Matthew 3,13-17 0823
1. Sonntag nach Epiphanias 15
Severin, Apostle of Noricum, † 481
8. Januar 2023
1. ℣ I saw also Adonai sitting upon a throne:
℟ High and lifted up (Isaiah 6,1).
O Yahweh, the God of Israel, bring prosperity to Your people, so that we see the righteous, wondrous work of Your hand. Amen. (Psalm 72,18.3 Gradual)
2. »Then Jesus arrived from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented Him, saying: „I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?“ But Jesus answered him: „Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.“ Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a Voice from heaven said: „This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.“«
3. John’s baptism was with water for repentance (Matthew 3,11). He preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 3,2). He was preparing the way for the Messiah who would bring this kingdom of heaven. Confession of their sins was how the Jews were preparing themselves for the advent of their Messiah (Matthew 3,6). The Messiah would bring a great reckoning: the unrepentant unbelievers would be judged; the repentant believers would be gathered into eternal fellowship (Matthew 3,12).
4. Lo, and behold, Jesus shows up as the Messiah where He straightaway goes to John to be baptized by him. John expected Jesus to baptize him, for his task is now complete: Messiah is here and will take up the mantle of preaching the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. John would signal this transition by humbly submitting to his cousin who is the Messiah. John must decrease, and Jesus must increase.
5. Jesus says John must baptize Him, for it is fitting for them to fulfill all righteousness. This involved Jesus stepping into the Jordan, and John baptized Jesus with water for repentance. What sort of a Son of God is He who accepts the same baptism that Israel is accepting (Gibbs 178)? What sort of Messiah is He who submits to John’s baptism for repentance? A: a Son of God, a Messiah, who is Israel reduced to one! In His baptism, Jesus is vicariously all of Israel; He is vicariously every Jew and Gentile; He is standing among His people and humbly submitting Himself to the baptism they received from John.
6. To fulfill all righteousness is an activity that is being carried out by both John and Jesus, in the action of John baptizing Jesus (Gibbs 179). To fulfill virtually carries in itself the meaning to enact or participate in the Divine Scriptural plan of salvation (Gibbs 179). In the Psalms (71,2.15-16) [1] and Isaiah (51,5-8) [2], and in later Jewish literature as well, God’s righteousness refers to the saving deeds that Yahweh performs on behalf of His people, and in that sense it often stands in parallel to salvation (Gibbs, 180).
7. This shows how Jesus will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1,21) (Gibbs 181). It shows how the reign of heaven is now arriving in an unexpected way (Gibbs 181). What began at His baptism is completed at His crucifixion and resurrection. „Jesus’ willing Baptism in the Jordan is a sign that points forward. It is a cruciform harbinger, pointing forward to the hidden and unexpected, shockingly weak and vulnerable in-breaking reign of God, to the paradoxical enthronement of the King of the Jews on the cross“ (Gibbs 181).
8. Jesus has arrived to bring righteousness and salvation to the Jews and Gentiles. So important is this that the entire Trinity manifests at Jesus’ baptism: all 3 Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are present at the baptism; God is fully and gloriously revealed. The Spirit’s descent and the Father’s Voice proclaimed Jesus to be God’s true and perfect Son and the Servant of Yahweh who has come to save all the world (Gibbs 186).
9. In His baptism, Jesus reveals His righteousness, and yours. God has become man, and He does not shy away from you or your sins. Is there any greater joy, grace or righteousness than this? Is there now anything that Christ would withhold from you? Is there no blessing that Christ would not shower upon you? Indeed, God the Father has sent you His very Son. Jesus is baptized. Jesus is one of you. All that is Christ’s He now gives to you. His righteousness is now your righteousness.
10. Jesus’ righteousness is given to you in Baptism. Jesus’ baptism is vicarious, for sinners, pointing forward to His crucifixion and resurrection in the place of sinners (Gibbs 185). In your Holy Baptism you are joined to Christ and united with Him in His death and resurrection (Romans 6,3-6). In Christ’s death you have died to sin. In Christ’s resurrection you have risen from the Baptismal waters into the newness of eternal, resurrected life. Yes, Christ has saved you in your Baptism. »You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus« (Romans 6,11). God the Father’s words spoken to Jesus at His baptism are now spoken upon you: »You are My beloved son, My beloved daughter, with whom I am well pleased.« You are righteous before God, for you stand before Him covered with the pure and holy righteousness of Jesus Christ, and this is your salvation.
11. O Son of grace without decline,
Accept this hymn of praise that’s mine,
That resounding this wisdom raise
To our good and to Your praise. (Du höchstes Licht, ewiger Schein elkg 389,8 2021 Johannes Zwick before 1542)
This is most certainly true.
12. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
13. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, we beseech Thee, by the innocence and obedience of Thy holy childhood and by Thy reverence and love for little children, do Thou guard the children of our land, preserve their innocence, strengthen them when ready to slip, recover the wandering and remove all that may hinder them from being brought up in Thy faith and love. Amen. (The Week of the Nativity of our Lord, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover.
Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Matthew 1:1 – 11:1. Copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
1 »In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline Your ear to me, and save me! My mouth will tell of Your righteous acts, of Your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Adonai Yahweh I will come; I will remind them of Your righteousness, Your alone.«
2 »„My righteousness draws near, My salvation has gone out, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for Me, and for My arm they wait. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will never be dismayed. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation to all generations.“«
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