Sermon January 10, 2020 Matthews 3: 13-17 The Baptism of Jesus 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Dear Congregation, Many of us have taken down the Christmas tree decorations, most of the Christmas related things have been stored away, the three Holy Kings have led us one last time to the manger, yet online work and school have us back, the life in the New Year has begun. .An unusual beginning of this year that leaves much wondering: What will this year bring? Conclift? Healing? Improvement or new challenges? And where is God in all of that is happening? The story of Jesus’s baptism that we just heard is the first story in the book of Matthew in which Jesus himself becomes active. With Jesus’ baptism HIS daily life begins, this every day life of Jesus that was anything but ordinary. He must have been around 30 years old when he begin to be noticed in public. What happened before this time we hardly know anything about. Only Luke tells this nice story of the 12 year old Jesus in the Temple who impressed the Jewish rabbis with his knowledge of the Scriptures. In all Gospels this encounter between John and Jesus is the first moment when it is made public what Jesus was about and how he was seen by God. With this encounter everything begins. Shouldn’t this moment, this day be a great Holy Day? Because today we learn why Christmas became so important. What does the baptism of Jesus by John mean? It is wonderful when parents give their children this feelings, this assurance: “You are my beloved daughter, you are my beloved son, I am delighting in you, and nothing can separate us”. Through our communion with Jesus we are able to trust even much broader and deeper that God as the creator of life claims us as his own – just as good parents do. This is a promise and a stream of warmth that can carry and maintain us through all difficulties of our life. “Nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8,39). This is the message of our sermon text today that Luther regarded as one of the core texts of the New Testament. He said: Romans 8:39:“This is where the New Testament begins.” However, the story of the baptism of Jesus is not only about the Gospel, about Good News, but it is also about judgment, about repentance and change of heart to which John the Baptist called the people who came to the river Jordan. And they come, hundreds of them from all over Juda, from all the regions alongside the river Jordan and from Jerusalem. From Jerusalem one had to climb down 1200 meters to reach the area where John was baptizing in the river Jordan.
The word “Jordan” comes from the Hebrew word “jarad”, which means to climb down. From the snow covered mountains called Hermon the water gushes down the mountain with a strong current until it reaches its lowest point 400 meters below sea level. At this remote place at the edge of the dessert, John the Baptist lived, wearing a robe made of camel hair and a leather belt. His food were grasshoppers and wild honey. All signs of an alternative lifestyle. He was not just preaching his protest, he lived it. Also his external rejection of an urban life culture and societal norms made him into a believable opponent of the temple and of the palace. Later he will pay with his life for his open critique of the moral misconduct of the King Herold. The regarded the lifestyle and habits of his contemporaries as so corrupt and foul that God’s day of judgment had to be expected in the near future: “Repent, for God’s Kingdom is near!” Followers of the religious group of the time, as Pharisees and Saduzees he challenged with the word: “ You viper bread… the axe has been put to your roots.” Those who turned towards John and his teachings, he dunked them in the formerly still streaming Jordan water, which was a symbol of unbroken creation: An outward and inward cleansing that set a new beginning. He baptized them. And many came. John’s preaching seemed too have spoken to a longing for renewal. A revival movement emerges that makes pilgrims come from far distances. Jesus came from Galilae, which was about 10 days of travel by foot. When he stood in front of John, it not only becomes clear that John can see through the societal conditions of his time, but that he has eyes to see. He denies Jesus. “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him: “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented Only looking back we can understand what this was about for Jesus. Only looking back from the perspective of his death. Just as Jesus allowed to be baptized, even though he did not need it, this is how he allowed the immense cruelty and violence that humans are capable of to come onto him. Even though he had no part in this violence, he nevertheless endured it, just as other humans who over and over have to endure cruelty yet against their will. Do you see now, how this is basically both times the same thing? Jesus allowed to experience something that he did not have to take onto himself. First this death symbol of the baptism and then his actual death. He did not have to take on either one, he did not deserve it. We on the other had need that our old Goddenying life dies. We allow so much violence, cruelty and destruction in this world. We are so deep entangled in the Godless cycles of death. So many awful things happen at least with our quiet complacency, that we cannot complain if it one day impacts us as well. Jesus was different. He was not entangled in destructive death forces. And yet, he first takes onto himself the symbol of death (which is the baptism) and then his actual physical death. In Mark 10 Jesus asks his disciples: “Can you drink the bitter cup that I will drink, and receive the baptism with which I had to be baptized?” He uses at this time the symbol of the baptism for his own death. So we see that later Jesus equates his baptism with his actual death. In his baptism he actually agrees to a path that will later lead him to the cross. He takes onto himself that which he did not deserve. He takes away from us that which he would have deserved, and that would have destroyed us But he takes it on from us, but in a manner that not once again new death and new destruction would emerge.
