The Lutheran Hour
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"Polluted Waters"
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Text: Matthew 3:13-15
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The Christ Child who was born for us is also the Savior who was baptized, condemned, crucified, and has risen for us. Today our living Lord promises, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Grant this Lord, unto us all. Amen.
About a month ago when I was at the airport, I had the opportunity to watch a mother feed her little boy, Jeffrey. I know his name was Jeffrey, because Jeffrey’s mother called him that – a lot. I have to tell you that Jeffrey, at the age of about a year, seemed, in every respect like a perfectly normal, and very beautiful baby boy. Jeffrey was learning to walk, stumbling around like a drunken sailor, bumping into some things, holding on to others, tripping on his oversized new shoes that he will probably grow into in a month or so. But it wasn’t Jeffrey’s ambulatory adventures which caught my attention. I really enjoyed watching Jeffrey eat. Perhaps I ought to say, I enjoyed watching Jeffrey not eat. You see, at the airport Jeffrey was surrounded by all kinds of people and sights and sounds that he had never experienced before. As a result, Jeffrey went into sort of a sensory overload as his eyes and ears tried to take in everything.
That’s why, when Jeffrey’s mother reached into her oversized backpack and came up with a plastic spoon and a bottle of baby food, Jeffrey could have cared less. It made little difference to Jeffrey that his scheduled mealtime had long since passed by. Jeffrey simply wasn’t interested in food. Mother popped the cap off a nutritionally well-balanced bottle of something or another. I don’t know what the bottle contained, but I hope it wasn’t chicken, because the contents were colored a phosphorescent lime green. As far as texture, the green stuff had been thoroughly sliced, diced, ground, pureed, and smooshed. Mom scooped out a spoonful of the green goop and held the offering out to Jeffrey’s mouth. She was shocked when Jeffrey’s jaws clamped shut, his lips tightened into a slit and he immediately turned his head away, getting some of the radioactive green food on his cheek.
Mother sighed, smiled and patiently said, “But Jeffrey, you love this. It’s your favorite. I got it just for you.” Jeffrey didn’t hear a word; and when mother extended the spoon a second time, she ended up with green on her blouse as well as Jeffrey’s face. Next, Mother tried the universal… “Here comes the airplane into the hanger;” and she made an airplane sound. Next she made chugging sounds and cheerfully exclaimed, “Here comes the railroad train into the tunnel.” Jeffrey missed his plane and his train. Then mother got cute; you know what I mean. Mom crooned, “Doesn’t my widdle Jeffy weffy, wanna eatsy weatsy his foodsie woodsie?” The only thing Jeffy weffy did was look at his mother like she had lost her mindsey windsey.
Mother was starting to get flustered. She had exhausted all of the tricks which usually managed to get Jeffrey to open up and chow down. She had gone through all of her tricks but one. Mom pulled out the big gun. She said, “Honey, this is really good. You’ll like it. Even mommy likes it.” And mommy did something extraordinary. She lifted the spoonful of room temperature, glow-in-the-dark, unidentifiable green stuff to her mother’s mouth. I wanted to shout, “Lady, don’t do it!” but I didn’t. I was mesmerized as Mommy actually put that green goop into her mouth, licked off the spoon, swallowed, smacked her lips, and smiled. She ate food she didn’t want; she swallowed food she didn’t need; so someone she loved might benefit.
Now that is a fairly lengthy story, and I wouldn’t have spent time sharing it if I didn’t think it might give you an inkling of the love Jesus showed for you on the day He was baptized. Now it has only been a few, short weeks since the Christian community celebrated the birth of the Savior and the coming of the Wise Men to visit the heaven-sent Redeemer of the world. Which is why you may be surprised to find, at least according to the church year’s calendar, today’s text shows Jesus as a full grown man. So radical is this transformation from baby to adult, many people question and are curious about what happened to Jesus during those years. If you have ever been piqued by curiosity, I’d like to tell you what happened to Him. I’d like to tell you, but I can’t. I can’t tell you, nor can anyone else.
Before Jesus was baptized, He was pretty much unknown, growing up as “Joseph, the carpenter’s son” in the obscurity provided by the remote Galilean town of Nazareth. True, when He was less than a day old, a handful of shepherds, responded to the angel’s message which had proclaimed Him as the Savior. They had come and knelt before Him in the stable. A short time later Simeon and Anna had adored Him when He was first brought to the temple; and, yes, some Magi from the East had given Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Between their visit and the visit of Jesus at the Jordan, the only story of the Savior the Scriptures share is when, at the age of 12, He wowed the temple scholars. For 18 years there is nothing which is known about the Savior; nothing which makes Him stand out; nothing which might have made Him identifiable as the world’s heaven-sent Redeemer.
