Just a few weeks ago we celebrated the birth of the Savior. God – the eternal, the almighty Logos – the second Person of the Trinity – became flesh and blood, like we are. There He lay, in a manger in a stable. And He needed tending to. Mother needed to feed Him and change his diapers and comfort Him when He got colicky. And yet the Scriptures say that this little One is the light that was to come to brighten a dark world. He is the promised Messiah. He is the Salvation of God come to humanity. But He sure didn’t look like much.
Can you explain this Jesus? G. Campbell Morgan says about our Lord: “He was the God-man. Not God indwelling a man. Of such there have been many. But not a man deified. Of such there have been none except in the myths of pagan systems of thought; but God and man, combining in one person the two natures – this is a perpetual enigma and mystery, baffling the possibility of explanation.” (Adapted from SermonCentral.com; Contributed by: Matthew Rogers)
Only Jesus meets the criteria of God-Man. We all, through faith experience the blessing of God indwelling us through the forgiveness of sin. But Jesus is the only One who can claim to be God Incarnate. As people were in the company of Jesus, they saw that He experienced many of the same things that we do: eat, sleep, laugh and cry. And because of this, many missed the fact that He was the Messiah. You see, the Lord purposely didn’t come with much flash and dash, and so many thought that Jesus didn’t look like much.
In today’s Gospel Lesson we read Luke’s account of the Baptism of Jesus. It begins by telling us that people approached John the Baptist wondering if he were the Messiah. You see, John had pizzazz. He was eccentric in his manner of dress. People could easily tell that he was cut from a different cloth. He spoke with courage. His message of repentance was proclaimed powerfully. He didn’t even hold back when it came to calling for King Herod to repent of his sins. And people liked that. Even though John was a humble servant, people liked that he spoke with clout. They were drawn to that.
And truth be told, so are we. Things that don’t look like much tend to fall off our radar screens and things that wow us - captivate us. We like people whose star seems to be shining brightly. They are like magnets. All we need to do is watch the fashion trends to see that little girls want to dress like the fashion icons they see on TV or in the magazines. Little boys want to look and act like the tough guys and action heroes of the time. We’re drawn to them because we want some of their luster to rub off on us.
Hey, let me ask you a question: How do you suppose people would behave if somebody famous were to come to our worship service? What if President Bush or the Admiral – David Robinson - came to our church one of these Sundays? How many people would make it a point to go up to them to bid them peace during the greeting? Don’t fame and fortune – glory - attract us?
But, you know, there’s a real danger when glory becomes the reason why we come to church. The gospel of glory when preached tends to draw and attract people like magnets. Many-a-preacher teaches that God will make us rich; will keep us from ever experiencing any trouble; will heal every one of our sicknesses; will heal all the hurts in our relationships; and will give us joy and peace every moment of our lives.
And this attracts people. It draws them - regardless of what the Scriptures really teach. Being attracted to power and glory is not at all unusual, even for believers. The slight, deceptive subtleties that a gospel of glory brings to us are many. It can cause us to focus on our own righteous living rather than Christ’s humble death on the Cross. Our focus can change from the forgiveness that Christ won for us to the sacrifices we make for God. It can cause us to miss the blessing of God because it seems too weak, humble, insignificant – because it just doesn’t seem like much.
When people approached John the Baptist to ask whether he was Messiah, John had to emphatically deny it. You see, John didn’t come to be the light. He came only to bear witness to the light. He came to point to Jesus, because Jesus, the God-Man, chose to come into the world not looking the part. John had to tell his followers that Jesus was the true Messiah. John understood that Jesus may not have looked like much, but through eyes of faith John could see that Jesus was God Incarnate.
And so the Baptizer told his followers: “I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire…” (Luke 3:16-17)
Jesus may not have looked like much, but He came with Kingdom power. The clout that Jesus brings is exercised where it counts. Satan was utterly squashed by this humble Messiah. He had the authority to judge – the winnowing fork John talked about symbolized Jesus’ power to separate believers from the unbelievers. He, Jesus Christ, would decide who would be directed to his left into everlasting judgment, and who would be sent to his right into the everlasting Kingdom of blessing.
