Last year at this time our nation was reeling over a great controversy – the presidential election. But by mid-January the controversy was put to rest. That month marked the inauguration of our 43rd president.
Inauguration Day marks a special time in our nation’s history. It is the day on which the elected candidate is publicly recognized as Mr. President, and, with our blessings, assumes the office as such.
Christ Jesus came to fill an office and to fulfill a task. He didn’t come to be president of a nation, king of a country, or general of an army. He came to be our Savior. Jesus’ baptism is the event that publicly recognizes this fact. We can say that Christ’s baptism is an inauguration of sorts. It is the God’s public affirmation that Jesus, his Son, is our Savior. His baptism also implies that Jesus has been engaged in the work as Savior. That means Christ is 1) intent on our salvation. Jesus’ baptism also indicates that he has been approved for this job. For, 2) he is content with heaven’s blessings.
1) Intent on Our Salvation
Now, we all know how leaders are elected in this country. It’s based on a vote of confidence in promises made on the campaign trail. That’s how political candidates try to win the approval of the masses – they make promises that seem appealing to most.
God has made some promises of his own. We can say that his “campaign promise” is salvation. This was a promise made to the people. God first vowed to be our Savior to the people of Israel. He spoke through the Old Testament prophets concerning his intent. In fact, God made this promise all the way back at creation. The apostle Paul reminds us of this as writes to the Ephesians, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4). God did not base his promise of salvation on anything we would do, but on what his Son would do. That’s the promise of grace.
That was the promise God made while “on the road.” His campaign road was the path traveled to the cross. The road began in the Garden of Eden and ended at Calvary’s cross. As the Lord traversed this road through history, he was intent on our salvation. He would keep his promise.
And it pleased God to do this. For this was a promise made to all people. God is not selective in his grace. It is for everyone. It is all-inclusive. That’s because we all are sinners. We all need a Savior. We all need God’s promise. And this promise is for all time. It will never be repealed or amended or broken. The Lord keeps his word, always.
We see this truth in Jesus’ own life. Notice how Jesus was not swayed to the right or the left. He stayed on the center of the road. He headed straight for the Jordan River. He didn’t get distracted or misled. And that’s exactly the kind of Savior we need. We’re just the opposite. We get distracted all of the time. Sometimes our determination is weak and misguided. We’re sinful. We don’t keep our word. Just consider all of the promises you made to yourself or to others. How many of them are unfulfilled? I would guess most of them. Every year we make new promises – loose weight, quit smoking, spend more time with family, etc. – only to break them.
Now, it’s not because we lack good intentions. Oh, we often have good intentions to keep our word, but that doesn’t matter. We can’t keep our promises. One of the reasons is that we are often afraid of the “opinion polls” in our lives. We worry about what our friends would think, or we give in to our desires because we don’t want to let ourselves down. “I know I shouldn’t cuss, but everybody talks like that at work. I should wait to have sex when I’m married, but I think I’m in love. After all, everybody else is doing it”, we reason. And then what happens? We break our own campaign promises with ourselves. We burden ourselves with guilt and shame.
We even do that with God. A lot of people feel they have to make a bargain – a campaign promise – with God in order to gain heaven. Maybe you’ve been tempted to think that way in the midst of trouble and have said something like this: “God, if you get me out of this mess, I promise I’ll never miss church again!” Well, have you kept your promise? Truthfully, that’s a promise we just can’t keep. And even if we did, that is no reason for God to give us salvation.
Our salvation is based on Christ’s determination, not ours. Just think of John the Baptist in our text. Here was a fellow whom Jesus praised. He said that John was the prophet of prophets. He was the one to blaze the trail for the Messiah. What a privilege! You’d think that John would be a cut above the rest and that he’d have some extra dose of faith and understanding. But what do we see? We see that John the Baptist – the one praised by Jesus – was uncertain of Jesus’ work for him. Even John had questions. Even he needed guidance and strength. John couldn’t rely on himself.
That’s where Jesus perfect determination benefits us. His perfect determination is our strength. His love is our comfort. His gentle persuasion is our power. He comforted John in his time of need. And how did he do that? He simply reminded John the Baptist of God’s campaign promise; the promise so long in the making. Jesus pointed the Baptizer to the Word. And that was John’s source of comfort. Notice how Jesus comforted John: “Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus didn’t try to dazzle John with a bunch of “pie in the sky” promises. Jesus didn’t try to persuade John with his charm or charisma. He simply turned him to God’s promises.