Then, one day, Jesus stepped out of the shadows of anonymity and into the dawning light of His ministry. One day, the man from Nazareth came to the banks of the Jordan River and asked that His cousin John baptize Him. For some of you the word baptize may cause some confusion. Let me explain the concept. In the first century, the word baptizo was often used to describe the dipping of a light-colored cloth into a darker dye. Once the fabric was soaked in that deeply colored dye it was changed – transformed from its original color into a hue which was deeper and darker. The extraordinary difference between the baptizing of cloth and the baptizing of sinners was that the process was reversed. God used John to take souls which had been blackened by sin and, through this river washing, lightened and made them whiter.
It was an effective ministry and people flocked to John’s wilderness location, asking him to take them into the river and wash them of their sins. Baptism was a request John gladly performed for anyone who was truly sorry for past transgressions. But when Jesus, the perfect Son of God, came forward and asked to be baptized, John hesitated and expressed his reluctance to take Jesus down into the water. You see, John might have had the look of a mad prophet about him, but the Christ’s forerunner was nobody’s fool and John was fully aware of his limitations. John knew he had been empowered to call people to repentance, but only the Savior could win lasting forgiveness. John knew he could lead people into the Jordan to be symbolically washed, but it would take the shed blood of the Savior to cleanse these souls permanently.
That’s why, when the Christ came to be baptized, John hesitated and protested: Jesus, You’re coming to me? No, it should be the other way around; I need to be baptized by You. What else could the Baptizer have said when he was standing before Jesus, the only perfect person who has ever lived? John knew Jesus didn’t need to be baptized like the rest of us; Jesus wasn’t afflicted by humanity’s sin-sickness; Jesus had no transgressions which needed forgiving. So, why did Jesus ask to be baptized? Do you remember Jeffrey’s mother, the lady who ate what she didn’t need so someone she loved might benefit? That’s why Jesus was baptized. Motivated by love, Jesus experienced a baptism He didn’t need so He might be washed of sins He didn’t commit. Jesus was baptized so the people He loved, you and I, might benefit and be forgiven.
Before I go any farther, I want you to understand the enormity and sacrifice of what Jesus did that day. Years ago, when families were big and water had to be carried from a well to the house, Saturday night – the night before church – was family bath night. In those days it was not unusual for a number of children to share the same bath water. Sharing bath water sounds gross, doesn’t it? Let me make it more gross. How do you feel about sharing someone else’s bathwater who is not a member of your family? How do you feel about stepping into a tub which holds the same water in which a total stranger has bathed? See, I told you it was going to get nasty.
You would retreat from such an idea, but Jesus went forward. The day Jesus walked into the Jordan, those waters were filled with sin – your sin, my sin, the sins of all humanity. The day the Baptizer led Jesus into the Jordan, the water was polluted with every evil you can imagine, every evil you can do. Your human eyes may not have been able to see those sins, but they were there. Great quantities of immorality, deceit, pride, gossip, greed, slander, murder, lust, polluted that river. Any wrong of which humanity can conceive was floating there that day. No, you and I wouldn’t have gone in; we wouldn’t have gotten close.
But Jesus, who knew all of those sins, and who knew the sinners who had dirtied the waters, didn’t hesitate. Jesus wasn’t ashamed to step into our sinner’s bath water; He wasn’t reluctant, not at all. On the contrary, Jesus insisted He go in; He demanded to be let in. The day of His baptism the sinless Son of God stood in the water with the prostitute and the pervert, with the unwanted and the unloved. Jesus chose to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with serious sinners like you and me. Scripture says, “For our sakes God made sinless Jesus to be sin for us, so that in Him we might have and become the righteousness of God” (Paraphrase 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Do you understand this kind of love? Of course you don’t. No sinful human can begin to comprehend this kind of sacrificial love which was shown by the Savior. All we can do is watch in amazement as God’s perfect Son stepped into the water and took upon Himself the sins of the adulterer, the drunkard, the glutton, the blasphemer, the thief, and whatever kind of particular sinner you might happen to be. All we can do is gasp in wonder as Jesus, not reluctantly but willingly, put His feet into the Jordan and emerged totally committed to walking that path which would lead Him to a wooden cross set on the crest of a skull-shaped hill on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
It’s not surprising that when the courageous Savior emerged from the waters of the Jordan, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and our heavenly Father said with pride: “This is My beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased.” The Father was pleased that Jesus had taken up His work of redemption which would cause Him nothing but frustration and rejection. The Father was pleased Jesus was ready to fulfill the ancient prophecies which had foretold of how God’s Son would spend His life rebuilding the broken bridge between sinful humanity and the perfect Deity. The Father was well-pleased that His Son had not skirted or shirked the job of giving Himself as a ransom for our salvation, that His Son was willing to live and die so we might be forgiven.
