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Now, Father, we ask that you would attend the proclamation of your word by your spirit, just as you attended it that day in the river Jordan, that your spirit might come and might bring life, that it might illumine where there is darkness, that it might bring joy where there is sorrow. And we thank you, Christ, that you are our anointed one and that your name to us is love. We praise you, Jesus. We ask you to be with your people and we ask these things in your name. Amen. Please be seated. Hey. I will um a little confession. I'm a little uh a little groggy right now. We were um Bethany and I were down in Orlando um running 13 point how many miles? 13.1 miles because because Bethany had up had a wild hair and uh and we accomplished it and by God's grace, and then we slept last night and we got up at uh 4.30 and drove up here. So I'm running on running on a few fumes. Um so bear with me, as you all always do. And thank you, by the way, Sarah, for for filling in for Greg today and helping lead us in in singing. When was the last time you thought about your baptism? Does that does that come to mind often for you? Perhaps you have very vivid memories of your baptism. You remember the people associated with it, you remember the church or the body of water or the pool or whatever it was, you remember, you remember all the feels and kind of the emotional rush that attended it, or you may remember nothing at all because you were held in your mother's arms, or perhaps squirming and screaming, you were held in the pastor's arms as suddenly you were getting wet, water was being splashed on your head and your face. Maybe shock is that kind of shocked look. Maybe that's what you remember. I'm not so much concerned about the the details, thinking about the details of your baptism or my baptism this morning. If you want to think about those details a little more, you can join us Tuesday at Uptown Tap and Cigar, where we're gonna have our next edition of So Two Priests Walk Into the Bar, into a Bar. It is going to be the most controversial one yet, because we're gonna be talking about baptism. Sam's gonna be talking about baptism. I'm gonna I will be sitting at his feet and learning. So uh I don't want to talk about the specifics of your baptism or my baptism this morning or consider those things, but just about baptism as an idea, baptism as a reality. It's interesting that all four gospels record the baptism of Jesus. Of course, all four gospels record his crucifixion, only two of the gospels record his nativity. And yet, despite the fact that only two gospels record his nativity, we still have poinsettias up here celebrating the birth of Jesus. And though four gospels record his baptism, his baptism gets relatively little airtime in most of our minds and in most of our conversations. In the New Testament, baptism gets more airtime than the kingdom of God, more airtime than the Lord's Supper, which is our kind of norm to celebrate every week. More airtime than spiritual gifts and church government. Now, all those things are important, certainly, but seemingly less important than the baptism of Jesus and baptism in general. This morning, if you if you were a student of Latin in high school or college, maybe you've already been noodling on the sermon title for today, Christus pronous. That's a turn of phrase that Luther employed all the time. Christ for you. And I think that the baptism of Jesus is this wonderful, emblematic explication of what is meant by Christ for you. So that's our theme for this morning. Christ for you. Christ for you as the means, and Christ for you as revealing the heart of God. As we looked at, as we read the Gospel this morning, just to kind of fill in a little bit of what's been going on, we considered the first part of Matthew chapter 3 uh a month and a half, a month ago, um in the second Sunday of Advent, where John the Baptist comes traiting out of the wilderness, and the prophet of God finally speaks again after 400 years of silence or so from the end of the Old Testament. John was this remarkable figure who uh caused all types of responses from the people that he engaged with. John's baptism is set in contrast, though, with baptism as you and I know it, or baptism as the New Testament more broadly speaks about it. Baptism, of course, is always joined to proclamation. It is the enactment of the word and the promise of God. If you could find one word, though, to summarize the message that John the Baptist proclaimed, what would that one word be? Repent. John was a preacher of repentance, which is to say that John was not a preacher of the Gospel. Did you catch that? John was a preacher of repentance, which is to say that John was not a preacher of the gospel. Now, before you start digging in your purses for mints to chuck at me, or if you happen to bring a piece of rotten fruit with you or a stone, just hold on, okay? Bear with me for a little bit. Let's consider John's message and the baptism that attended it. The Forerunner, that's John. The forerunner promised in Malachi and as a who was preparing the way for the king. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Those same words, by the way, that Jesus used to inaugurate his own ministry. John was calling people to turn away from the sin that had made its way into the nation and into their own hearts and lives, their own households. Turn away from that sin and turn back towards what? Turn back towards the law. Turn back towards obedience to God and to all that He commanded. Now, John's baptism was a novelty. It's probably flowing from proselyte baptism, except in proselyte baptism, the folks who were coming, they would baptize themselves. Okay, let's talk about what's proselyte baptism. Proselyte baptism is part of the way by which Gentiles would make their way into Israel, into the covenant people of God. You would wash yourself for cleansing, and then there would be circumcision for the males, that flesh being cut off, and then finally a sacrifice that's offered. That's a whole nother sermon for a whole nother day. There's so much packed into backed into that. But John