Baptism of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34–38; Matthew 3:13–17

Trinket or treasure
Jesus’ baptism begins a “new era.” The new era is a “new creation.” Jesus is the “new Adam.”

Ann Thomas tells this story on herself. She was at a garage sale with her friend Betty. Ann had just sorted through a tray of trinkets. Betty came up and asked, “Any luck?”

No! said Ann. It’s just a pile of junk. She stepped aside to let Betty see for herself. Betty took one look at the pile, picked up a tarnished old cross and said,  I can’t believe it. I’ve found a treasure! This cross is made of antique silver.

When Ann’s friend got home, she cleaned the cross and polished it. It was, indeed, a treasure.

Ann ended her story, saying, Betty and I both looked at the same cross. I saw only junk; Betty saw a treasure.

Let’s take this story one step further.

Later Betty’s seven-year-old son, Bobby, picked up the cross,
held it reverently in his hands, and looked at it a long time.
Suddenly he began to cry.

What’s wrong? asked Betty. Bobby said, I can’t help it.
I was looking at Jesus on the cross.

Three people looked at the same cross. One saw junk; another saw a treasure; a third saw Jesus.
What’s true of the cross is true of the Gospel. Three people hear the same gospel story but react to it in three different ways.

The first person merely listens to the story and does nothing more.

The second person listens to the story, too, but goes a step further by trying to learn the story’s meaning.

The third person also listens to the story and tries to learn
its meaning. But this person takes the story a step further
by trying to apply the story to life.

And so the three approaches to the Gospel are to listen to it,
to learn from it, and to apply it to life and live it.

Let’s illustrate these three approaches, using today’s story of Jesus’ baptism.

In the first approach we merely listen carefully to the story.
We learn that after John baptized Jesus, three unusual events took place: the sky opened, the Spirit descended, and a voice spoke from heaven.

And so, in the first approach, we simply listen to the story.

In the second approach we go a step further. We try to learn the meaning of the story. In other words, we try to learn the significance of the sky opening, the Spirit descending, and the voice speaking.

Take the sky opening.What does it mean?
In their imaginations ancient Jews pictured God as living somewhere above the sky. The sky was a kind of barrier
separating heaven and earth. If God wanted to come down
to earth, he had to break through the barrier.

This explains Isaiah’s words when he asks God to save the world from sin. Isaiah says to God: Why don’t you tear
the sky open and come down? Isaiah 64:1


The psalmist prays to God in a similar way: O LORD, tear the sky open and . . . save me. Psalm 144:5–7

The image of the open sky suggests that God has heard his people’s prayers. He is coming to rescue them. In other words,
a “new era” is about to begin on earth.

This brings us to the second unusual image: the image of the Spirit hovering over Jesus and the water.

This image is almost identical with the image the Book of Genesis uses to describe the beginning of creation: “The Spirit of God was moving over the water.” Genesis 1:2

The image of the Spirit moving over Jesus and the water
suggests that the new era, just beginning, is a “new creation” or “re-creation” of the world.

That brings us to the final image: the voice from heaven saying. This is my own dear Son.

These words of God the Father identify Jesus as his Son.
Jesus is the “new Adam” of the new creation. Paul compares Jesus and Adam this way:


The first man, Adam, was created a living being;
but the last Adam [Jesus] is the life-giving Spirit. . . .

The first Adam . . . came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven. . . .

Just as we wear the likeness of the man made of earth [the first Adam],  so we will wear the likenessof the Man from heaven
[the second Adam, Jesus]. 1 Corinthians 15:45–49

And so we can summarize the meaning of the baptism of Jesus in these words: Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River marks
the start of a “new era” in history. This new era is a “new creation” in which Jesus is the “new Adam.”

This brings us to the third way a person can approach the story of Jesus’ baptism. Besides listening to it, and besides learning its deeper meaning, we can also relate it to our lives and live it

How do we relate the story of Jesus’ baptism to our lives and live it?

One way is to do what seven-year-old Bobby did with the silver cross. We can think about the story in our minds
and pray over it in our hearts.

For example, we can recall that the “new creation,” which began with the baptism of Jesus, became a personal reality
for each one of us at our own baptism.

When we were baptized, in a very true sense, the sky opened above us, the Spirit of God descended upon us, and a voice said to us, You are my son.

Describing what happens in Christian baptism, Paul wrote
to a group of newly baptized Christians: 

When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ,
and in baptism you were also raised with Christ. . . .

