Baptism as a way of living
Matthew 3:13-16
Today we focus on the baptism of Jesus.
We are in the season of epiphany - literally, from the Greek, epi - fanos, means ‘a shining forth, a revealing’
Epiphany is about revelation.
So we read about the revelation of the star to the wise men, and the revealing of Jesus to us.
It is like when a car manufacturer has a new product. They announce that a new model XYZ is coming out next year. They prepare the way. They put up the adverts. They give us teasers. And then they pull off the blanket and reveal the car.
Well, this season of epiphany is the pulling off of the blanket and the revealing - not of the car - but of the Son of God.
That happens at the baptism of Jesus.
Jesus comes to be baptised, and he is revealed as the Son of God. The voice comes from heaven. Indeed we hear the voice of the Father, the coming of the Spirit and the receiving of the Son.
But I would like to look at the Baptism of Jesus from a different angle: not so much an event but as a way of life, as a way of living.
If you would like to sum up what it means to live as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, you could do much worse than look at the model of his baptism
It is about living the way of obedience, about emptying ourselves, about receiving and about glory.
Jesus baptism was about obedience
Jesus comes to John to be baptised. John knows who Jesus is. He wants to refuse and says, ‘I need to be baptised by you’. But Jesus replies, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness’.
In other words, Jesus is saying, this is the right thing to do. I am being baptised as an act of obedience to my Father in heaven.
And that obedience to his Father marked Jesus life on earth. He was obedient even to death on a cross.
When we were baptised, it was an act of obedience.
Peter, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit has come on him, preaches a sermon about Jesus and people are convicted - know deep within them - that this Jesus who was crucified, is now risen and Lord of all. They ask, ‘what should we do?’ And Peter tells them, ‘repent and be baptised’.
And we are baptised, or we baptise our children, as an act of obedience.
The reason for baptism is not family tradition, not to have a party for the baby (although both are good) - but as a recognition that Jesus is Lord, and as an act of obedience to him.
And when we were baptised, it is an emptying.
Baptism requires a physical humbling of ourselves.
We have to - sometimes literally in baptism - go down.
Or, if we are baptised in a font, we have to bow our heads
To be baptised requires an inner humbling. It requires a recognition that things are not right, that we are not right. It is a recognition of our need: that with all our abilities and achievements and successes we cannot save ourselves.
Thirdly when we are baptised we receive.
The only physical thing that we need to do to become part of the people of God is for us to allow someone else to throw water at us in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Baptism is not something we can do to ourselves.
It is not about being good enough, or religious enough or generous enough.
As baptised people we walk the way of obedience.
Peter says, ‘You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all’ (Acts 10:35).
We walk the way of obedience to Jesus: in receiving baptism and communion, in our relationships, in our sexual behaviour, in our submission to authority, in our marriages, in our giving, in our forgiving of those who hurt us, in our discipline of prayer and worship, in our love for those in need.
As baptised people we walk the way of going down, of bowing our heads, of emptying ourselves, of not seeking our own interests but the interests of others, of humbling ourselves before each other; of humbling ourselves and coming before God with our needs.
We sometimes say ‘I don’t pray for myself. I only pray for others’. I know that comes from a very English desire not to be a bother to others or, for that matter, to God. But it is also very arrogant. Basically it is saying I can manage myself, I’m in control of my life.
It is not the way of the baptised person who knows that we need God every minute, every second of our lives, and who is prepared to humble themselves before God.
As baptised people we live by receiving from God
We receive daily the forgiveness of sins: that is a separate sermon in itself, but if we know we are forgiven it changes our lives.
We ask for and receive daily the Holy Spirit - the presence of God in our minds changing our thinking, and in our hearts changing our desires.
And daily, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we live with the assurance that we are beloved children within the family of God
As baptised people we live with the hope of glory.
We wait for that day when, just as Jesus was revealed as the Son of God to John and to those around him, the blanket at the end of time will be pulled off, and we will be revealed in a new heaven and a new earth as the beloved sons and daughters of God.