Jesus was Messiah – very God of very God. John testified that he was not worthy to approach Jesus. His followers were not worthy to approach Jesus. And, beloved, we are not worthy to approach Jesus. Like John, we are not worthy to even loosen his shoe straps.
But the wonder of it all is that Jesus comes to us. He comes in his Word. And through his Spirit He brings fire that burns in our hearts as it directs us toward the Cross. He comes through the water poured over a person in Baptism, bringing forgiveness and faith. He comes to us at the Lord’s Table to become part of us and through the proclamation of the Gospel of forgiveness. Eyes of faith see Him and receive Him. Ears of faith recognize his leading.
One day the God-Man walked along the river where John was baptizing. “There! There! John told his disciples - the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of world.” Imagine the reaction from those who couldn’t recognize the Lord. “He’s the Messiah? I can’t believe it,” they must’ve thought. He sure doesn’t look like much. Just an average Joe. No mighty steed; No chariot; No attendants. What in the world does John see in this man? They only saw the weakness because He didn’t look like much. They didn’t have eyes of faith to see, nor ears of faith to hear - to recognize that there, in Jesus, was God coming to be baptized.
John was shocked that Jesus came to him to receive Baptism. “How can you ask me to do this Lord? I am only a sinner, and You are God.” “John, John, don’t worry about that. I’ve come to fulfill everything that God has said through the prophets. I’ve come to fulfill all righteousness. And so the Gospel Lesson tells us that, “…When all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)
To many, Jesus didn’t look like much. After all here He was letting another human being pour water on Him. And yet, this pleased God. “You are my beloved Son.” There was no weakness here - just humble submission to God. Just a heart willing to completely sacrifice self – even to a death on the Cross so that we could be forgiven and counted as God’s children. And Jesus, with his baptism, began that long, three year journey that led up a hill named Golgotha just on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Jesus is the God-Man. We see it in his humble birth, in his Baptism and in his death on the Cross and in his Resurrection. It is easy to miss this, even for us, even to those who have spent a life-time in church. Pastor D. James Kennedy said in a sermon: “I remember years ago talking to a man in his home about Christ and asking him who he thought Jesus was. The man replied: ‘Oh, Jesus is a wonderful man. He was the greatest man who ever lived, the most loving and gracious person who ever walked upon this earth.’ Dr. Kennedy told the man: ‘Let me tell you something that I believe will startle you. According to the Scriptures, and the historic Christian faith, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter of Galilee was and is the eternal Creator of the universe, the omnipotent, omniscient, and Almighty God.’ Instantly the man’s eyes filled with tears and this man of about fifty-five or sixty said, ‘I have been in church all my life and I never heard that before. But I have always thought that is the way it ought to be – that God ought to be like Jesus.’ ” (Adapted from SermonCentral.com; Contributed by: Matthew Rogers)
A pastor from a bygone age, named Arthur John Gossip, wrote: The wonderful thing about Christ is that as people looked at Him, followed Him, and watched Him, it became apparent to them that this is what God must be like. They concluded that if there is a God at all, then He must have Christ’s eyes, Christ’s ways, Christ’s ever-helpful hands, Christ’s character…Look at the Cross, and know that if He loved like that, He will always love like that. Even when our hearts become hot and suspicious of Him or soured and bad-tempered toward Him for His ordering of our lives and crossing our wishes, He still loves us. To be God means always to stoop lower by far than any man could stoop, to bear what never a human heart would dream of bearing, to give Oneself with an abandon of unselfishness that leaves us staring in slack-jawed wonder. His love is a hugeness beyond all human reckoning. It is an everlasting Calvary. (Adapted from SermonCentral.com; Contributed by: Dennis Lawrence)
Beloved, see the God-Man in Jesus Christ. See how that at his Baptism, He began his mission to save us and that would ultimately take Him to the Cross. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
