Homily upon the Baptism of Our Lord

[Isaiah 42:1-7 / 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 / Matthew 3:13-17]

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” (Today’s Epistle)

And what is more foolish, I ask you, than the belief that a handful of water splashed on the head of a child or an adult makes the difference between life and death, between heaven and hell? And what is so weak as a little child who can do nothing for itself and cannot make any choices of its own, but who can only receive this dousing and promise? Yet it is precisely through such foolish and weak things of the world that God chooses to work His wise and saving deeds. You have to be a fool to believe it – a fool for Christ. How foolish are you?

John the Baptist thought Jesus was pretty foolish when he came to him for Baptism. John was the in the business of calling sinners to repentance, inviting folks who had made a mess and muddle of their lives and of those around them, to turn from their own ways and to accept a new life from the hand of God. John knew that that life, contrary to what the eyes beheld, was actually imparted in the waters where he stood. So when Jesus shows up, drops his clothes and enters the water with all the other sinners, John is befuddled.

“Get out of town! You don’t belong here. You’re the only one who DOESN’T belong here! I mean, I’m doing this because God told me to, but you know as well as I do that I need it as badly as any of these folks here. But you – you don’t need it at all. What sins have you got to turn from, Jesus? What mess have you made of your life or others’ lives?”

Foolish, it seemed to John, that Jesus should be there. But the ways of God can look foolish even to the people of God. Jesus sets John straight:

“Cousin, don’t argue. Just do it. It’s the way we’ll fill up all righteousness.”

And what did THAT mean? How is Jesus, being baptized with a sinner’s baptism for repentance and forgiveness, going to fill up and overflow all of the righteous demands of God in the law?

Well, remember that what the Law demands is really simple: love! Complete and total and unbroken love. Unfractured, whole, 100% pure love. Not some of the time, but all of the time. And that is how Jesus fulfills all righteousness. He loves. Not with some piece of Him, some part of His being, but with all His heart. Not now and again, but always. Not just this or that person, but every single human being. Not just them, but you and me.

And so he fulfills all righteousness by stepping into the water with us in our sin, in the mess we’ve made of our lives. He gets into the water with us sinners because He loves us and wants to shield us with His own perfect love, to enfold us in that love, and to grant to us all the privileges that are His because He lives that love to the full.

See, the Baptism of Jesus is intimately connected to what happened on Calvary. When He takes our sinner’s baptism on Himself, He’s promising us that He will one day go on to BE sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21). He’ll let the judgment of the Holy One against all unholiness strike Him down as He takes all our sin into Himself. And just as surely as on the Cross He took our place, so in Baptism we get to take His place. It’s the great reversal, the sweet swap! Him getting our deserts while we feast on His deserts! That’s the depths of the love He showered on us when He was baptized.

So think of the three-fold miracle that happened: heaven was opened, the Spirit descended, and the Father said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Do you realize, do you get it, that this happened to Jesus in order that it might be EXACTLY what happens to you and everyone who receives the Baptism which Jesus commands?

Water is poured and with the water, the word and promise of God. Jesus himself in that water – making it a life-giving, holy water. And so in that water heaven itself is opened to you. What was closed from the fall, when we were driven from our true home into exile, is now given again! And so in that water the Spirit of God is poured out on your life. God himself comes to live in you, to make you be His temple! And so in that water the Father beams down on you from heaven a look of love and pride that says: “Would you look there? That’s my child. I am so proud of my child. I love my child so!” Just as the Father beamed His love on Jesus when He was baptized, so He does for you.

All of this Jesus has in mind as “fulfilling all righteousness” when he steps into that water with John and takes the sinners’ baptism as His own.

All of that in a handful of water? You’d have to be a fool to believe it, wouldn’t you? That’s right. A fool for Christ, one who knows that the One who went to Calvary with our sin and who trounced on our death and left it trampled behind in an empty tomb is the One on whose Word we can rely with absolute certainty. For God has indeed chosen the foolish and the weak things of the world to put to shame the smart-alecks and the bullies. And He’s prepared a table in the presence of our enemies for us to celebrate the victory of His folly over our wisdom! His weakness over our strength! Glory be to Him! Glory be to Him forever! Amen.