What’s Your REAL Birthday?
Baptism into the body of Christ
Matthew 3:1-12
Stephen H. Becker, M.Div.
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
2nd Sunday in Advent
December 9th, 2007
When is your BIRTH-day? I mean, your real birthday? No, I’m not talking about your D O B —your date-of-birth—like you find on your driver’s license, but instead, I’m talking about the day you were born into the body of Christ, the day you were born again. Do you know what I’m driving at here? Well, let me give you some more hints, my date of birth is September 20, 1965, according to my driver’s license, but my real birth-day is March 20, 1966. My certificate of live birth, signed by the doctor who delivered me at the hospital also says the earlier September 20th date, but I have another certificate, one that says I am truly born, (pause) born again, born into eternal life, that has the later date of March 20th, 1966 on it. And this certificate I’m talking about isn’t signed by a physician (pause)… it’s signed by a pastor. Do you know what I’m talking about now? Friends, my mother gave birth to me on September 20th 1965, but I was baptized at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church on Center Parkway, just about 8 miles from here in Sacramento, on March 20th, 1966; I was baptized into the body on Christ that day and born again, born into a new everlasting life, a new birth by water and the Spirit. Do you know your real birthday? If you don’t, I challenge you to find out your baptismal date and memorize it!
In the reading today from Matthew 3, the same reading, by the way, that millions of other Lutherans read today, we hear of how before Jesus, all John the Baptist could do is baptize with water. But soon there would be another, one much more powerful than John, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Of course, the advent of that Person is why we celebrate Christmas, and that Person Who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ, the Ultimate physician who delivers children of all ages, into a new, everlasting life. So let’s open with prayer…
For the parents in the room tonight, I’m sure you can relate to this—my kids have been excited about Christmas for weeks now. And of course, I keep reminding them about the real reason for the season: Jesus’ birth. That day, some 2,000 years ago, changed the world forever. As sinners, and as children of a world corrupted by sin, we know through our Scriptures that no sinner can enter the kingdom of God—heaven— because we are unclean, because we are unworthy, because we are unrighteous, because we are not like our righteous and perfect God. This is the Law, black and white. It’s God’s Law, it’s righteous, and it does not change. This Law is as much in effect today as it was on the day that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. But because of Jesus Christ, there is hope…there is forgiveness. Yes, we are still sinners. Yes, we still sin. We can’t help it because we are children of a fallen humanity. Yes, we can and should resist evil and sin; in fact, as believers in Jesus, we should fight the temptation to sin with every fiber of our being. But the point is, we’ve still sinned, and each one of us will—sooner or later—sin again. But because of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven through His blood. In the Gospel reading from Matthew, John the Baptist quotes the Old Testament prophet of Isaiah when he says, “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” Who is that voice calling in the desert? John the Baptist! Isn’t that amazing, the prophet Isaiah, who prophesied so clearly about Jesus, also prophesied about the coming of John the Baptist. And so what is John the Baptist saying there in the desert? He was preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John knew that the promised Messiah of Israel, the Lamb of God who would come to take away the sins of the world, was at hand—was in the world, just as Scripture had been foretelling. John was preaching the message to repent. He was telling the people, yes, you are sinners, but God loves you so much that He is sending a Messiah to save you from yours sins. So stop sinning, and be sorry…repent… of your sins—and then watch what God is about to do in your life! By repenting of your sins and by being baptized, you are making, “A highway for our God.” Repenting of your sins, and being baptized is your highway, your expressway away from what your sins have earned you and takes you straight back into fellowship with God. The fact that John the Baptist is proclaiming this is very important. Consider these facts about John the Baptist:
• His mother Elizabeth was pregnant with him at the same time Mary was pregnant with Jesus. In fact, his mother and Mary were sisters. That made John Jesus’ cousin. One time Mary walked by Elizabeth, while they were still pregnant, and Elizabeth felt John leap for joy inside her womb. Even before they were born, John knew Who Jesus was. And he knew that Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary cousin, but instead, he knew that Jesus was, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
• The name John means, “The LORD is gracious.”
• John knew that baptizing by water was the best a man of God could do, but that Jesus would make that baptism by water complete by baptizing with the Holy Spirit.
Yes, Jesus makes everything complete. Yet Jesus doesn’t take away God’s Law, but rather He fulfills it. He completes the Law for believers.
