Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“All Heaven Broke Loose For You”

Text: Matthew 3:13-17; Romans 6:1-11; Isaiah 42:1-9

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.

No one probably noticed. No one probably gave it a second thought. He was just another man. Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph and Mary’s boy, if they even knew that much. For most, probably just another face in the crowd. Just another in the long line of those coming to John to be baptized by him. 

But John noticed. He had just told the Pharisees and Sadducees that there was one coming, so far mightier and greater than him, that he was not even worthy to untie (Luke 3:16) or carry (Matthew 3:11) his sandals. And then John looked up and there He was! And looking for John to do far more than untie or carry His sandals - He’s there for John to baptize Him! So of course John objects. I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? This isn’t right!

But it is right. Let it be so now, Jesus says, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. 

And John consents. That is, he lets go of his objections, his logic, his view of what should and should not be. He doesn’t argue. He will not exalt himself and his opinion, insist that he is right. Instead, he humbles himself to the word of the one who is humbling Himself before John. Allow it, Jesus said. 

So John will do what John was sent to do - baptize. Baptize Jesus. For you could, in a sense, say that John the Baptizer was really sent to do this ONE baptism. For while all baptisms are important, this one supremely so. For this one is to fulfill ALL righteousness. To make available to ALL the righteousness of God.

Now, it is said, advised, not to speak or write in absolutes. To avoid words like ALL and none, everyone and no one, always and never. Because we change, and things change, we don’t know everything, and we don’t know what the future holds. And as sinners, we are weak and often fail and fall. So such sure and prideful speech is foolish for us. 

But Jesus is different. What He says, He will do. He will fulfill ALL righteousness. He will fulfill His name. He will make available to ALL the righteousness of God. He will stand with unrighteous sinners in the Jordan. He will heal unrighteous sinners with His forgiveness. And He will die for unrighteous sinners on the cross. The unrighteous sin we have, He will take. And the righteousness we lack, He will give. Let it be so now, allow it now, Jesus says. You are not doing this for me; I am doing this for you.

Then he consented. And that’s all Matthew says! That’s it! No details. It’s almost anti-climactic. 

UNTIL . . . until after Jesus is baptized and He went up from the water . . . and then, it wasn’t that all hell broke loose (that would come!) - all heaven broke loose! The heavens were opened, the Spirit of God descends like a dove and comes to rest on Jesus, and a voice from heaven says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

Can you imagine being the next person in line? The next to go into the Jordan to be baptized by John . . . wondering if . . . but then, nothing like that happens . . . are you disappointed? Relieved? Doubting?

Jesus’ baptism was clearly different from all others. All others that came before, but not different than all to come. His was not the one and only, but the prototype, the foreshadowing of what Baptism will be because of Him. Because He’s in it.

And to help us think about this, it’s the Old Testament that will help us. If we find the Old Testament roots of what happened here with Jesus and what happened when He was baptized, we can draw a line from the Old Testament to the New Testament to us. And we don’t have to guess at this - there are clues in the text, and Peter tell us (1 Peter 3:20-21)! The Old Testament story that corresponds to this, and is completed and surpassed by this, is Noah and the ark. 

At the time of Noah, when it came time to cleanse the earth of evil with water, the windows of the heavens were opened (Genesis 7:11). Here, after the cleansing water is poured the heavens were again opened.

At the time of Noah, a dove that did not return indicated when the flooding and destruction was over (Genesis 8:12). Here, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove to indicate that in Jesus, the destruction of sin would be ended.

Only Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord in his day. Only of Noah was it said that he was a righteous man (Genesis 6:8-9). And only of Jesus was it said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The man who was not only righteous, but would fulfill all righteousness.

And then to go a little farther even . . . God sealed Noah and his family in the ark as in a tomb (Genesis 7:16), and God determined the day they would come out (Genesis 8:15-16) to begin to live a new life, just as Jesus was sealed in His tomb and came out on the day determined by God: the third day. But for Jesus, not for Him to live a new life - there was nothing wrong with His old one. It was for us to live a new life!

