THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
January 12, 2025
Isaiah 43:1–7
Romans 6:1–11
Luke 3:15–22
The Triune God Opens Heaven to You in Holy Baptism
The Baptism of our Lord is an “Epiphany” of the one true God in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. In divine mercy, He takes His place with sinners and takes their sin upon Himself. “When all the people were baptized,” Jesus submitted Himself to a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:21). He had no sins of His own, but He took the sins of the world upon Himself and so was baptized into His own death. Therefore, “when you pass through the waters,” He is with you (Is. 43:2). He created you for His glory, and He has redeemed you with His blood, that you may be His own and live with Him in His kingdom (Is. 43:1, 7). As you are baptized with a Baptism like His, so also are you united with Him in His death and resurrection that you “might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). For all who are baptized into Christ Jesus receive His anointing of the Holy Spirit and are named by His Father as beloved and well-pleasing sons and daughters.
INTROIT
P Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
C my chosen, in whom my soul delights.
P I will tell of the decree:
C The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
P Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
C and the ends of the earth your possession.
P You shall break them with a rod of iron
C and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
P Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
C be warned, O rulers of the earth.
P Serve the Lord with fear,
C and rejoice with trembling,
P for his wrath is quickly kindled.
C Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
C my chosen, in whom my soul delights.
COLLECT OF THE DAY** LSB 189
P Let us pray.
Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 43:1–7
1But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
EPISTLE Romans 6:1–11
1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 3:15–22
15As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life T everlasting. Amen.
Summary of Sermon given by Vacancy Pastor John Riebhoff
Today we are going to meditate on the Baptism of Jesus and are own Baptism. How do we make the connection of the two baptisms? Do you remember your own baptism? Most don't remember because we were just babies. As we look at Jesus baptism we will look at what Baptism means for us, the blessing and benefits of baptism. Jesus commanded "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Not only did he command this but he also was baptized. In the book of Romans it talks about Jesus death and resurrection and how it ties in with the baptism of Jesus.
Baptism if a new life. Jesus is living in us and us in him. What does that mean. A pastor was walking with his son on the beach one day. The son asked his father, "what did you mean that Jesus is living in us and us in him?" The father found a plastic bottle and filled is half way with the ocean water, capped the bottle, then threw it into the ocean. He then said to his son, "See the ocean is in the bottle and the bottle is in the ocean. Through baptism Jesus becomes in us and we in him. He did this by taking away our sins and giving us salvation and eternal life.
Jesus is the very true Son of God. He is our mediator between us and God, so that we can be reconciled with God. He died on the cross for our sins and then rose again. He did this so that we can become one of God's dear children. God affirms Jesus is his Son when he said, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” No mistake who Jesus is. This also affirms God's love for his Son and the love He shows us as our dear Father. Baptism is the affirmation of love of his Son. Our baptism is also an affirmation of God's love and the forgiveness of sins to become one of his family. John 3:16 is an example of this when it say, "“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Are we part of this world? Of course we are and many over verses talk about God's love for us. Encourage people to be baptize to become God's children.
God is pleased with his Son for what he has done and what he is going to do. God was pleased with Jesus and all of his preaching and teaching of the gospel. He was pleased with Jesus's holy suffering and death on the cross for our sins. He was pleased with Jesus' resurrection from death. He was pleased for the obedient life Jesus lived. We are united with Jesus through our baptism. Also when we pray the Lord's Prayer. We are God's dear children and He is our loving Father. You are my beloved children, God is pleased with us. Not because of how we live our lives. We have sinned against him. He is pleased with us because of who we are through Jesus Christ. He sees Jesus in us. Believe in His promises. We have a new life with the love of Jesus and the love we show our neighbors.
We are to make Jesus known to all people. Go, baptize, and teach to others. Yes, some will reject God's promises. We will see the Holy Spirit create new life in others through Jesus Christ. Celebrate Jesus baptism. Celebrate our baptism because we became children of God. We are beloved sons and daughters of God with whom He is well pleased.