1/14 Sermon - Jesus’ Baptism Means That…
Jesus’ baptism means that…
Mark 1:4-11
How do you prepare for something? Do you know what I mean? How do you prepare for the day, a travel, a weekend, a vacation, a job interview? – a list to pack before a journey, - tea/coffee in the morning, - take a shower, - wash your clothes each Sunday, etc.
Why did Jesus have to baptized? This question is related to the first one! It’s going to be our question for the first two points of our sermon. Why did Jesus have to be baptized? It appears in every gospel, so it’s obv important. It’s simple: It was the beginning of his ministry!
Jesus baptism means that… Jesus is our anointed Savior.
Have you heard about the practice of anointing? It’s been done for ages. It’s when water or oil is poured on your head as you begin your job. A king or priest would have oil poured on their head, their bodies washed and clean as they BEGAN their new duties. Anointing was done to set someone apart as special. We still do something similar! We take a shower, put on deodorant, make-up, perfume to start the day, for a job interview, or for a date.
This brings us to Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, Greek and Hebrew words that simply mean: The anointed one. Why did Jesus have to be baptized? It’s how he began his ministry! He’s God’s special, chosen servant, anointed with water and the Spirit, and he began his ministry with baptism. Just think what Jesus came to do, what he was beginning: three years of teaching, miracles, rejection, and finally he would suffer and die on the cross for our sins, and rise to life for our salvation.
This is what God talks about in Isaiah 49:5-6. Read it. Why was Jesus baptized and anointed? Jesus was the special servant foretold in Isaiah who would bring salvation to Israel, the Gentiles, and the whole world. Jesus baptism means that he officially began his work as our Savior.
So God calls from heaven, “This is my beloved Son.” Jesus wasn’t just a nice guy, a prophet, or a great teacher. The baptism of Jesus tells us who he really is: The Son of God himself, God who has become a human, who has come to save the world from our sin. God is officially naming his Son as Jesus begins his work as our anointed Savior.
What does Jesus’ baptism mean? Jesus’ baptism means that Jesus is your anointed Savior. Jesus went in the water, the Spirit came down on him and anointed him, God called him ‘Son,’ Jesus began his 3 years of ministry, and it led to one place: the cross, dying for our sins. It was all for one purpose,: to save you, to save me, and give life everlasting.
Jesus baptism means that… God delights in you!
I have a question for you: What do you delight in? what puts a smile on your face? The answer is different for each person: dancing, hunting, reading, watching sports, eating, sky diving, traveling. I’m sure you could imagine a few things that put smiles on your faces!
Let’s return to my original question: Why did Jesus have to be baptized? This second answer is just as amazing as the first! Jesus was baptized because he wanted to be. He wanted to step into our place, he wanted to take on human flesh, he wanted to die for our sins. He wanted to do all of it simply because Jesus loves us. Jesus says in John 10, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
So, God calls from heaven, “this is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well-pleased.” Let that sink in for a second. God declared, “I am well pleased with my Son,” as Jesus began his ministry to die for our sins. God was pleased to have his Son die for our sins, God was pleased in our Salvation. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believers in him shall not perish but not eternal life.
As a cherry on top, the Holy Spirit was pleased as well! The Spirit came down, anointed Jesus as he began his ministry, and gave his approval, “with you I am well-pleased.”
The awkward part about this: God can’t say that about me or about you, not on our own. God is not pleased with us. As we begin every day, God looks down from heaven and says, “With you I am not well pleased.” And he has good reason! No matter what our best intentions are, our days quickly turn sinful. We are selfish, judgmental, spiteful, impatient, inconsiderate. And we usually don’t even realize it! We can strut around thinking we’re shining examples of virtue, but if God would talk to us, he’d boom from heaven, “With you I am not pleased.”
But that’s not the case, because you have Jesus with you. Because of Jesus, that’s not what God says to you. That’s what Jesus baptism means: he began his work of our salvation. He lived in our place, he died for our sin, he rose to give us eternal life. His baptism was the official start to his 3 year ministry, to his work of our salvation.
Jesus’ baptism means that God delights in you! It means that he looks down from heaven, and says this: “you are my beloved child, you are clothed with the perfect life of Jesus and I see you as perfect, your sin has been taken away and nailed to the cross, Jesus’ blood covers your shame, you are part of my family, your inheritance is life in paradise, I am your beloved Father, and with you I am well-pleased.”
Let’s recap: What does Jesus baptism mean? Two pictures: an anointing and a delight. Jesus was anointed as he began his work of our salvation, and so God delights in you as his child.
My baptism connects me to Jesus!
The last point I want to talk about is this: how do our baptisms relate to Jesus’ baptism? There are so many answers our there in Christianity that I don’t have time to talk about today. For now, we’ll focus on: What does the Bible say?
Have you ever transplanted something? A plant, a tree, a shrub? I’ve helped my mom transplant a number of flowers, I’ve done that with a few shrubs at our house, and I’ve helped my dad plant dozens of small young trees on my grandpa’s farm. You know the process, right? you dig up the plant and protect the roots. You dig a hole big enough for the bundle, drop the plants and roots in, shovel dirt on top, and water, water, water. If it works, the plant has found a new home, the roots dig down.
Romans 6 gives us this beautiful image of what our baptisms mean: we have been dug up and transplanted into Jesus’ garden. Let’s look again.
Read Romans 6:4-7. When Paul says “we have been united with Christ,” the picture is growing together, like two plants.
So, What does your baptism mean?
- You have been baptized and joined into the death of Jesus. So your sinful nature is daily being killed, crucified, and buried.
- You have been baptized and joined into the resurrection of Jesus. So you daily rise as a new creation and live a life of love to God and others.
- Baptism isn’t something we do, it’s not our act, it’s not symbolic. In our baptism, God transplants us into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
- Jesus’ baptism means that he began his official ministry to save us from sin, to die for our sin, and rise to give us life. Our baptism means that we are connected, in a spiritual, miraculous way, with Jesus. We have forgiveness through his life, and we too will rise and live forever.
Baptism is just such a central part of the Word of Christ, a central part of our life as Christians, of God’s plan for us.
- Every day, our baptism means that we die to our sin and live a new life as children of God, growing in God’s gardne. Every day, our baptism connects us to Jesus, to the forgiveness of sins he won on the cross and the resurrection from the dead he promises to us. Every day, our baptism means we are planted and connected to the vine of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
DO you remember my initial question? How do you prepare for something? A to-do list, a shower, coffee, deep breathing?
What do you delight in? dancing? Hunting? Reading?
Jesus was baptized for two big reasons:
1) He began his work as your Savior, he was anointed as God’s Son, the Christ, the Savior of the world.
2) He began his journey to the cross so that God would say to you, “With you I am well-pleased.”
And our baptism connects us, like a transplanted tree or an ingrafted branch, to Jesus, our Savior.