That’s what Paul said in the reading from Romans. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

New life as sons of God, with whom He is well pleased (Galatians 3:26-27). New life with the Spirit of God who has descended on us in those waters (Acts 2:38). New life for heaven is now opened to us with the forgiveness of our sins (Titus 3:4-7).

And one day, when our bodies are sealed in a tomb, God will determine the day we come out, the day of resurrection, when Jesus comes again in glory. So just as Jesus’ death and resurrection were the first but not the only; the firstfruits of more to come, so too His Baptism. What happened to Him visibly happens to us invisibly. When we are baptized, all heaven breaks loose again, and one day our graves will, too. Because Jesus did what He said He would: He has fulfilled ALL righteousness for us.

So now, I guess . . . we’re kind of like that next person in line after Jesus was baptized. ‘Cuz when we’re baptized, it’s kind of like that - nothing extraordinary is seen . . . But we live by faith, not by sight. We know that something extraordinary did happen. 

So what does that mean for you now? What about this new life we’ve been given to live? After the flood. After the cleansing. Paul asks this question: Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? That is, can I do whatever I want and sin as much as I want because I know I’m forgiven? And then he says: By no means! Or, never! Paul uses the absolute. Never! Never! Never! Not just because you shouldn’t be that way, but because that’s not who you are anymore. The new life and Spirit you’ve been given mean new thoughts and desires that become new words and deeds. Not the same old deeds from the same old person. Christ has done the new thing Isaiah talked about, and given that newness, that righteousness, to you. As a baptized child of God you died with Christ, you are risen with Christ, and you now live in Christ.

All this makes the Baptism of Our Lord the perfect Epiphany story. For it reveals to us this man Jesus of Nazareth as the very Son of God in human flesh. It reveals to us what Jesus has come to do, to fulfill ALL righteousness, so that we can be righteous. It reveals the reality of Baptism and what happens and is given to us in it. And it reveals you. That you enter that water ordinary, but don’t leave it that way. You are now a beloved son of God, with His Father now your Father, His righteousness now your righteousness, His Spirit now your Spirit, and His life now your life. 

And now He gives you that Body and Blood that was baptized in the Jordan for you to eat and to drink. Because that new life He’s given us to live . . . yeeeaaah . . . What I said I would NEVER do again . . . What I said I would ALWAYS do . . . yeeeaaah . . . So we come and confess by the Font where our new life in Christ started and receive again the washing we need, the forgiveness of our sins. And we hear again the Word which tells us who we are and the faithfulness of our Father and Saviour. And then we come and receive Him who gave Himself for us and gives Himself to us to strengthen us to live that new life He has given us. 

To be like John . . . in this way: to let go your objections, your logic, your view of how your life should be and what you can and cannot do. To not argue and not exalt yourself and your opinion and insist on your rights. But instead humble yourself to Him who humbled Himself for you. Receiving all you need from your Saviour, and giving all you have for others. For He has only good for you. He fulfilled ALL righteousness for you, and made you His child, and gives you His Spirit, and forgives your sins, and will open your grave and give you eternal life, and who loves you more than you could know. All you need He will provide, and He will fill you with His love and life. 

So have no doubt and have no fear. No, rejoice! For what happened that day at the Jordan, and what happened on your day at the Font, is the same: all heaven broke loose . . . for you. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the Epiphany of Our Lord

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“A God Who Loves Camels”

Text: Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Merry Christmas! For today is the eleventh day of Christmas, of the Christmas season, even though we’re remembering and observing Epiphany today. So we can still say Merry Christmas.

But we’re observing Epiphany today, and since we are, let me ask: What’s your favorite part of the Epiphany story?

For many, I think, it would be the star. The star God sent to lead the Wise Men to the child Jesus. That’s a pretty cool part of the story. 

For others, it would probably be the Wise Men themselves. Those mysterious visitors from the East. Mysterious, for we really don’t know who they were. We call them Wise Men. The Greek calls them Magi. A beloved carol calls them kings. We don’t know how many there were or where exactly they came from. And they disappear from the scene as quickly as they came. But the mystery is part of the attraction, I think. And the popular phrase “Wise Men still seek Him” make many want to imagine themselves as and imitate the Wise Men.