is taking this proselyte baptism whereby Gentiles are brought into the covenant people of God, and instead of them washing themselves, he, the prophet, is baptizing them instead. And he's baptizing them as he proclaims this message. Because of his message of repentance, because of this proselyte baptism where Gentiles make their way in, John is galled and offended as Jesus begins to make his way down into the Jordan River. He objects to Jesus' request to be baptized. Did you catch that when we when we read that just a moment ago? I need to be baptized by you. And you come to me, John says, as he holds Jesus at arm's length. This is the spotless Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world. And he is coming as a repenter. He is coming as one of those nations, one of those Gentiles cut off from the people of God, so that he might be brought in. He doesn't need this baptism of repentance. Jesus is the one whose baptism John had prophesied. He says, When this one comes, when the one greater than I comes, he comes baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with fire, a winnowing fork in his hand to gather up the wheat, to burn up the chaff. John is expecting judgment. Judgment on the sinful and salvation for the righteous when this promised one comes. I think we we miss how jarring this scene is because baptism is for most of us a very familiar thing. Because most of us have grown up in the church or grown up in proximity to the church. And so just how unsettling what is transpiring is, that's lost in us a little bit. Jesus, as he comes into the waters of baptism, he is coming so that he might identify with you and with me. That's the primary meaning of baptism. It's not about our intention, it's not about our emotions, or even fundamentally about our decision, though all of those things are significant. But in the Bible, first and foremost, baptism is about identification. And in his baptism, Jesus is taking upon himself the nature of a Gentile, one cut off from the law and promises of God. He is taking upon himself the nature of a sinful man, one who comes washing in the river so that he might bind himself to all the law and to all the promises of God. Jesus in baptism is taking upon himself sin. Your sin and my sin. Behold the Lamb of God who bears away the sins of the world. He is bearing your sin and my sin, so that he might bear it to the cross and be cut off from the Father. As one perfect sacrifice, offering an oblation for the sins of the whole world. This is how Luther says it. Here at the Jordan, Christ begins to bear the sin, which he will finally carry all the way to the cross. For Luther, his baptism was the inauguration of his passion. We normally think about the passion of Jesus with holy, right? When Jesus begins to make his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But but Luther says, no, no, no, his passion, his suffering for the sins of the world, it starts all the way back at his baptism. Where here in this place, he finally becomes that anointed promised son of God. But this son is not anointed with oil. What is he anointed with? He's anointed with the very Spirit of God that descends upon him. And this son, he's eternally been the son. We don't want to have any confusion there, right? This is not adoptionism. This is not that heresy that's constantly making its way into the church. I had an adoptionist controversy with some Jehovah's Witnesses the other day as I was out running at North Glenn. They were lovely people, but sadly and fundamentally mistaken in misunderstanding who Jesus is. By his baptism, Jesus is anointed as Christ and Messiah with the Holy Spirit, and he receives the word of promise from his Father. This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. It is in passing through the waters of judgment, because that's what baptism is, right? In passing through the waters of judgment that Jesus becomes Christus pro nobus. He becomes Christ for. Jesus' baptism makes him the one who is for us, because he is the one who is in our place. Jesus' baptism doesn't just make him Christ for us because he's in our place, but it also makes him Christ for us, Christ for you, because it reveals the motivation of everything that has transpired in his life. Here's the difference between John and Jesus. John was a preacher of repentance alone, whereas Jesus comes and he's a preacher of faith alone. You remember that that message, right? Fire and threshing, repent, or Jesus is gonna get you. John he baptized with water, which would have reminded the people of the judgment flood that overwhelmed God's enemies in the days of Noah and the Red Sea. But Jesus came preaching more of a message and a greater message. Turn with me, and we're very briefly going to consider Psalm chapter 2 and Isaiah 42. You have them there in your bulletins. Psalm 2. This is the coronation psalm of David, the anointed king, and he looks out at the nations raging against the Lord and against God's anointed. God enthroned in heaven, he laughs. I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord, You are my son, today I have begotten you. There is a son who will come, and the son has come. And he is not merely son, as Israel is sometimes called son, but this is the promised son, the one who will rule the nations to whom the ends of the earth will be given as an inheritance. There's epiphany right there, right? So, O kings, be wise, be warned, rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way. This is what had prompted all of Israel's longing, their hope for kingship. And yet by Jesus' day, Israel had no king, no true king, at least. The Davidic line, it went captive into Babylon, but David's throne has now sat empty for generations. A conquering king who rules the nations with a rod of iron and breaks them under his yoke. But then we read in Isaiah 42, which you can find that in your bulletin, but I'll invite you to turn your cop in your copy of the scriptures or in the Pew Bible to page 564, because we're not just going to look at Isaiah 42. Here we we have a song that's a little different in terms of its tone and tenor. Isaiah 42 begins the songs of the