As with a spotlight on a stage or a flashlight in a dark hallway, light helps identify what otherwise could not be known. Likewise when Jesus launched onto the scene, God    identified him for all the world to see. Heaven opened, the Father spoke, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. At his baptism Jesus is not only identified as the Servant in whom God delights (Isaiah 42); he also identifies with us sinners and with our own baptism in his name. What is more, in baptism God identifies us as his children by connecting us to the forgiving and eternal life of his Son. We sing about these wonderful truths in today’s hymns. Two examples are as follows:

“Sin disturb my soul no longer! I am baptized into Christ!”

“When nothing else revives your soul, your baptism stands and makes you whole.”