But as for me, I have a new favorite part of the Epiphany story this year - one that I don’t think anyone wants to be, but I think really captures the spirit of Epiphany more than the star or the Wise Men . . . and that is the camels.

Wait! What? Camels? 

Yup. The camels. They’re mentioned in the Old Testament reading we heard from the prophet Isaiah today:

A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

Would we have the Epiphany story without the camels? According to Isaiah, they brought the Wise Men, the treasures, the good news, and the praises. These beasts of burden are an important part of the story. 

But have you ever seen a camel? I mean, they’re ugly! They’re not cute and cuddly like cats and dogs. They’re not majestic - they walk and move very awkwardly. They have those giants humps, either one or two of them. Their heads are too small for their bodies. They grunt funny. They’re temperamental and stubborn. And they’ll spit on you! Really gross saliva. God made a lot of unusual creatures, and He loves them all . . . but camels? Well, bear with me . . .

Because camels, I think, are the perfect image of Epiphany . . . in this way: Epiphany is the revealing of this child, Jesus, as God in the flesh, come to save camels. Not camels the animals - but people who are like camels. People who are not the most beautiful, people disfigured by sin, humpy, lumpy, misproportioned, stubborn, ugly . . . but who God loves and sent His Son to die for. And the Bible is full of them! Full of “human camels.”

There was Paul. He considered himself a camel. He called himself untimely born (1 Corinthians 15:8), the least of all the saints (Ephesians 3:8), he was weak and sickly, maybe with bad eyesight (Galatians 4:13, 15), and often in prison! Yet God shone the light of His grace upon Paul and used him as a light to the Gentiles.

And speaking of Gentiles . . . they were considered camels by Israel, who really didn’t want them and their false worship and strange customs around.

Gentiles like the Wise Men, who may have been camels themselves. In our day, Wise Men are often eccentric or consider weird. Maybe the ones who came to see Jesus were, too, and mocked and taunted for following a star, wasting their money on a foreign king, falling on their knees before a child . . .

A child who Himself was considered a camel by many. Yes, Jesus Himself was taunted as an illegitimate child (John 8:41), and as being out of His mind (Mark 3:21). Isaiah tells us that He had nothing majestic or beautiful about His appearance (Isaiah 53:2). And then especially after He was flogged and crucified - people just wanted to look away. He didn’t spit, but was spit upon. He didn’t have a hump on His back, but carried a cross there.

Which then brings us to you. Maybe you consider yourself a camel. Maybe we are a congregation of camels! People a bit awkward, not the most beautiful. Misfits. Flawed. Not strong, wise, and outstanding, compared to others. A little quirky, maybe even odd. Not beautiful to the world, but like real camels, beautiful to God. And made beautiful by God. Washed cleaned and re-created in the waters of Baptism to be His beautiful, radiant Bride. Maybe you are someone no one else would choose, but God did. And He shined the light of His love upon you. Camels who bring treasures also: your children, your families, your praises.

And there are lots of camels out there. People ugly inside and out. People the world doesn’t want and has no use for. But God does. And Epiphany is God rolling out the welcome mat for them, for us. For all to come and see Him in the flesh - the Body and Blood He would sacrifice and lay down for the life of the world. To shine the light of His love upon a dark and loveless world. A God who loves camels.

An that’s really what Epiphany is all about, what Jesus is all about: making the goodness and love of God known. The goodness and love of God in the flesh and blood of Jesus. Sometimes that happens in an unusual, even spectacular way, like with the Wise Men and the star. Is stuff like that still happening today? I don’t know. Maybe. There are reports from Iran and other countries of people coming to faith in Jesus because of dreams they’ve had. And we know that Jesus wants all people to be saved, so maybe. And if so, that’s a cause for joy.