Today we focus on the baptism of Jesus.
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| The Baptism of Jesus. Mosaic from the dome of the Arian Baptistery in Ravenna (late C5th/early C6th). The figure on the left is the the personified river Jordan (cf Psalm 114:3) |
We are in the season of epiphany - literally, from the Greek, epi - fanos, means ‘a shining forth, a revealing’
Epiphany is about revelation.
So we read about the revelation of the star to the wise men, and the revealing of Jesus to us.
It is like when a car manufacturer has a new product. They announce that a new model XYZ is coming out next year. They prepare the way. They put up the adverts. They give us teasers. And then they pull off the blanket and reveal the car.
Well, this season of epiphany is the pulling off of the blanket and the revealing - not of the car - but of the Son of God.
That happens at the baptism of Jesus.
Jesus comes to be baptised, and he is revealed as the Son of God. The voice comes from heaven. Indeed we hear the voice of the Father, the coming of the Spirit and the receiving of the Son.
But I would like to look at the Baptism of Jesus from a different angle: not so much an event but as a way of life, as a way of living.
If you would like to sum up what it means to live as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, you could do much worse than look at the model of his baptism
It is about living the way of obedience, about emptying ourselves, about receiving and about glory.
Jesus baptism was about obedience
Jesus comes to John to be baptised. John knows who Jesus is. He wants to refuse and says, ‘I need to be baptised by you’. But Jesus replies, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness’.
In other words, Jesus is saying, this is the right thing to do. I am being baptised as an act of obedience to my Father in heaven.
And that obedience to his Father marked Jesus life on earth. He was obedient even to death on a cross.
Jesus baptism was about an emptying, a going down
Jesus goes down into the water. Matthew doesn’t explicitly say that - but he does say that Jesus came up from the water, and you can only come up if you have first gone down!
Jesus baptism is like that event later in his ministry when he takes off his robe and kneels down and washes his disciples feet. He empties himself. It is what happens - as Peter declares in Acts 10 - when hangs on a tree. He empties himself of himself, even to the extent of dying on the cross.
Jesus baptism is about receiving
Jesus does not baptise himself. He allows John to baptise him. He receives baptism from John.
And Jesus baptism is about glory
As Jesus comes up out of the water, the blanket is removed and the voice reveals him: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’.
This is not here the glory of victory, of a remarkable achievement, but the glory of identity.
It is the glory of knowing yourself beloved and delighted in. It is the glory of intimacy with the One who matters more than everyone else and everything else put together.
God pulls the blanket off Jesus and he says this is my Son, the One who is the beginning and the end, the ruler of creation, the Lord, who will judge the living and the dead - and I love him.
Those four themes are echoed in our own baptism
Jesus goes down into the water. Matthew doesn’t explicitly say that - but he does say that Jesus came up from the water, and you can only come up if you have first gone down!
Jesus baptism is like that event later in his ministry when he takes off his robe and kneels down and washes his disciples feet. He empties himself. It is what happens - as Peter declares in Acts 10 - when hangs on a tree. He empties himself of himself, even to the extent of dying on the cross.
Jesus baptism is about receiving
Jesus does not baptise himself. He allows John to baptise him. He receives baptism from John.
And Jesus baptism is about glory
As Jesus comes up out of the water, the blanket is removed and the voice reveals him: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’.
This is not here the glory of victory, of a remarkable achievement, but the glory of identity.
It is the glory of knowing yourself beloved and delighted in. It is the glory of intimacy with the One who matters more than everyone else and everything else put together.
God pulls the blanket off Jesus and he says this is my Son, the One who is the beginning and the end, the ruler of creation, the Lord, who will judge the living and the dead - and I love him.
Those four themes are echoed in our own baptism
When we were baptised, it was an act of obedience.
Peter, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit has come on him, preaches a sermon about Jesus and people are convicted - know deep within them - that this Jesus who was crucified, is now risen and Lord of all. They ask, ‘what should we do?’ And Peter tells them, ‘repent and be baptised’.
And we are baptised, or we baptise our children, as an act of obedience.
