October 28, 2007

I remember when we had our Alpha course at Justin's martial arts school a couple of years ago that Justin took a black belt off a rack on the wall and told us that it belonged to Leo. It was there waiting for the day he would complete his martial arts training.  Well, Justin, I guess you'll have to buy another one for Torin.  That's great.  You value martial arts training and are hoping your sons will too.

Most parents have hopes for their children.  We want to see them succeed and we sacrifice so that they can.  Now there can be a danger here.  Sometimes our hopes for our children don't match their gifts or interests or what they want to do with their lives.  We also have to remember that God might have a different plan than we do.  But, generally speaking, our great hopes for our children and grandchildren stem from joy and pride they bring to us.  And as parents and grandparents we like to talk about our children and grandchildren's accomplishment.  An easy way to break the ice and start a conversation with a parent or grandparent is to ask them about their kids.

When God reveals himself to us he does so in ways we can understand and relate to.  As parents and grandparents and even as children of parents we can understand the pride and joy of our Heavenly Father, who in verse 17 announces,

"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

But, what happened to occasion God saying this?  What was going on at the time?  Jesus had just been baptized.  And, once again, this is something we can identify with.  Many families have reunions and parties on the Sunday their children are baptized.  That's what we did when our daughters were baptized.  It's a time of joy.  There's one problem though.  That is that it's hard to figure why Jesus had to be baptized.  Baptism represents the washing away of sin.  As Christians we know the truth of what Psalmist says in Psalm 50: 5, Surely I was sinful at birth,    sinful from the time my mother conceived me. And we rejoice that our child's sins are washed away and that God accepts them as his own.

But Jesus had no sin. Next week we will be studying Hebrews 4: 15 a text that speaks about Jesus,

⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.

 This verse is clear.  Jesus was without sin. John called the people to repent and be baptized.  But, Jesus couldn't repent, because he didn't commit any sins to repent of.  So why did he need to be baptized?   This same question crossed John's mind.  When Jesus came to be baptized,

John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

So what's the reason?  Note Jesus' answer.

"Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness."

In this context righteousness (or dikaiosuna in the Greek) refers to being obedient to God the Father's will.  Jesus was saying that it was God, the Father's will that he be baptized.  Hence, what God said at the end makes sense.  God was expressing his pleasure in his Son who always followed his will.

But, that doesn't answer the question why a sinless Jesus would have to submit to baptism.  Certainly, part of the answer is the similar to the reason why Jesus needed to be circumcised.  Luke 2: 22- 23 says,

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"

Even though he is God the Son, Jesus took on our flesh and identified himself with God's people.  To be truly one with God's people Jesus needed to obey all the laws and expectations that God had given them.  Paul put it this way in Galatians 4: 4,

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

I remember one of Bible teacher put it this way, "Jesus became like us that we might become like him."

I want the kids here this morning to think about that.  Just like you Jesus had to listen to his mom and dad.  Just like you he had to get along with his brothers and sisters and learn to how to play with the other kids in the neighborhood.  He probably had chores,  perhaps helping his dad with his work as a carpenter.  God intended his Son to live, under the same rules and having the same problems that we have.  I'll have more to say about this next week.  But, you might want to think about that next time you talk to Jesus about a problem you're having at home, in school, or with other kids.

But, let's get back to the issue at hand.  Why did Jesus need to be baptized.  One reason was that God expected his Son to do what any God fearing Israelite should do.

But there's another reason.  And it's related to the time in Jesus' life when he was baptized.   Clearly Jesus was not baptized at a young age: He was not a baby like little Torin; but neither was he eight or ten years old, the age when many children are baptized in Baptist churches or in other churches that practice believers baptism.  Even though we can't be 100% sure, Jesus was probably around thirty.  But, more important than that is something we know for sure: that he was baptized just prior to beginning his earthly ministry.  He was baptized and then went to desert to be tempted by Satan.  After that he began his ministry. 

Think about what happened right after Jesus was baptized.  Verse 16,

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.

Right after he was baptized Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit.  And why were people anointed by the Holy Spirit?  They were anointed so that they would receive power from him to carry out the task that God had given them to do.  So, it seems clear that Jesus' baptism had something to do with his ministry. What could that be?

We spoke a few moments ago about baptism as picturing how our sins are washed away.  Children, whose blood washes away our sins? [Jesus]  What do we mean by that?  [We mean that Jesus sacrifice on the cross sacrifice paid for all the guilt our sins.] All our guilt is washed away and because we are no longer guilty God accepts us as his own children. 