But even if He is, even if God is using unusual ways today, to bring his Son to people and people to His Son, don’t despise the regular, normal, ordinary ways He has given us - which are far more common than the unusual or extraordinary. A friend talking to a friend. A mother teaching her child to pray. A father bringing his family to church. Being there at crisis moments, or times of fear and uncertainty, to bring the grace and love and peace of God to people who feel like camels. And maybe they are. But we have a God who loves camels.

And so He sent the apostle Paul, and He establishes churches today, to shine the light of this truth. To be a star and lead others to Jesus. To be a point of stability and truth in a world where things are constantly changing and truth is relative. To proclaim an unchanging God and His unfailing love. As I said, Epiphany is God rolling out the welcome mat for all the world, for He wants all people - and maybe especially camels! - in His kingdom. 

But while God loves camels, He doesn’t want us to stay camels! No. God came in the flesh, so that the sin which deforms us would go. And so He washes us clean and raises us to a new life in Baptism. He absolves our sin, not for us to get away with it, but to get us out of it and to get it out of us! And then He Suppers us with His own Body and Blood - the food of immortality. All this to make us sons and daughters of God. Maybe camels, still, in the eyes of the world, and crazy ones at that! But not in the eyes of God. In His eyes, children, dearly loved, with a place in His heart and a place in His kingdom.

And maybe because of this, the world will roll up its welcome mat and not welcome you into its groups of the privileged and the esteemed, the loved and admired. And maybe they will do worse, using that rolled up welcome mat as a club to persecute you. Jesus said if they did it to Him, they’ll do it to us. As we heard last week, Herod did it, rolling up the mat he rolled out for the Wise Men to club the baby boys of Bethlehem. The goodness and love of God isn’t coming from the world - only from the child in the manger, on Mary’s lap, and finally on the cross.

Did the Wise Men live long enough to hear that news? That the child before whom they fell down and worshiped and to whom they gave their gifts, the King of the Jews, had been crucified by the Romans? We don’t know. As I said, these Wise Men disappear from the scene as quickly as they came onto it. 

But we know. We know that this child whose little fingers could barely wrap around the grown-up fingers of the Wise Men, would one day use those fingers to touch and heal eyes that were blind, ears that were deaf, bodies that were leprous, raise the dead, and finally be nailed to a cross. That was Paul’s message to the Gentiles and it is the church’s message to the world: that the goodness and love of God was shown in the birth of this child who is the Son of God, but even more was shown in the death and resurrection of this man, that every man, woman, and child who dies might rise to eternal life in Him. He died for all and welcomed all, especially camels. And still does.

Which is why I’m glad Isaiah included them in his prophecy. I’m glad they weren’t left out of the story. They’re my new favorite part of the Epiphany story,  for they give me hope. And I hope they give you hope, too. That I don’t have to make myself something for God - I don’t have to un-camel myself for Him - because God made Himself nothing for me, to un-camel me. To make me - and you - His son, His daughter. To open my eyes to see His love. To open me ears to hear His Word. To cleanse my body so diseased with sin. And finally, one day, raise me to life eternal. 

So this morning, if you want to be like the Wise Men, follow the light of His Word and come to the altar. For here is the Body and Blood born of Mary, worshiped by Wise Men, hung on the cross, raised from the dead, and now given to you. Come with your humps and lumps, your burdens and baggage, come awkward and downtrodden. For God loves camels. God loves you. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The idea of using the example of camels in this way from Rev. Nathan Jastram in “The Singing Camels of Sheba,” Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 36, Part 1 (CPH, 2026), 65-66.

Meditation for New Year's Eve and the Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus

No audio

Jesu Juva

“More Than a Guardian”

Text: Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 2:21; Numbers 6:22-27

 

In the Name of (+) Jesus. Amen.

Since it is New Year’s Eve, you - like many people - might have made a resolution or two for the coming year. 

But what is a resolution? It is law you make for yourself. A rule you want to live by. To keep you from things harmful for you, and to form a habit, a way of life, that will be good for you. And maybe it works - for a while or for a long time. Most don’t, but you never know! That’s why people keep making them. Maybe this time . . .

