Baptism: what does it mean?

First Sunday after the Epiphany

January 13, 2008

Romans 6:1-11

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?

When the Lord Jesus left home—to begin His three-year public ministry, before He would be arrested and crucified—the first thing he did was to get baptized. But, why did Jesus get baptized? Here are two reasons.

When Jesus was baptized, His Father claimed Him as His Son in the very familiar words which broke through the heavens: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Just before baptizing Jesus, John hesitated, believing that the holy Jesus should have been baptizing the sinful John. To this, our Lord replied, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."

There we go; two reasons for Jesus’ baptism: to be named God’s Son and to fulfill all righteousness. Now, here comes the good stuff. When you were baptized, the same two things happened to you.

Our Lord taught us to baptize "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." When God’s name is poured upon the baptized, that name is received by the baptized. This is the spiritual equivalent of the physical birth certificate.

Your birth certificate shows whose name you bear. It shows to whom you belong. Your baptismal certificate shows whose name you bear. It shows to whom you belong.

You are a physical child of your parents; you are a spiritual child of God. You chose neither.

It is often argued that you have to choose God, and that infant baptism is of no value because a baby doesn’t know what’s happening to him, and that a person has to ask Jesus to be his Savior.

But, since when does birth having anything to do with the one being born having a decision in the process? Did you choose your parents? Did you ask to be a boy or girl? Did you look at a map and decide that you wanted to be born wherever it was that you were born?

In John’s Gospel, John says that Jesus is received by children who are born, not of natural descent, nor of a human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

You didn’t choose your parents and you don’t choose God. Your parents elected to give physical birth to you and God elected to give spiritual birth to you. You had no choice in either matter.

Now, however, as one who bears the name of your earthly and heavenly fathers, you have a choice. You can deny either father. You can flee. You can divorce yourself from your earthly parents and you can say to the God who spiritually adopted you, "I don’t want to be your child." And, sadly, many people do just that.

When a baptized child of God knows the second reason that Jesus was baptized, and how that reason was applied to him in his baptism—well, it should amaze us all that anyone would step away from such blessings.

Remember, Jesus told John that He was being baptized to fulfill all righteousness. What righteousness did Jesus fulfill? Jesus fulfilled God’s Commandments, perfectly. Jesus took His holy body to His crucifixion where He fulfilled the salvation of the world by becoming sin for all mankind. There is no penalty left for man to pay; there is no sacrifice left for man to make. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by laying down His life as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and by taking His life back up in His resurrection, which authenticated His sacrifice.

That takes us to today’s epistle, from Romans chapter six, where we see how all of Jesus’ righteousness was fulfilled in you, when you were adopted as God’ child in baptism.

God had Paul write, "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 . . . we too might walk in newness of life."

You were baptized into your Lord Jesus’ death. What happened when He died? In Second Corinthians, the Lord teaches us that God made Jesus to be sin for us and, in Colossians, the Lord teaches us that all sins were nailed to the cross.

So, what happened when you were baptized? You were baptized into Jesus’ death. Your sins were joined to His body, His death. Your sins were drowned in that baptismal water.

As God had Paul put it in First Corinthians, "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

• You were washed—that is, you were cleansed of your sin, from all the sins of your past and every sin that you commit, every day.
• You were sanctified—that is, God made you holy, setting you apart from the dying world and putting you into His living Church.
• You were justified—that is, God declares you not guilty of all of your sins for the sake of Jesus Christ, who became sin for you.

As if that’s not enough, there’s more. Back to today’s lesson: "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." Since Jesus’ resurrection is the greatest thing to ever happen, it is only fitting that you should be given a washing of rebirth, not only into His death, but also into His eternal life.

Do you know that a Christian actually undergoes two births, two deaths, and two resurrections?

The two births, you have already experienced. You have been physically born and you have been spiritually reborn. One death, you have already experienced. You were a dead person, spiritually, when you were conceived by your dad and mom. From spiritual death, you have experienced the first resurrection, as you have been removed from spiritual death and been reborn into spiritual life.

Because you are spiritually alive, when your body dies, your whole person does not die. As the Lord said, "He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Because God made you spiritually alive when, in baptism, He adopted you as His child, when your body dies your living spirit goes back to the Lord who gave it to you.

Of course, we experience the second death—the death to our body. But, the good news is that, in baptism, you have been united with Jesus in His resurrection. And, as you have heard from this pulpit, so many times, your body will be resurrected from the dead, on the Last Day, when the Lord Jesus returns in glory and ushers in the eternal Paradise.

So, just as Jesus was baptized to initiate Himself into His work as your Savior, you were baptized to initiate you into Jesus. That’s the first Sacrament. The second Sacrament is the Sacrament of membership. That is where you are privileged to eat and drink the body and blood of your Lord—the very same person who became sin for you, and with whom you have been joined in baptism—the very same person who was resurrected and is alive in heaven, and with whom your spirit has already been raised and lives, and with whom your body and spirit, together, will be raised to live, forever and ever.

Wow! That’s why Jesus was baptized. That’s why you were baptized. All righteousness has been fulfilled in you, dear child of God. Amen.