Jesus reminded John that he had come to fulfill all righteousness as God promised. Christ came to fulfill all of God’s perfect standards. He came to keep all of our broken promises for us. Christ had proven he is our Savior by his birth. He came in the flesh. He had proven it by allowing himself to be circumcised and given the name Jesus, which means, “He saves.” And now, at his baptism Jesus is publicly affirming this truth. We can take comfort in this biblical account. Right here, in his Word, God assures us when we are uncertain. He strengthens us when we are without hope. He carries us when we fall. He lifts us up when we are down. The reason is that God has kept his promises. And he makes it clear for all to see. Jesus is our Savior as promised by God. He was baptized because he needed the grace of baptism. He carried all our sins. He was the Lamb of God, just as God promised.
2) Content with Heaven’s Blessings
At his baptism, Jesus is publicly recognized as the Savior promised by God. He is revealed as the Savior of all – our Epiphany Lord. Whether we approve or not is beside the point. The fact is that the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – are in agreement on the matter. Jesus demonstrates this, as he stands content with blessing and approval. Heaven’s blessings shower down on Christ. He’s given a heavenly endorsement of sorts. And he is content to receive all these blessings of approval.
First, the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove. Now, the dove is a long-standing symbol of peace and hope. At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit comes in an unassuming manner. He gently lands on Jesus’ shoulder. In this way, the Spirit connects himself to baptism. Just as the Holy Spirit was present at Jesus’ baptism, he was present at ours. Baptism means we have peace. Baptism is a visual aid of the gospel because it is connected to Christ’s work of redemption. And so the Spirit is identifying himself with Christ’s work. He approves of Jesus as God’s Son, our Savior. And baptism is God’s way of connecting us to Jesus’ work. The apostle Paul affirms this fact in his letter to the Romans when he says: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3) The point is that baptism ties us to Jesus’ work as the promised Savior. Baptism reminds us that we are cleansed through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. He is the promised Savior. God has kept his word.
If that weren’t enough, the Father himself speaks. He tells us that this is his beloved Son. Now, the Father doesn’t speak here because he must. He is not trying to persuade us. This is not some sort of divine “bandwagon” that we must decide to jump on. The Father speaks for one reason: to demonstrate that Jesus is his Son. God plays an active role in fulfilling his promise of grace. He is interested in our eternal welfare. Contrary to popular belief, God is not “watching from a distance” as the pop-song suggests.
God cares about our faith in him. He wants us to be confident in him. After all, Jesus is no self-proclaimed Messiah. When you think of it, no leader can be self-proclaimed. History has its share of self-proclaimed Messiahs – from Bob Jones to David Koresh – and each has been proven to be phony. In fact, that was the argument many made against our current president. They claimed that he wasn’t legitimate. Well, his inauguration cleared up that misconception. He is the president. The same is true of Jesus. He can’t be a self-proclaimed Savior. If he were then God’s promises wouldn’t be fulfilled. But God has kept his promise. He sent his Son. We have the proof. There are no broken campaign promises here. In fact, we see the opposite. We see Scripture fulfilled. We see God sent his Son with heaven’s blessings.
And Jesus was content with this approval. It meant his work as Savior was valid. There is an implication here for us as well. Our ministry, or service, to God is valid as well. And we can be content with the work God gives to us in his name. We don’t need anyone else’s approval to serve our Lord. We have heaven’s blessings as well. Baptism assures us that sins are forgiven. God kept his promise. We are washed clean in Christ. That means we are clean to serve God. This has special application today. We’ve just installed the new officers of our church council and ladies’ guild. This is an inauguration of sorts. What makes their ministry valid is that Christ has cleansed them in his blood and made them free to serve. This happened in baptism.
These new church officers can put their hope in this promise. The truth is that all of us can put our hope in this promise as we serve our Lord and each other. The Father approves of us in Christ Jesus. He speaks well of us. And the Spirit empowers us through his Word and Sacraments. He lights on us with peace and grace. This is what validates our service to God and each other. We can support one another in this congregation. We can get involved with our various committees and serve the Lord. We can do this because Christ’s baptism affirms that we are free to serve him. What better way to signal this fact than by joining us in the water of baptism? He addressed the need for our spiritual cleansing. Then he went to the cross for us, proving that our baptisms have the power to wash us clean and set us apart to serve our Lord. We’re legitimate.
After his inauguration, our president is finally legitimate. He finally gets to move into the White House. That’s where he’ll live and work for at least the next four years. Jesus’ baptism proves that we’re legit. Jesus has made our baptisms into an inauguration as well. Our baptism is an inauguration into God’s House. We’re validated members of his kingdom. We have the privilege to serve him in our lives with our lives. And that’s a privilege we can enjoy now and forever. Amen.