The reason for baptism is not family tradition, not to have a party for the baby (although both are good) - but as a recognition that Jesus is Lord, and as an act of obedience to him.
And when we were baptised, it is an emptying.
Baptism requires a physical humbling of ourselves.
We have to - sometimes literally in baptism - go down.
Or, if we are baptised in a font, we have to bow our heads
To be baptised requires an inner humbling. It requires a recognition that things are not right, that we are not right. It is a recognition of our need: that with all our abilities and achievements and successes we cannot save ourselves.
Thirdly when we are baptised we receive.
The only physical thing that we need to do to become part of the people of God is for us to allow someone else to throw water at us in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Baptism is not something we can do to ourselves.
It is not about being good enough, or religious enough or generous enough.
It cannot be bought. That is why we do not charge for baptisms, just as we do not charge people to come to communion.
It is a gift. It is a gift from God and it is the gift of God himself. It is through baptism that God promises to us the gift of forgiveness and the gift of his Holy Spirit and the gift of inclusion in his people for eternity.
And fourthly, our baptism is about the hope of glory
It is about our identity as sons and daughters of the living God.
Baptism is an obedience, an emptying, a receiving and a glory.
It is a going down and then a coming up.
Often the baby is brought to baptism in an amazing dress.
What I would love would be for a family, who have begun to realise what this is all about, to bring their baby to baptism in a baby grow or ordinary clothes, maybe even undress the baby as they would if he or she was about to have a bath (although that is probably not a good idea in our churches given that they can be a tad on the cold side!) and then, after the baby is baptised, dress them in the white robe.
But, as I said at the beginning, baptism is not just an event - it is a way of life.
It is a gift. It is a gift from God and it is the gift of God himself. It is through baptism that God promises to us the gift of forgiveness and the gift of his Holy Spirit and the gift of inclusion in his people for eternity.
And fourthly, our baptism is about the hope of glory
It is about our identity as sons and daughters of the living God.
Baptism is an obedience, an emptying, a receiving and a glory.
It is a going down and then a coming up.
Often the baby is brought to baptism in an amazing dress.
What I would love would be for a family, who have begun to realise what this is all about, to bring their baby to baptism in a baby grow or ordinary clothes, maybe even undress the baby as they would if he or she was about to have a bath (although that is probably not a good idea in our churches given that they can be a tad on the cold side!) and then, after the baby is baptised, dress them in the white robe.
But, as I said at the beginning, baptism is not just an event - it is a way of life.
What is important is not when or how we were baptised but whether we are living our baptism here and now.
As baptised people we walk the way of obedience.
Peter says, ‘You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all’ (Acts 10:35).
We walk the way of obedience to Jesus: in receiving baptism and communion, in our relationships, in our sexual behaviour, in our submission to authority, in our marriages, in our giving, in our forgiving of those who hurt us, in our discipline of prayer and worship, in our love for those in need.
As baptised people we walk the way of going down, of bowing our heads, of emptying ourselves, of not seeking our own interests but the interests of others, of humbling ourselves before each other; of humbling ourselves and coming before God with our needs.
We sometimes say ‘I don’t pray for myself. I only pray for others’. I know that comes from a very English desire not to be a bother to others or, for that matter, to God. But it is also very arrogant. Basically it is saying I can manage myself, I’m in control of my life.
It is not the way of the baptised person who knows that we need God every minute, every second of our lives, and who is prepared to humble themselves before God.
As baptised people we live by receiving from God
We receive daily the forgiveness of sins: that is a separate sermon in itself, but if we know we are forgiven it changes our lives.
We ask for and receive daily the Holy Spirit - the presence of God in our minds changing our thinking, and in our hearts changing our desires.
And daily, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we live with the assurance that we are beloved children within the family of God
As baptised people we live with the hope of glory.
We wait for that day when, just as Jesus was revealed as the Son of God to John and to those around him, the blanket at the end of time will be pulled off, and we will be revealed in a new heaven and a new earth as the beloved sons and daughters of God.
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