But you can make a resolution only for yourself. You cannot make a resolution for someone else. You don’t have that authority. And a resolution is also a law without consequences. If you break it, nothing happens. You might get disappointed in yourself, is all. But resolutions are good and meant for good. And I hope that if you made one or two resolutions for this coming year, they turn out good for you, and for your good.

There are people, though, with the authority to make and enforce laws for us. The government is one, and God is the other. Now, with the laws the government makes, maybe they’re good and maybe they’re not, and we might disagree about that. But with God, there is - or least there should be - no debate: His Law is good. His Law is to keep us from things harmful for us, and to form a habit, a way of life, that will be good for us. In this respect, God’s Law is, as Saint Paul told the Galatians, a guardian for us. And you can hear the word guard there. The Law is to guard us and protect us, and to direct us to what is good for us. And it does. 

The problem, like so often with our New Year’s resolutions, is that we break them. Now, with our New Year’s resolutions, as I said, there are no consequences for that, because they’re laws we made for ourselves. But with God’s Law, there are consequences for breaking them. Grave ones. Namely, eternal death instead of eternal life. That’s what God told Adam and Eve with the very first Law He gave: Don’t eat from the tree, for if you do, you will die. Well, they did, eat, and they did, die. They died spiritually, and they would die physically. And we do, too.

So while God’s Law is good and acts as a guardian for us, we need more than that. And, the Apostle Paul is telling us tonight, we have more than that! For, we heard, the law was our guardian until Christ came. And now that Christ Jesus has come, we have a new guardian, a new protector, a new guide, and that is Christ and His Spirit. The Law of God is still good and we should listen to it and do it. But Jesus came to do what the Law could not. The Law instructs and threatens, but Jesus justifies and saves and gives us a new life to live as sons of God.

And He did that by putting Himself under the Law for us. That was God’s resolution after Adam and Eve sinned - that He would come and fix what they broke. So the Son of God becomes one of us. He is born for us, as we celebrated seven days ago. And on the eighth day after He was born, Mary’s baby boy is circumcised and given the name Jesus, which means: He will save. And He will save by doing two things: keeping the Law perfectly for us, and taking the consequences of our Law-breaking for us. He will die. 

Now, Jesus didn’t have to do any of that! Because the Law wasn’t meant for Him but for us. He wasn’t under that Law, just as you’re not under the resolutions I make for the New Year. But He took that upon Himself. I’ll do it; I’ll fulfill it for their good. To bless them and keep them and give them peace. So that we have not just a year, but an eternity, of blessing and good.

And that is given to you, Paul says, when you are baptized. For in Baptism you put on Christ and are given His Name. And with His Name, you have all that is His - His life and salvation. That’s what the Lord told Moses and Aaron in the reading from Numbers we heard tonight, that when God’s Name is put upon you, you have His blessing and keeping, His grace and His peace. Blessing, keeping, grace, and peace for this life, and forever. For with the Name of the one who defeated death upon you, you too will rise from death to eternal life. Death cannot stop His life, or His life that He gives to you.

Which is a good thing to remember on this New Year’s Eve, which is also the Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus. For no matter what the New Year holds for you, no matter what happens in our world, no matter whether you keep your resolutions or not, you have this assurance: that you belong to Christ. And when you belong to Christ, you have the forgiveness of your sins, and the promise of blessing and life. Not an easy life, but a life that cannot end. 

So as tomorrow is the eighth day of Christmas, tomorrow is the day we officially remember Jesus’ circumcision. Today is the eve of that. So that means that the first day of our New Year is marked with the first shedding of Jesus’ blood. And I pray that be the pattern for the rest of the year. That each and every day, you not only remember your resolutions and keep them, but remember that you are a baptized child of God, washed clean in His blood, and keep that in your heart. For while your resolutions may or may not make a difference in your life, the blood of Jesus definitely does. You’ve been marked. His Name has been put on you. You belong to Him. As does this New Year before us. A New Year He will fill with blessing, keeping, grace, and peace. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.