The Baptism of Our Lord, January 7, 2024
The Baptism of Our Lord, January 7, 2024
Here, at the baptism of Jesus, we are given witness to the presence of all three persons of the Holy Trinity. Jesus, the Son, comes up out of the baptismal waters. The Holy Spirit descends from the heavens like a dove. God, the Father, speaks with both love and satisfaction. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the Holy Trinity, the fullness of the Godhead—there with John the baptizer at the river Jordon. Here is an incident you can recall and give witness if anyone should question the presence of the Holy Trinity in scripture.
When you were brought to your own personal river Jordon—that is, the baptismal font, there your own personal John the baptizer—that is, your preacher, combined water with the Word of God and baptized you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You came up out of that baptismal water having received the life of Jesus Christ, the Son. The Holy Spirit descended upon you, giving you the gift of faith. God, the Father, bears witness in love for you, his new child, and in satisfaction that all righteousness has been fulfilled (vs. 15). The entirety of the Holy Trinity is there, present and working, at your baptism and at every baptism done in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For the rest of your mortal days, you will be a child of God, a brother or sister to Jesus Christ. You hold membership in the family of God. And, when your mortal days shall end, Jesus will take you to that place he has prepared for you (Jn. 14:3). There, you will have the run of the household. Until that day, your flesh—the body of sin and death—obscures and hides your membership in God’s family. During these days—the days of your baptism—your only guarantee of righteousness is this promise that all righteousness was fulfilled in your baptism and maintained by the ongoing proclamation that puts the forgiveness of sins into your ears and the bread and wine on your tongue.
Table Talk: Discuss your grasp of the Holy Trinity
Pray: Father, hold me in the fulfillment of all righteousness. Amen
Matthew 3:13-17
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? 15 But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.