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S. Baptism of our Lord.25 Luke 3:15-22

“So with many other exhortations John preached good news to the people.”

So if this seems like deja vu all over again, this text, you’re not wrong. We just had a good chunk of this reading last month, on the 2nd Sunday in Advent. But it’s a really important one and genuinely good news will always bears repeating…

But we wondered last month, and so wonder again: “If a baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit, a winnowing fan sorting us like chaff and wheat to be ground down by a millstone and then more burning! of the chaff is good news, what is this guy’s idea of bad news?”

Even though it was my question, and I think I gave a really good answer, it’s a little… puzzling.

We did not hear, last month, of the Baptism of our Lord. We needed to wait for Christmas, for Jesus to be born for us to be able to think deeply about his Baptism. So, the lectionary editors quite sensibly cut off that reading with John being thrown into prison.

Now, the Baptism of our Lord is one of my “Top 5 Xn Teachings Either Ignored or Totally Misunderstood by Modern Christendom.” It’s like number 4 or 5 right behind “The Failure to Understand What the Worship of Jesus Christ Actually IS”.

And happily, if we get straight on the Baptism of our Lord, the nature of truly Christian Worship pops into sharp focus as well. 2 birds, one stone. Gotta like it! Actually… 3 birds, one stone, because the Holy Spirit’s descent as a dove also becomes clear once you see what Jesus’ Baptism is really all about.

See what I did there? 3 Birds? Holy Spirit descending as a dove? My son wants to ban me from ever asking “See what I did there?” But I just don’t want you to miss anything 😉

Anyway, Thing 1: John’s Baptism is not the same at all as Christ’s Baptism in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! In fact, John’s Baptism—as the Eastern Church saw and perhaps still sees more clearly than the Western Church (Florida Man Writes Book!)—is 180* different from Trinitarian Baptism in the Name of Jesus.

The difference is really quite simple: John’s Baptism PUTS SIN ON YOU! Trinitarian Baptism Jesus instituted just before his Ascension TAKES SIN OFF YOU! That’s a little over-simplified, but it sounds well, is easy to remember, and makes the point clear.

John’s Baptism, to be a bit more precise, makes sin show up on us. Like those stamps they give you at small concert venues that only show up under black light. John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance for sinners to identify as sinners, to make us yearn for redemption. It’s both the stamp and the black light at the same time.

But John’s Baptism goes more beyond this… It not only makes sin show up on you, it would also dump it in the Jordan River, much as the OT day of atonement would have all Israel gather before the tabernacle to confess their sins, and the priests, hearing their confession and receiving the sacrificial sin offerings, would take 2 goats and lay their hands on their heads, confessing Israel’s sin and putting it on the goats.

Goat 1, the scapegoat, they would release into the wilderness to Azazel (another of the devil’s monikers) to get the sin the hell out of here! Goat 2, they would sacrifice on the altar and sprinkle his blood on the people. Ancient Israel took sin seriously and realized that only the death of God’s perfect lamb and his blood being upon us could take away the sin of the world!

Israel was a nation of priests. So, when they came confessing their sins, John’s baptism made that sin show up in all its inky blackness and dumped that shtuff into the Jordan River—which was already pretty dirty and nasty, as we learned back in 2 Kings 5 with Naaman the Syrian general complaining when Elisha told him to go soak his head 7 times in the Jordan to cure his leprosy that it was a dirty, nasty river that would not get him clean!

Those old Israelites won’t be getting the Greta Thunberg Champion of the Environment award! They not only dumped physical shtuff in the Jordan but metaphysical shtuff like sin, too!—a very polluted river, indeed! John’s Baptism both made their sin show up in all its total grossness, and put it in the River to wash downstream away from Israel, downstream also historically, metaphysically, for the promised Messiah to clean up and deal with.

“River Jordan’s chilly and cold. Chills the body and the soul!”—to correct the song.

So when Jesus comes to be baptized with this baptism that puts sin on you! and makes it show up in all its ickiness, you can see why John demurred, didn’t want to baptize him—because this is the One Guy who has no sin! But Jesus says: “permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Did you ever wonder how it is that at Christmas we see “the spotless lamb appear, promised us from ancient years” the sinless, perfect child, but then he goes to the cross as St. Paul says as sin personified!? When did that great change take place?!

Simple: at John’s Baptism! Jesus goes down into the physical and metaphysical shtuff the Jordan was filled with and sucks it all up into himself. NOW! he is both the Passover Lamb and the Scapegoat taking our sin out to Azazel to deal with. He’s still in himself the spotless lamb of God, pure and holy, AND, at the same time, sin personified! Yet another miracle-mystery for us to kneel before, contemplate, adore!

Now you see why the baptism of our Lord is the bestest GOOD NEWS ever! Finally, our sin has met its match. Finally, all that shtuff gets drowned and engulfed in the Jordan’s nasty waters so we can… finally be clean, pure and holy as Jesus is! Hail redemption’s happy dawn! It’s Christmas morning all over again; and now the real, true Worship of God… begins!

The vicar pointed out (it pains me to admit) the business of the dove takes us back to Noah and the flood. Remember Noah sent out a dove to see if the flood waters had subsided? And she kept coming back until… one day she had an olive branch in her mouth. And Noah knew the flood was over. A new day had dawned, a new creation sprang to life.

Jesus is that olive branch in the Dove’s mouth. Peace with God once more is made, wrapped up in Jesus’ Baptism and poured over you to engulf all sin, make you… new.

Michael, BTW, is another name for Jesus, who rows the boat ashore for you today, by his Word and Sacrament. “River Jordan’s deep and wide/ meet our Father on the other side, Hallelujah!” Where Peace surpassing all understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.