Jesus could pay our guilt because he became one of us.  He became human and lived as a human being-like us in every way, except sin.  And he could fully pay for our sin, because he was God's eternal Son.  No mere human could have born the full punishment of God for sins of the world.  As you think about all of this, maybe a good summary statement would be: For us baptism represents salvation; for Jesus it represented his ministry.

But there's more too it than that.  To understand this we must look at what Paul says in Colossians 2: 10- 12

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Note especially the next words, In him you were also circumcised,

In him you were circumcised-in other words you were made one of God's people.  How?  in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,

Now, how did Christ accomplish this circumcision?

having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

By his dying and rising: which is exactly what is symbolized in his baptism.  His going into the water symbolized his dying, his burial, and even his being forsaken by God-  his descent into hell.  His rising symbolized his resurrection to a new life.

Our baptism points back to Christ's baptism.  If we are immersed, like our brothers and sister are in some churches, we literally reenact what Christ went through.  But, sprinkling or pouring also reminds us of the water that symbolized our Lord's death and resurrection. I remember when I was in the ministerium in Dike, the Methodist minister just came back from a trip to the Holy Land.  And he took along a gift for us.  It was little bottle of Jordan River water.  He said that he added a drop or two to the baptismal bowl when ever he baptized.  He said he did this for symbolic reasons.   I used to think that was a little weird, but now, as I reflect on how our baptism relates to Jesus' baptism. I think can understand where he was coming from.

Dying and rising with Jesus has real implications for our lives.  In Galatians 2: 20 Paul says,

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I am not that old person anymore.  I am connected to Jesus and share in his life. What does that mean?  It means that Jesus has a claim on me.  Like we said a few weeks ago, we are not our own, but belong body and soul to Jesus.   That's true for little Torin.   Jesus put a claim on him.

Kids don't always follow the path that we, their parents, think they should.  A doctor left his stethoscope on a seat in his car.  When his four year old son picked, he beamed with pride and said to his wife, see John wants to follow in his father's footstep.  But, just then the son held the end of the stethoscope to his mouth and said, "Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order."    Again, parents, we must remember that sometimes our goals for our children's lives don't fit their gifts or interests or what God has called them to do.  And they need to be free to find their own way and to follow that call.

But, as parents who in faith bring our children to be baptized, we trust that our children belong to God.  But, what about those times when our children seemingly turn their back on him.  Can we still trust that they belong to God?  The most recent Banner contained some startling statistics.  More than two thirds of young adults stopped attending Protestant churches regularly for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22.  And between the ages of 23- 30,  seventy percent dropped out.  Only thirty five percent ever return to church.  Now maybe there are some here who worried about their children or grandchildren or maybe brothers or sister who are one of those statistics.  They were baptized but today never darken the door of the church.  And they pretty live the way many non-churched people live.  Not only do they not think about God on Sunday, but also during the rest of the week they do not live like Christians.

Now it is true that promises of baptism are only good for those who receive them by faith.  But the same Jesus, that same lamb of God who paid such a price to save us, also said,

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' ⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

There's one more thing.  Not only do we find comfort in these verses, we also find challenge.  The same Jesus, who was baptized in Matthew 3 as a prelude to his ministry, gave this command to his disciples in Matthew 28,

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^„T the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Just as baptism began his ministry, so those who receive his baptism are called to ministry.  Today Jesus tells us that little Torin belongs to him and that he has a plan for his life.  And part of that plan is for Torin to help him gather lost sheep into his fold.  Part of that plan is for him to bring others to baptism and to train them to obedient discipleship.  And, of course, he's reminding us of that as well.  Belong has its privileges, but also its responsibilities.

Just a few years ago they changed the number of the highway that goes through Shiprock, New Mexico, the town where I once lived.  It is now highway 491; but, the old number was highway 666.  I think some of us might recall the Biblical significance of that number.  Revelation 13: 18 refers to it as the sign of the beast, a mark that was put on the forehead of those who belong to Satan.  After the impact of some the recent books and movies about the end times, people began to worry about living on a highway that was identified by that number.  It made enough of a stir that the government changed the number of the highway.  Sometimes as we reflect on in the times in which we live and as we think about Satan and the power of evil, even as Christians, we also might become afraid.  But, beloved of God, we have been baptized.  We belong to him.  His Spirit lives in us and empowers us for ministry right in the time in which God has placed us.  We have nothing to fear. Our foreheads bear the mark of God.  AMEN!