Understand, Jesus’ walk into the waters of the Jordan would not be the last time Jesus would be confronted by the pollution of sin. You who doubt the love of God and the commitment of the Christ, should set aside your doubt and criticism and read through the Gospels; you should see how much and how often the Savior suffered so you might be washed in the waters of Baptism so you might be given faith, so you might be saved. See the Savior as He stood up against Satan who came armed with terrible temptations. Watch and see how Jesus’ call was rejected by the unrepentant, how His love was misunderstood by the multitudes. Watch how His offer of peace was refused; His attempts to bring harmony and hope to humanity were unwelcome and unwanted.
See how, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the all-powerful Son of God was driven to the dirt by the crushing weight of your sins and mine. Can you see your sins as He saw them that night? Which sin? All of your sins were laid upon Him, but now I’m speaking of that special sin which still causes you sadness and still creates a sickness in your stomach. I’m speaking of that special sin which embarrasses you; that sin which you keep hidden in the deep recesses of your heart. I am talking about that sin which you would never share with your closest confidant or dearest friend. Jesus saw that sin, your special sin, and He carried it.
Look upon your Savior. God’s perfect Son who was baptized for you, also accepted the betraying kiss of a disciple; He stood silent when lies were told about Him; declined to defend Himself when He was beaten, when He was spit upon, when He was crowned with thorns, and when a whip tore His back to ribbons. The same love which took Jesus into the sin-laden waters of the Jordan also kept Him upon the cross of Calvary. You would not, could not, have withstood the indignity, the suffering, the agony and pain, but He did. He suffered all this so your soul might be washed, completely and forever, of the sin which stains it; so your dark heart might be illuminated by the light His love brings, so your troubled conscience might be given a permanent peace.
Knowing all this would come upon His Son, the Father rightly announced from heaven, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Knowing the sacrifice the Savior would make, John was inspired to call out: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). The Baptizer’s cry should be echoed by every sinful soul who has been blessed by the Savior’s suffering and sacrifice. It is the call which should be shouted by every believer who has stood before the risen Lord’s empty tomb.
In Vienna, Austria, there is a church in which the Hapsburgs, the former ruling family of that country, are buried. For centuries it has been customary for the funeral procession to be greeted by locked doors. When the royals knocked to be given admittance, they have heard a voice call out from behind the bolted vault doors: “Who is it that desires admission here?” Depending on the rank of the deceased, a designated guard will reply with words something like: “His apostolic majesty, the emperor!” The voice from within responds, “I do not know him.” The people in the funeral procession knock again, and once more they are challenged: “Who is it that desires admission here?” This time the guard who is serving as spokesman replies, “The highest emperor.” There is a lengthy pause and then the words, “I do not know him,” echo through the burial chamber. A third and final knock is made. “Who is it?” “A poor sinner” comes the guard’s answer. And only then is the door opened and the royal burial completed.
