Well, here we are again. Just like last week, today’s Gospel lesson about the baptism of Jesus is one we’ve heard over and over again. Even if you didn’t learn it as a child in Sunday School, it is always the Gospel lesson for the Sunday after the Epiphany, year after year. And it doesn’t matter much if you’re reading it in Matthew or Mark or Luke, because the bare bones of the story are the same in all three Gospels.
John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance. Large numbers of people came to hear him and were baptized in the Jordan River. One day Jesus suddenly shows up and asks John to baptize Him, too. To put it mildly, John is shocked – and he asks: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus insists, and John baptizes Him, and as Jesus comes out of the water “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.’” And that’s pretty much it, for then we move on to Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and the beginning of His ministry and the miracles and eventually the suffering and death and resurrection and ascension. We’ve heard the account of Jesus’ baptism so many times that we think we know it like the back of our hands.
But we’ve left something out, a specific detail that only Matthew was inspired to share with us. Listen again to what Jesus says when John questions why he should be baptizing our Lord. Verse 15: “But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” Righteousness. Here we go again – another one of those big theological terms that we don’t hear very often and we really don’t understand very well. Now, remember that Mark and Luke don’t include these words of Jesus, and John doesn’t really give us a specific baptism account per se, so wouldn’t it just be easier to skip over that verse and move on?
Well, no. In St. Paul’s second letter to his young friend Timothy, he wrote: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Not just some Scripture, all Scripture – including those words and verses that might be difficult to easily comprehend. The word “righteousness” appears no fewer than 280 times in the Bible, so God obviously has a use for that word that we might not readily grasp. But what does it mean to be “righteous?” And what does Jesus mean when he tells John that His baptism “is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”?
As is true of many ancient words used in ancient languages, “righteousness” can have multiple meanings, depending on how it is used. For example, “righteousness” can be defined as justness or rightness, the state of doing what is required according to a standard. It can also be defined as innocence, the state of not having any sin or guilt that is associated with sin – again, according to a standard. These two definitions can be summarized by the word “justice:” they display the holy justice of Holy God in relationship with His sinful and rebellious children.
The third usage turns tails on us, however, for here “righteousness” focuses on being put in a right relationship with God. As one theological dictionary explains it, this represents the exercise of God’s grace, on the basis of Christ’s redemption, to satisfy the standards of His justice, in providing a free and perfect righteousness for His believing people.
So what, really, is this “righteousness” that Jesus has come to fulfill? We all know that Jesus was the sinless Son of God, so why does he insist on being baptized with water for repentance?
When Jesus was born, He was announced by the angels as the Son of God, the Christ. When he was 12 years old He clearly identified Himself as the Son of God. And now, at roughly the age of 30, Jesus begins to explain what He – what the Christ, what the Messiah – has come to do. On that day, the one who never sinned and had no need for repentance is standing in the waters of the Jordan River with sinners who have sinned and do need repentance – who need forgiveness – who need to be made righteous, to be brought back to that right relationship with God that was tragically destroyed by the sin of Adam and Eve. Jesus has come for sinners, has come to stand with sinners, has come to be the chief of sinners and to carry sin’s burden for each and every one of us.
Remember that “righteousness” can be described as justness or rightness, the state of doing what is required according to a standard – the standard of God’s holy and perfect Law. “Righteousness” can also be defined as innocence, the state of not having any sin or that guilt that is associated with sin – both the original sin in which we were born and the actual sins that we commit each and every day.
So when Jesus says that he must “fulfill all righteousness,” He is making it clear that He and only He will live a holy life that keeps God’s Law in every respect. He is making it clear that He and only He will live the life of innocence, the state of not having any sin or the guilt that is associated with sin. He is going to do what we cannot do, to live the life that we cannot lead. And to make us right with God, He will take our sins on His back and suffer the death sentence originally pronounced by God for all mankind – including you and me.
“But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” On that day, on the banks of the Jordan River as the crowds watched and listened, Jesus announced the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s plan to save His people from their sins. And immediately, God pronounced His blessing on His Son. The Spirit of God descended like a dove and rested on His head. The voice from heaven proclaimed: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
I have been privileged to conduct four baptisms since I became your pastor – and unless I missed it, we didn’t see the Holy Spirit actually descend like a dove on the newly baptized, nor did we hear God’s voice speaking directly to us from heaven. But God the Father was there. God the Son was there. God the Holy Spirit was there. The Triune God was there, in the water and in the Word, in those baptisms and in every baptism conducted in the name of the Triune God – including yours. In our baptisms, all righteousness has been fulfilled, for we have been brought to faith … we have been made sons and daughters in the Kingdom of heaven … our sins have been forgiven, and we have been saved.
Just as Jesus told John the Baptizer, it most definitely was necessary for Him to fulfill all righteousness. The events of that day at the river eventually led to the cross on Golgotha and the tomb in the garden. The tomb that after three days was empty and remains empty for all time. Through His perfect life, His death and His resurrection, Jesus has fulfilled all righteousness. And because He has done that, we are righteous, too.
Martin Luther wrote many great hymns, including LSB numbers 406 and 407, To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord. They are beautifully-worded hymns with the same lyrics but different melodies, but we will not be singing either today because – in all honesty – the tunes are somewhat difficult if you’re not really, really familiar with them. They have a total of seven verses, and I’d like to read first verse 4 and then verse 7, for they beautifully assure us of God’s righteousness being made our righteousness in Christ Jesus:
Verse 4:
There stood the Son of God in love,
His grace to us extending;
The Holy Spirit like a dove
Upon the scene descending;
The Triune God assuring us,
With promises compelling,
That in our Baptism He will thus
Among us find a dwelling
To comfort and sustain us.
Verse 7:
All that the mortal eye beholds
Is water as we pour it.
Before the eye of faith unfolds
The pow’r of Jesus’ merit.
For here it sees the crimson flood
To all our ills bring healing;
The wonders of His precious blood
The love of God revealing,
Assuring His own pardon.
Assuring God’s pardon – through the righteousness of Jesus – to make us righteous before God. To heal our broken relationship. And to keep us forgiven sinners righteous for all eternity.
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