suffering servants. Behold, my servant, whom I have hold my chosen, and whom my soul delights. I've put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nation. Hello. Thus says God, the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread the earth. I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you, and give you as a covenant for the people. Of a servant king, one who will suffer for the people, one who will suffer for the nations. So I apologize for that. But we know of this one who will be pierced for our iniquities, who will be crushed for our transgressions, the one upon whom the chastisement that brought us peace is laid, and the one by whose stripes we are healed. As the voice from heaven speaks, as the Father himself speaks of the baptism of his son. He's quoting Psalm 2 in Isaiah 42. And this is the first time, as far as we know, that the suffering servant of Isaiah and the Davidic king and the promised are brought together in one person. God declares that the triumphant king is the suffering servant. The king who will rule the nations is the servant who will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick. Jesus' baptism is his full identification with you and me, our need for repentance, our need to be washed clean, our need to be reconciled to God. But it is also the declaration of who he is. Every generation struggles not only with why Jesus was baptized, but with who Jesus is, with his identity. You see, we find ourselves in some circumstances longing for the king who will crush our enemies with a rod of iron. And other times we plead for the suffering servant who will not crush us. And the Father says, I am pleased that my king should be enthroned on a cross as a suffering servant, because Jesus is not either or, he is both and. And he is both and forever. Which is why John's message was not the gospel. Because the gospel is not repent. The gospel is not turn away from sin. It's not even repent and believe. It's not turn away from sin and gin up your faith. The gospel is so much more than those things. The gospel is repent from your sin and turn to something so much better. Turn to that one thing which finally and fully will satisfy every deepest longing and desire of your heart. Because the world and Satan are constantly proffering to you and to me so many lesser joys, so many lesser things that do not fully satisfy the longings of our heart. But Christ has come as the one who does. The key to conquering sin is to look to Jesus, is to look to the author and perfecter of our faith. Look to the one who is crucified in your place. Look to Christ for you. That's where we find freedom from sin. That's where we find freedom from the condemnation that we are justly under. John came preaching a repentance that turned men back to the law. Jesus comes preaching repentance and faith that turns men towards the one who has fulfilled the law on their behalf, namely himself. Jesus calls us to faith in the work and word of the anointed Son of God, who does not snuff out a burning wick, who does not break a bruised reed, but is the one who was pierced for our transgressions and who was crushed for our iniquities. Jesus is not simply Christus pro nobus in his work for us, he is Christus pro nobus in his heart for us. Another bit of Luther from Sermon on Galatians. This is the truth of the gospel. It is not enough to believe that Christ was born, suffered, and rose again, and we could add baptized here. It's not enough simply to believe that things transpired. The truth of the gospel is believing those things transpired, but believing that all of those things were done for us. That's the heart of faith. The heart of faith is not simply intellectual ascent to the historicity of a man named Jesus who walked and did, and who walked and did wondrous things, and who said wondrous things, and who died on our behalf and rose again, but believing that all of those things were done for you. We remind ourselves of that every time we recite the Creed. Right? The Nicene Creed, Sunday by Sunday, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven. Christ is not just for you in his work, but he is for you at the very deepest parts of his heart. His deepest longings are for you. In John chapter one, we have this remarkable promise. This remarkable promise that echoes what we heard the voice of the Father say as the heavens were rent open as Jesus came up from the water. Jesus came to his own, John says, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Now, if you have an older translation, that's not going to say children. What's it going to say? Sons. He gave the right to become sons of God. Jesus' baptism for you and for me is a world, it's a reality reordering, confidence, instilling, empowering, identification. He is baptized in our place so that he might die in our place, so that we might live with him. But his his me for you-ness is not merely the mechanical outworking of redemption and atonement. Christus Pronobus reveals the very depths of his love and his longing for you and me, his love which brought him down from heaven to take on human flesh, his longing which led him through the waters of baptism and judgment, so that one day the Father will look upon you and me and say, This too is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Let's pray. We do thank you, Christ, for your baptism on our behalf. We thank you for your longing to be identified with us in our fallness, in our sin, so that we might be identified with you in your resurrection and in your life and in your glory. And so as we as we sojourn still through a world racked by sin, through bodies and hearts and minds that are fighting the old man, we pray that you would give us hearts that are keen to repent, not just to turn away from sin, but to turn to that one thing which is more lovely and more satisfying, which is you. So that we might spend all of eternity with you. Lord, would you by your spirit increase our faith? Increase our faith not in ourselves or in or in our faith itself, but increase our faith in you and your finished work for us. And we pray these things, Christ, in your name and for your sake. Amen.