Sermon by Pastor Robert Green, First Sunday After Epiphany, 1/8/12, Yr. B, No. 916, Ascension Evangelical Lutheran Church, W.E.L.S., Harrisburg, PA, based on Mark 1:4-11
Be strengthened in faith by God’s revelation of Jesus as his Son at his Baptism!
The Epiphany Season gets its name from a Greek word meaning to become clearly known, to show or reveal or manifest oneself. In the Christian church “epiphany” refers to the manifestation or revelation of the man Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God. Such an emphasis is most appropriate for by nature God is hidden from us until he reveals himself to us. We cannot know or describethe one true God apart from his revelations to us. Thus we cannot know him simply by relying on our intellect, whims, and imaginations. He is who he is and we cannot change him.
The creation provides a limited knowledge about God for it shows he is all powerful. God’s providence or care of the world shows his kindness and mercy for he sends sunshine and rain even on the wicked. By observing nature we can get a sense of God’s hatred of sin and sinners from the simple fact of death is the way of all flesh. But from nature we can learn nothing whatever about God’s great plan of salvation or that he is the Trinity or that he is the only God. Thus, a key principle of faith is that to truly know God as he wants us to know him, we must have and study his revelation of himself which he gives to us only in the Scriptures.
This gives us the greatest reason to trust his Word in every detail. Again and again God directs us to his Word in all matters of faith, never directing us or leaving it up to us to determine or develop doctrine apart from his absolute Word of Truth. This is why in his High Priestly Prayer, spoken on the night he was betrayed, Jesus told his Father, “Your Word is true.” This ties the entire Bible together as the entire revelation from God given to man to know him. Remember God wrote only one Scripture. The church divided the Scripture into the Old and New Testaments. The great Saint Augustine gives us a simple but profound principle to connect the Old and New Testaments saying “the New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New.” His point was that to truly understand the Scriptures one needs both the Old and New Testaments and to see the intricate connection between all of Scripture.
Thus it is not surprising to find the Old Testament quoted so often in the New Testament. It is interesting to note that Matthew quotes more of the Old Testament than the other Gospel writers. God inspired this for Matthew was written primarily it seems to show the Jews that based on the Old Testament, Jesus is the Christ, the promised Savior. Mark, on the other hand, quotes the Old Testament only once, in the very beginning of his Gospel. God inspired Mark it seems to show the Gentiles that Jesus is the Savior by recording Jesus’ powerful deeds and miracles. God in his wisdom caused Mark to use Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming forerunner of the Christ to remind one and all to trust in his Word.
Mark begins his Gospel saying, Mark 1:1–3 (NIV84) “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— 3 “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” This is a quote that combines a prophecy of Isaiah with one from Malachi.
The Isaiah prophecy and its context says, Isaiah 40:3–5 (NIV84), “A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”The prophet Malachi tells us, Malachi 3:1(NIV84) “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.” Both these prophets were speaking of the Christ to come. Isaiah says that when the forerunner, the voice in the wilderness comes, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all mankind will see it. Malachi promises that when the messenger, the forerunner, appears, then immediately, suddenly, the Lord will come, the messenger of the covenant.
In the reading for today, Mark goes on to show that these prophecies were fulfilled in John the Baptist. This is of the highest importance from the viewpoint that as God fulfilled his prophecy about the forerunner to the Christ, we can be sure that he also fulfilled his prophecies about the Christ as our Savior. In this reading, at Jesus’ baptism God reveals Jesus to be his Son the Christ. May you be strengthened in faith by God’s revelation of Jesus as his Son at his Baptism!
Hear God’s Word spoken to us through Mark 1:4-8, as he shows John the Baptist to be the forerunner. “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In 2 Kings 1:8 we are told about Elijah, “He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist.” That John the Baptist “wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey” was no mere coincidence, for in part by his clothing he is shown to be the forerunner to come. As the forerunner, John announces the imminent appearance of Christ by doing exactly what Isaiah foretold, for he was a voice crying in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord! Jesus says about the Baptist in Matthew 11:10–15(NIV84) “This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ … 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears, let him hear.”Thus, by his own words, Jesus verifies for us that John was the forerunner.
John prepared the way then and now by preaching a baptism of repentance. The baptism of repentance is the picture of having saving faith to confess sin, repent of sin and turn in faith to Jesus trusting him for complete forgiveness of all sins. In this faith we are washed clean of all sins and purified from all unrighteousness. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 1:8–9 (NIV84) “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
John the Baptist made it clear he was preparing the way for the Christ for he said, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”Christ was greater than John for John was a mere man, but Christ was the God-Man, true God and true Man in one Person, and that is why Jesus would be able to baptize us with the Holy Spirit.Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to baptize at Pentecost, but not before he completed his work on the Cross to save us from all sin by becoming sin for us and suffering in our place. In doing this he made us children of God through faith in him. Do you have the attitude of John that you are not worthy of the Christ? If not, take a moment and look at your sins and realize, you are not worthy of his coming and his death. He died for you only out of his great love for you.
As children of God the Holy Spirit baptizes us in the sense that through water baptism he brings us to faith and in the sense that at the moment of faith he equips us with spiritual gifts, a spiritual baptism. All of this reveals Christ to be the Savior for unless he was the Savior there would be no reason to send the Holy Spirit or to baptize. Without Christ there would be no repentance of sins.
God revealed and confirms for us that Jesus is indeed the Savior at Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. In this reading Mark tells us, “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The baptism of Jesus is critical for it sets in motion the work of the Savior. Before his baptism, Jesus lived in Capernaum and worked as a carpenter. He lived perfectly without sin, but in every way he looked just like any other man. There was nothing about his physical appearance that gave a hint of his deity. No one aside from those who witnessed or heard about his birth had any reason to believe he was the Savior.The baptism of Jesus changed the perception about him for in his baptism God the Father declares to every soul willing to listen that Jesus is no ordinary man, for he is God’s Son. Once again the Word of God called down from heaven revealing to all the truth about Jesus the man. It happened not by chance but by design for the time had come for Jesus to begin his public ministry, no longer the carpenter, now he would be the teacher, the Rabbi, the Savior.
It is good to note that Jesus had no need of baptism as we do, for he had no sin. God used the baptism of Christ to publicly anoint Jesus for his work by declaring Jesus to be his Son, the Savior.In the Old Testament those who served God whether as king or prophet were first anointed in some way. The act of anointing a person was God’s way of declaring to the world that that person was his servant and so all should listen to him. The baptism of Jesus was God anointing Jesus the man to be the male offspring of Eve who would crush the head of Satan. The anointing was not for God to decide Jesus was the one, but it was to reveal to all the world that the man Jesus indeed was the one who would save all.
The question for each of us is will we be strengthened in faith by God’s revelation of Jesus as his Son at his Baptism? May God strengthen you to believe in Jesus for the Baptist came just as he was promised to prepare the way of the Lord to come to his own and the baptism of Jesus confirms it. To God be all glory, amen!