I am willing to guess that most of us are not emperors who will be buried in a cathedral. Yet, even though we have no grand rank or great social standing, we, like these Hapsburgs, shall die and our mourners will wend their ways to a cemetery or mausoleum. What will give comfort to those we leave behind? Only the firm conviction that our earthly sorrows are more than balanced by the Savior’s love. Because of the Savior’s sacrifice and His resurrection victory, because of Baptism and the faith and forgiveness it imparts, believers know that the Savior has won the ultimate victory. At Bethlehem, God showed us His Son for the first time; at the Jordan, God blessed the holy commitment of the Christ; on Calvary, Jesus became the sacrificial atonement for our sins. And then, on the third day, at the empty tomb, a living Lord Jesus has shown His sacrifice is accepted and death itself has been defeated. Because of what Christ has done, all those who believe on Him as Savior can hear the Father say to them, “You are My dear sons and daughters. Because of Jesus, you are forgiven and I am pleased with you.” That is the message of the Savior’s baptism; it is the message of The Lutheran Hour. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Grant this Lord unto us all. And dear listener, if you need to know more about the Savior, His sacrifice, the Holy Spirit-given belief, or baptism, please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for January 13, 2008
TOPIC: Faith HealingANNOUNCER: And now Pastor Ken Klaus responds to a listener’s questions. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hello, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: A listener writes, “I have a friend who suffers from chronic and debilitating back pain. Not so long ago she went to a healing service, and she came out of that service claiming she had been healed. However, she still seems to be in considerable pain. When I encouraged her to go see the doctor, she said she didn’t want to do that because to do so would be admitting she wasn’t really healed, or that she didn’t have enough faith to be healed. What can I tell her?”
KLAUS: That’s a sticky wicket, indeed.
ANNOUNCER: How so?
KLAUS: Well, on the one side, there is no doubt that the Lord can grant miraculous healings. Scripture is filled with stories of how God instantly and completely cured diseases that otherwise seemed incurable. Even more, both doctors and ministers know there are times when a person’s body can do what isn’t medically, logically, and scientifically possible.
ANNOUNCER: No problems with that.
KLAUS: Good. Now, here’s the problem. Anyone who reads the stories of miraculous healings in the Bible should note that these healings are miraculous. That means that they are out of the norm. They are exceptions rather than the rule.
ANNOUNCER: That make sense, too.
KLAUS: There are a few other things which also ought to be obvious. First, not everybody in the Bible was healed. Saint Paul had what he called his “thorn in the flesh.” He said his weakness enabled God’s power to shine through. Timothy had a touchy stomach. Moses’ job might have been considerably easier if he hadn’t had a speech impediment. God doesn’t always heal His people, not even those who have incredible faith. Second, if a healing really is a healing, it ought to be verifiable as a healing. That means a person wasn’t just healed in their minds, they were actually, really, check-outable healed. When Jesus healed the lepers, do you remember what He said?
ANNOUNCER: He said: Go show yourselves to the priests.
KLAUS: Right, the priests were the ones who gave official notice when a person had been cured. Jesus never told the lepers to avoid going to the priests because if they did they would be doubting the miracle He had so graciously bestowed upon them. He wanted to have them checked out. In the case of leprosy, the healing would probably have been pretty obvious.
ANNOUNCER: Now, how would you apply this to the individual with the chronic back pain?
KLAUS: Mark, I’d tell them this: “If you are healed, you and everyone around you should give thanks to the Lord.” But I’d also say, “Don’t be afraid to go and see your doctors. Your desire to get their opinion and have things get checked out should not be construed by you, or anyone else, as being a lack of faith. On the contrary, if you have a doctor’s report in hand, your witness to the Lord is made stronger. You are then able to say, “See, here is the physician’s report which states I’ve been healed. The doctor doesn’t know why or how I was healed, but I do.”
ANNOUNCER: But what happens if the doctors say, “No, you’re not healed; the problem is still there?”
KLAUS: Mark, the church does not look upon disease as being mind over matter. We don’t look upon doctors as being our opponents or our competition. On the contrary, the Lord works through the skill of the surgeon’s hands and the “miracle cures” of modern medicine to grant His healings. In short, we should listen to the physicians. The vast majority of them know what they are doing.
ANNOUNCER: And how about this lady who seems to be in pain? What would you say to her?
KLAUS: I’d say, “Look, if you are healed, check it out. Don’t play around with things.”
ANNOUNCER: And why do you say that?
KLAUS: Because there have been a lot of reports, many more than one, where individuals were told they needed to keep a positive faith and not admit the pain, or symptoms, or whatever was still there.
ANNOUNCER: Maybe even something serious like cancer.
KLAUS: Yes, maybe something like cancer. Indeed, these people didn’t go to their doctors, they stopped taking their medication; they refused to admit the problem was still there.
ANNOUNCER: And what happened?
KLAUS: Some of them died. And their death, at least at that time, probably wasn’t necessary.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Christ, When for Us You Were Baptized” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” by Johann Philipp Kirnberger. From A Year of Grace by Craig Cramer (© 2003 Dulcian Productions)
“O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte” by John Behnke. Concordia Publishing House