First
Sunday after the Epiphany
Baptism
of Our Lord
January
8, 2017
Matthew
3:14
Jesus
Washing Away Our Squirming
In
the name of the Father and of the ☩
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
In
the story of Jesus’ life there
are times when He asks others to do something. When a large crowd of
over 5,000 had come to listen to Him preach were getting hungry, He
asked one of His disciples, Philip:
“Where
shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
JOHN
6:5 NIV 1984
Philip’s
answers was basically no, Lord, it can’t
be done.
But
other times His commands are obeyed without objection. When Jesus
told a paralytic,
“Get
up, take your mat and go home.” [Then the man] got up and went
home.
MATTHEW
9:6b-7
Today
Jesus asked John to baptize Him. And at first John said no.
Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But
John tried to deter Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and
do You come to me?”
MATTHEW
3:14
Baptism
is washing. But it does more than wash the dirt off of your face and
from under your fingernails. This water and the words, “I baptize
you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
washes away your sin. We were all born with me-first on our hearts.
So when Jesus asks us to do anything, we say no. Even when He asks we
to do something that is good, we makes excuses.
For
example, Jesus tells a husband and wife to be fruitful and multiply.
Often the objection among God's own people is, “Well, okay, but not
too much fruit and not too much multiplication.” To be clear, this
isn’t about a setting of
minimum number of kids. Instead the point is how we naturally squirm
away from what Jesus says to us. This squirming is our sinful
selfishness.
Kids,
why do you try to weasel out of chores or homework?
“I
didn't make that mess. Reggie did that, not me.”
“Another
quiz. We just had a quiz yesterday.”
We
squirm, we sin.
John,
on the other hand, tried to squirm away because he knew exactly what
a wretched sinner he was. It is strange to have a sinner baptize the
Only Perfect Man. Yet this was the way Jesus wanted it to be.
Jesus
replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to
fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
MATTHEW
3:15
When
Jesus assured John that this way was His way, John said yes. And by
being baptized, Jesus stepped further into our lives and into our
sin, so that He might take our sin and our squirming far away. This
is what Jesus did to you when His pastor baptized you. He exchanged
our sin for His perfection and He took our sin on Himself. This is
how He serves us. And what does He ask us? To trust Him.
For
even the
Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His
Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.
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