Before Jesus appeared to John, John was preaching repentance-baptism, which back then meant that baptism preceded or accompanied repentance. Baptism of this sort really wasn’t new, and was typically used to baptize Gentile converts to Judaism. But it was unheard of that the Jews themselves…the very descendants of Abraham…needed to repent or be baptized. In fact, John’s practice of baptizing those who came to him in repentance was so characteristic and well-known of his ministry that he became known as “the Baptist” or the “the Baptizer.” All along though, John kept telling people that there would be another One—meaning Jesus—Who would come soon, whose baptism was by far more powerful than that of John. John’s baptizing there in the river Jordan became so well known that people from all over the area came out to watch him at work and/or to be baptized themselves. Now of course, this got the Pharisees—the religious leaders—all up in arms and interested in what this fellow was doing there. Remember, the Pharisees were some of the top Jewish priests who were really quite self-righteous…they thought that they were way better than anyone else, when in fact they weren’t preaching or practicing God’s love at all. So they asked John what he was up to. They even asked John if He was the “Christ”…if he was the Promised Messiah that the Old Testament had been telling people would come to save them and to save Israel. Of course, John answered no and since he knew who Jesus was, He told them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worth to untie.” The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
When we baptize in the Christian church, we baptize in the Name of the Father, and the Name of the Son, and the Name of the Holy Spirit. Then we pronounce a work that the Holy Spirit does as this Holy Sacrament of baptism is performed. The pastor says, “You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit.” You see, this work of God the Holy Spirit at our baptism forever makes us a child of God through Jesus’ death on the cross. That’s also why the pastor makes the sign of the cross on the person’s forehead and says, “You have been marked with the cross of Christ forever.” Our repentance of our sins and our faith in Jesus allows Jesus Christ to baptize us with His Holy Spirit (pause) forever.
Why then do we baptize those who accept Jesus and repent of their sins? Simply because Jesus Himself tells us that we are to do so. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized (pause) will be saved.” It’s as simple as that, friends. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” Jesus tells us that we are to believe in Him—we are to have faith. We are to be sorry for our sins and place our entire trust—our entire lives—in Jesus, believing that Jesus will take away our sins. And once we have that saving faith, we are to be baptized…we are born again.
You know, sometimes Jesus used parables to help drive home a point that He wants us to understand, like last week where we looked at the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Sometimes a parable, which gives us like “a moral to the story” helps us to better understand Jesus’ message and helps us to apply it to our everyday lives. But other times in the Gospels, Jesus is very straightforward in telling us something. For example, when Pilate asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews, Jesus didn’t give Pilate a parable; instead, He said, “Yes, it is as you say.” Sometimes Jesus gives us commandments or Biblical truths in a very clear, precise, straightforward way. I don’t know of any other way to interpret Jesus’ words when he said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” other than if you believe in Jesus, and you are sorry for your sins and you want to turn your life over to Jesus Christ, yet you haven’t been baptized yet, get yourself some water and a pastor quick because Jesus said so! Baptism is so important that Jesus Himself was baptized. Jesus presented Himself to John the Baptist for baptism. And of course, John knew who Jesus was. John knew that here—right in front of him—was standing God in the flesh, the very Son of God Himself. And He was asking John to baptize Him. This was so amazing and humbling to John that he actually argued with Jesus and said, “I need to be baptized by YOU”—(pause) Jesus—You are God, You are the Messiah, You are without sin, and yet You want me to baptize You? Come on, I must be misunderstanding you Lord. Remember, Jesus taught by example. Jesus knew that baptism was essential. So he told John, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” So John the Baptist, a sinner like you and me, baptized Jesus Christ. Friends, if Jesus Christ, the Perfect Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the World, Our Savior Who had never, ever sinned, needed to be baptized, well…whoa…what about us?
My dear friends and brothers and sisters in Jesus. God loves you. God sent His son to die for you. God wants to redeem you. Even though you reject Him with your sin, He is still there—with His Holy Arms outstretched—reaching out to you, wanting to redeem you. Repent of your sins. Turn away from your sins. And turn to Jesus. Turn to the Lamb of God Who although was without sin, took your sins and my sins and the sins of the world upon Himself and then went to the cross for our sins. Turn to this Lamb of God. I promise you that Jesus Christ will forgive you if you only believe in Him, trust in Him, and turn your lives over to Him. If you haven’t been baptized, I invite you to come see me right after church to talk about Holy Baptism. If you aren’t sure whether you have or haven’t been baptized, come see me. Trust in Jesus Christ my friends (pause) and live. Amen. Now may the true faith…