You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins. . . .
But God has now brought you to life with Christ. Colossians 2:12–13

Paul, then, gives a beautiful explanation of how Christians ought to apply Jesus’ baptism to their lives and live it.

And it is with Paul’s beautiful words that I would like to end. Paul says:

You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your heart on the things that are in heaven. . . . Keep your mind fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. . . .

Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory! Colossians 3:1–4



Series II
Baptism of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7; Acts 10:34–38; Matthew 3:13–17

Totally new person
John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus’ baptism is one of rebirth—receiving a new life.
Just before the Jordan River reaches the Dead Sea, there’s a shallow spot in the river. From ancient times, caravans from all over the Near East have used this spot as a crossing place.

It was a favorite spot for people to gather and exchange world news. On an afternoon you could see Arabs with white headdresses, Babylonians with rings in their noses, and Africans with ebony-colored skin.

It was at this shallow spot that John began his preaching.

At first, people wondered if John was the Messiah. But John said he wasn’t. He said that his baptism was only with water.
The one who would come after him would baptize in the Holy Spirit.

In other words, John’s baptism was merely a baptism of repentance. It was only a sign that people wanted to repent.

The baptism of Jesus, on the other hand, would be a baptism of rebirth. It would be a sacrament that would communicate
to people a whole new life. Paul refers to this new life in his Letter to the Colossians. He writes:

[W]hen you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ. . . . You were at one time spiritually dead. . . . But God has now brought you to life
with Christ. Colossians 2:12–13
Astory may help to illustrate the kind of new life we received in baptism.

Thor Heyerdahl was a great sea adventurer. He wrote the famous book Kon Tiki. Few people realize it, but he once
had a deathly fear of water. But something happened to change all that.

During World War II, Thor trained in Canada with the
Free Norwegian Forces. One day he was canoeing down
a dangerous river. The river ended in a waterfall.

Suddenly the canoe capsized. Thor was plunged into the raging river. As the swirling waters swept him helplessly toward the waterfall, a strange thought entered his mind.

It occurred to him that he would soon learn which of his parents was right about life after death. His father believed there was such a life; his mother did not.

Then another strange thing happened. The words of the Lord’s Prayer popped into his head, and he began to pray.

A burst of energy began to surge through his body. Thor began to battle the river. Some mysterious force was helping him. A few minutes later he reached shore.

The Thor Heyerdahl who climbed out of the river was totally different from the Thor Heyerdahl who was plunged into the river. The waters of the river had baptized him,  so
to speak, into a new life.

First of all, the old Heyerdahl had a deathly fear of water.
The new Heyerdahl did not.

Second, the old Heyerdahl had questions about God and life after death. The new Heyerdahl did not.

Heyerdahl’s experience in the waters of the river is a beautiful illustration of what happens to us in the waters of baptism.

The person we are after baptism is totally different from the person we were before baptism. Before baptism, we were spiritually dead. After baptism, we are spiritually alive in Christ. We are a totally new person, living a totally new life.

Perhaps another example will make even clearer what happens in baptism.

Early Christians liked to think of baptism as grafting us into the Body of Christ. Just as a farmer grafts a twig from one tree into another tree, so baptism grafts us into the Body of Christ.

If we wanted to update this illustration, we might compare baptism to plugging a lamp into an electrical source. Once
the lamp is plugged into the source, it draws power from it and begins to glow.

Something like that happens in baptism. We are plugged into Christ, so to speak, and begin to draw life from him.

This brings up an important point. Baptism is not the end of a process. It’s the beginning; it’s merely the first step.


What happens after baptism is just as important, in its own way, as what happens during baptism. To illustrate,  let’s consider the image of grafting again.

Once a twig is grafted into a tree branch, it needs to grow and become a part of the tree. If it doesn’t, it will soon die.

The same is true of baptism. Once we are grafted into Christ,
we must grow and become part of him. If we don’t, we will die.

But how do we do this? How do we grow and become part of Christ?

Paul gives us the answer in his Letter to the Colossians:

Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him,
and become stronger in your faith. . . .

[Y]ou must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with one
 another and forgive one another. . . . And to all these qualities add love. Colossians 2:6–7, 3:12–14

In other words, we grow and become part of Christ by imitating Christ into whose body we have been grafted.

We treat others kindly as Christ has treated us.
We treat others patiently as Christ has treated us.
We forgive others as Christ has forgiven us.
We love others as Christ has loved us.