When Jesus came out of the water, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. As Jesus abdicated his heavenly privileges and refuses to make himself “God on earth”, the Heavenly Father speaks: “You are my joy. When I see you my heart delights”. What better anybody could hear directly from God than this? “You are my beloved son” “You are my beloved daughter.” This was the key experience that Jesus had before beginning his public ministry. What happened here is the basic form, the “Ur- form” of baptism itself. All other baptisms then become something like an attempt to become part of what happened here. All other baptisms are the act of wanting to be taken into the relational event that happened between God and Jesus. Martin Luther described it as follows: “You should never separate your baptism from Jesus’ baptism. I will need to come through your baptism into Christ’s baptism, so that Christ’s baptism becomes your own baptism, and your baptism becomes Christ’s, and all things become ONE baptism.” Dear Brothers and Sisters, Usually one becomes by birth part of a family, a people, a culture. Also in many religions you are born into it, as for example Judaism. A Jew is who is born by a Jewish mother. And also you are born as a Muslim or as Hindu. Christianity is different: You become a Christian through your baptism. It is a revolutionary thought that Jesus too receives his identity as God’s son through his baptism. If that was so, then Jesus would have been an adopted child. Wait a moment: God’s son being adopted? The oldest child in the family of God adopted? You are probably shaking your head now thinking: “Here we go again, what is this pastor telling me?” Well, a long time ago many theologians said that: Jesus is adopted by God, and this happened in this baptism. When Jesus got baptized, God accepted him as his son and declared: “You are my beloved Son” With his baptism Jesus became God. This is one of the oldest Christologies as we say in theological language. What exactly does it mean that God came in Jesus to us, so that Jesus is both: on the one hand human and on the other hand at the same time God? This is what the people since the early church have tried to understand and they found several different answers. Sometimes this lead not only to an argument with words, but with fists. One of the oldest answers is the so called Christology of adoption. God has adopted Jesus – some say in his baptism, others say when he ascended after his death into Heaven. Jesus is God’s adopted son. This old understanding sounds pretty modern in a time when our understanding of family has been enlarged and changed. However, “Patchworkfamilies” in the most interesting family constellations have existed forever. The fairytales of Aschenputtel. Goldmarie and Pechmary, Hans and Gretchen can remind us of this reality. The tales also tell about the challenge that a newly combined family can mean for children and for parents. Some orphan’s life was saved when he or she was adopted and accepted as a family’s child. “You are my beloved son”,“You are my beloved daughter”. But not only taken in, but also loved turns an abandoned and confused child into a “King’s child” and it can indeed open up Heaven filled with love and newfound happiness. The oldest in God’s family is an adopted child. Surprising message for families who have been created just as colorful? In the oldest gospel written by Mark this idea is being hinted at that God adopted Jesus through the baptism as his son. Others have opposed this adoption Christology and emphasized: “Jesus has always been God, even before he was born. This is reflected in the
gospel of John that was written 60 years later. The argument between those different positions went on for many centuries throughout the story of the church. Until today we have preachers who emphasize the “Christology from above or High Christology” (Jesus as being eternal and for ever one with God) and the “Christology from below or Low Christology”. It is not easy to imagine how Jesus can be human and God at the same time. I think every one of us has a different opinion and idea. And it is even not the most important how the dogma has continued to develop and was decided: What is important though is: In our baptism, WE have been adopted by God. In this point all theologians agree. We become brothers and sisters and if you will siblings of Jesus. With our baptism we are being adopted into the family of God. I a family who has adopted just as in a congregation there are adults and children. Everybody brings their very own story with them. And out of those stories something new emerges: A new family. The network that builds can hold. There can be laughter and tears. Wounds start to heal. The scars from former experiences before the adoption blend into the background. However they do not have to be cut out or hidden. But they are allowed to be visible and give each family its very own character. Is that the same with God’s adopted family? Injuries, scars and dreams of a happy life are all part of it. God’s family that is not the one that is intact or where everything goes smoothly. However, out of broken biographies new relationships begin that carry through. The new family, God’s family, becomes a shelter where love and new life can grow. The community in God’s new family is based on voluntary acceptance. It does not matter where somebody comes from or what somebody has experienced before. Here is a place for you. Everybody belongs. Wished for or unwanted children, rejected or found children, tube babies and hired grandmothers, cuckoo kids, colored birds, black sheep, co-brother in law and chosen auntie…what an interesting bunch God has chosen. Jesus, the adopted Son. You are my beloved child, God says to him. Us, the colorful siblings. You are my beloved children, God says to us. What a wonderful and good news at the beginning of this New Year 2021! May our Church communities and Church families contribute that in this hurting world wounds can heal, that enemies become friends and that differences are not handled with violence but that we keep talking with each other. The Family of God begins with baptism, with a change of course. God’s family represents Jesus’s message of love and justice, and it is open to all. And may the peace of God that surpasses all our understanding keep our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen