September 25, 2024 

Today's Reading: Matthew 3:1-17

Daily Lectionary: Malachi 1:1-14; Matthew 3:1-17

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” (Matthew 3:13-15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Baptism of Jesus is one of those events that most Christians know about but have not really spent a lot of time thinking about. In fact, many Holy Land tours offer a Baptism in the river Jordan so that you can do just what Jesus did. It’s as if they believe that the water of that river is somehow more holy than all other water on earth. The Baptism of our Lord did not just occur so that tourists would have something to do when visiting the Holy Land.  

John tries to stop Jesus from being baptized because what he was doing was meant for sinners. Jesus had no need to be baptized. Jesus should have been standing there, telling the people that if they were more like Him, then they would be dry. Jesus, in submitting to a Baptism meant for sinners, has taken the first steps toward bearing the sins of the whole world. He begins his public ministry standing in the place of sinners acting as a sinner. He will end his public ministry on the cross, submitting to a death meant for sinners. His journey to the cross really begins here at the river Jordan.

In the Baptism of Jesus, water now becomes the Gift of God for salvation. The Baptism of Jesus is the beginning of the death of death itself. In your Baptism, you entered into eternal life. In your Baptism, you got the whole death thing over with. It was not just the water from the river Jordan that is holy; because of Jesus, all water is holy, including the waters in which you were baptized. For Luther, Baptism was where he turned when things were at their darkest. In the face of sin, death, and even Hell itself, Luther’s response was always, “But I am baptized.” His cry can be your cry. In your Baptism, God made promises to you that nobody can take away. In fact, in your Baptism, you were recreated, and you became a child of God with whom he is pleased. Amen. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

This the baptism that our Savior Greatly longed to undergo; This crimson cleansing needed So the world God’s love might know; This the mission of Messiah As He stepped from Jordan’s stream, He the chosen and anointed Son of God, sent to redeem. (LSB 404:3)

-Rev. Grant Knepper, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church Modesto, California.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.