a cute thing that we do to babies or adults or youth that is picture worthy. Baptism isn't just about us. Baptism is about God coming to his people. Coming to them as a group of people and coming to them individually. God comes to us of God's own will, not our own will. It's not up to me to be baptized. It's up to God to baptize. Jesus was baptized by God and the heavens opened up to him and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in another earthly form, not because Jesus needed it... but because God chose to do this for us to see. God chose baptism.
Jesus, as God, chose John to lay his hands upon him and take Jesus under the water and to be baptized. John was the one doing the baptism. God was the one giving the baptism for all to see through John to Jesus. Therefore baptism isn't our little show to put on to the delight and picture taking of the parents and family, it is a divine intervention into the life of a people and a person by God!
Oh, how we need this baptism. We need this baptism that opens up the heavens and the Holy Spirit and the calling and the gifting of spiritual gifts that live and grow to impart our part into the very command that Jesus gave the disciples in Mark 16.
Mark 16:15 - "And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation."
What good news? The Good News that Jesus rose from the dead. The Good News that in our baptism we have risen out of the waters to a new life. A new life through which we are now alive in Jesus Christ. Alive forever! Alive because of the promise! We are now living eternal life. Yes we are now living eternal life even though we live this life in this sinful world and in our sinful being, God chose us to give us a choice! God chose us to give us a choice to believe or to not believe. So...
Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that we along with our baptism are alive in Christ? Do you believe?
If you believe and are baptized then you are "delivered from sin, death and the devil to enter the kingdom of Christ and live with him forever." (Luther's Large Catechism-Baptism)
Oh how holy and mighty that simple water has become. That simple water that John used on Jesus... that simple water that you received in your baptism. That simple water has become holy through God's Word. This thing we call baptism is a gift from God. It's God's free choice to choose us.
But it's our choice to believe. We can believe in Jesus resurrection or we can choose not to believe and be condemned. Yes, God through the very words of Jesus has given us this choice.
So...
Do you believe?
Prayer
O Lord, it's our prayer that all people may be brought to believe in you. May all children of the world in all time be brought to believe that Jesus lived and died and rose again that we ALL may be delivered from sin, death and the devil and enter the kingdom of Christ and live with him forever.
Thank you Lord for choosing us to be yours.
Thank you Lord for granting me the choice to choose you as well. For through the grace of your loving action we are given the honor and choice to respond to the love you have shown to us through Jesus.
Bring all your children to baptism and bring all your children to face the choice you have graciously given to believe. Increase our faith as only you can do that we may believe and be baptized... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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