In short, we grow and become part of Christ by imitating Christ, whose life we received in baptism.

Let’s close with a prayer:

Arms of Jesus, lift us up when we fall. Voice of Jesus, call us back when we stray. Blood of Jesus, wash us clean when we become soiled. Body of Jesus, feed us when we grow hungry.
Heart of Jesus, help us love one another as you love us. M.L.

Series III
Baptism of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7; Acts 10:34–38; Matthew 3:13–17

Baptism
As Jesus’ baptism was a beginning, so our baptism is a beginning.

John said to Jesus, “I ought to be baptized by you.” Jesus said to John, “Let it be for now.” Matthew 3:14–15

In the mid-1800s a terrible epidemic of leprosy broke out
on the Hawaiian Islands.

At that time modern medicine was still in the pioneer stage.
As a result, authorities had no way to treat the contagious disease.

To arrest its rapid spread,  they did something they hated to do, but felt they must do.

They set up a leper settlement on the remote island of Molokai.
Describing the situation this created, Robert Ellsburg writes:

Hawaiians . . . suffering from the disease were snatched by force from their families and communities and sent to this island . . .

Patients were literally dumped in the surf and left to make their way ashore, seek shelter in caves or squalid shacks and cling to life as best they could. All Saints
Ayoung Belgiam priest, Father Damien, was shocked to learn of the plight of these pathetic victims. So he volunteered to go to Molokai to minister to them.

Once on the island, he organized them into a community.
Then he built a church and began helping them in any way that he could.

In the process of doing this, he identified with them completely.

He worked with them, walked with them, and ate with them.
He became like them in every way short of sharing their tragic illness.

After five years of ministering to the lepers, Father Damien
contracted their dreaded disease, also.

He continued to minister to them four more years, before the disease took his own life in 1889. Nearly a hundred years later, in 1995, Pope John Paul II beatified him, a preparatory step toward sainthood.
The moving story of Father Damien fits in beautifully with today’s feast, the feast of the Baptism of Jesus.
To appreciate how it fits in, we begin by recalling that people often ask: “Why did Jesus ask to be baptized?”

After all, Saint Paul said, “John’s baptism was for those
who turned from their sins.” Acts 19:4


If Jesus never sinned, why should he ask to be baptized?
John wondered the same thing. When Jesus asked to be baptized, John immediately objected, saying:

“I ought to be baptized by you, and yet you have come to me.” . . . Jesus answered him, “Let it be for now. For in
 this way we shall do all that God requires.”

I t is right here where the baptism of Jesus connects with the story of Father Damien.

Father Damien came to Molokai not because he was a leper.
He came because he wanted to help the lepers in every way
he could.

And in order to help them in every way he could, he chose to identify with them in every way he could.

He ate with them, he worked with them, he prayed with them,
and he suffered with them.

I n a similar way, Jesus came to earth not because he was a sinner. He came to help sinners in any way that he could.

And so he identified with them in every way he could  short
of sinning. Jesus lived with them, prayed with them, ate with them, and even allowed himself to be tempted like them.

It was only natural, then, that Jesus should extend his identity with them to being baptized like them.

Like Father Damien, Jesus eventually identified with them
to the point of giving his life for them.

This brings us to our own baptism. Through it, we were grafted into the Body of Christ. Through it, we became members of Christ’s body and sharers in his mission of
saving the world.

In other words, through our baptism, we were called  to use our unique God-given talents to work with Christ for the salvation of all peoples.

And so our baptism was the first step in the process of growing in Christ and learning to use our talents  to work with him for the salvation of all just as Father Damien used his talents for this purpose.

This raises an important question. How do we grow in Christ? How do we prepare ourselves to share in his work
of salvation?
Paul answers that question in his Letter to the Colossians.
He says:

Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him . . .
So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 2:6–7, 3:12–14

In other words, we do this by imitating Christ.

We strive to treat others with compassion, as Christ treated us.
We strive to treat others with patience, as Christ treated us.
We forgive others, as Christ forgave us.

In short, we strive to imitate Christ who empowered us to do these things by sharing his own divine life with us in baptism.

Let us close with a prayer, asking Jesus to help us live out our baptism, as he lived out his:

Arms of Jesus, lift us up when we fall. Voice of Jesus, lead us home when we stray.

Blood of Jesus, wash us clean when we become soiled.
Body of Jesus, feed us when we grow hungry.

Heart of Jesus, make us one with you, for our hearts were made for you and will not rest until they rest in you.