Sermons 2026

Feast of the Baptism of our Lord 

Text: Matthew 3:13-17 

Outline 

1. Jesus is baptized 

2. Identifies as one of us to give us peace 

3. We have peace and comfort even today found in our own baptisms 

Sermon 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew the third chapter verses thirteen through seventeen. 

Beloved Lambs, do you know what I have here? I have a bucket of water! Would you like me to dump it on you? I know that you love playing while swimming in the pool, running around with water guns and shooters, spraying water at other kids for the end of vacation bible school. Our bodies are made mostly of water, as is the earth around us. Water surrounds us inside and out. We know why we are baptized. God uses water to wash away our sins in the waters of Holy Baptism, washing us clean inside by connecting us to Jesus and His death and resurrection. Because of this wonderous work, you and I are made members of God’s family. That is something we can celebrate today and every day of our lives. Why is Jesus baptized today? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you. 

1. Jesus’ Baptism 

We know why we are Baptized. We are baptized for the same reason that John the Baptist was baptized the people of Judea. He was baptizing the people for repentance and forgiveness of sins, calling them to turn in repentance before the wrath of God descended upon them. 

We still need to hear this call of repentance today. As we confess, we are by our very nature sinful and unclean. We are under the control of sin, death, and the power of the devil. No matter how good we think that we are, we are stained by sin. As Isaiah writes, our best works are the same as dirty, filthy, menstrual rags. This is shown in our thoughts, words, and deeds. We do not honor those in authority over us, whether parents, pastors, or politicians. We think that we always know better no matter what. We think, “If we knew what they know, we would have chosen a better course of action.” 

We do not help those around us who are in need. We use our money and our possessions for our own wants, our own needs and desires, rather than putting them towards the needs and desires of those around us, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting those who are distressed. 

Our words do not always give praise and glory to God’s name. Instead, we defile His name, using it to insult others or inanimate objects. How often have we blamed and cursed the hammer when it hits us on the thumb simply because we missed it? How often have we cursed the person speeding past us and cutting us off, simply because we thought we were being more safe on the road than they? If our best works are as filthy rags, truly we are stained by darkness inside and out in our thoughts, words, and deeds. 

Thanks be to God that He has sent His only begotten Son for our redemption, to do what we cannot. Jesus is baptized, much to the earnest objection of John, for us. The greater One comes, He in whom there is no sin or uncleanness, desiring a baptism for the sake of sinners. John here is getting a sinner who in His own person has no sin, and yet is the greatest sinner, that has and bears the sin of the whole world. For this reason, Jesus permits Himself to be baptized and confesses with this action that He is a sinner. However, not for Himself, but for us. For He here takes my place and your place and stands in our stead who are sinners, and since all, especially the arrogant saints, do not want to be sinners, He must become a sinner for all. Thus, Christ assumes the form of our sinful flesh, yet without sin. Jesus deigns to be baptized, not for the sake of His sins, for indeed He has none, but for yours and mine, that He might bear them in His holy flesh, to depose of them forever by shedding His holy and precious blood upon the cross. So closely does our Lord identify with us!

 2. Identifies with us to give us peace 

Jesus replies to John’s objections with the simple statement “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness ” Jesus fulfills all righteousness. Not only perfectly keeping the Law on our behalf, but perfectly being obedient to the will of the Father as the Everlasting, Beloved Son. He is the One whom the Father delights in eternally.

By deigning to be baptized, our Lord is saying to John and us, If that shall be performed that the poor sinners may come to righteousness and be saved, you must baptize Me. Because for the sake of sinners I have become a sinner, must therefore do what God has charged the sinner to do, in order that they may become just through me. 

In Jesus, we find the One who makes us clean outside of ourselves. He is the God-man. The everlasting Son of the Father who is the true Son of God from eternity is beloved of Him in a unique sense. It is an eternal act of loving contemplation with which the Father regards the Son. It is with the consciousness of the Father’s good please, His full and unequivocal consent and blessing, that Christ enters upon His ministry for our salvation. With the Father’s voice from heaven and the Spirit descending like a dove, the seal of approval is given as the Son sets forth on the public work of redemption. the Spirit descends like a dove at His Baptism in fulfilment of the Words of Isaiah as the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him as He does the Work of the Suffering Servant. 

Jesus suffers for our redemption, our salvation from sin, death, and the power of the devil as Jesus perfectly fulfills the will of the Father throughout His life, to the point of going to the cross, bleeding, and dying. There, the wrath of God is poured upon His Beloved Son, so that you and I might receive His peace that surpasses all understanding. This is peace is shown as our Lord begins His public ministry. The church father Chrysostom made the observation that the dove (Holy Spirit) coming down upon Christ symbolized that the deluge of God’s wrath over sin had ceased and peace was being extended to man. May every dove we see bring such comforting thoughts to our minds! 

3. We have peace and comfort even today 

Because of Jesus’ work, we have eternal peace and comfort in our lives no matter what may happen upon this earth. Because Jesus identifies so closely with us and cares so deeply about us, we graciously have peace and grace. This peace and grace is given to us through the waters of Holy Baptism. There, God graciously cleanses us of our sins, both within and without by connecting us to His Beloved Son’s death and resurrection from the dead. This is not a one-time occurrence. It is for us a daily action. We daily sin which means that we daily run to the font, remembering the wonderous work that God has done to save us. 

The same as we take a shower to wash off the outward grime of our bodies, so in Baptism, God washes us clean of our sins by connecting us to Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection from the dead. A great way to remember this is every time you are in the shower, you can sing, “I was baptized, happy day, all my sins were washed away, God looked down on me and smiled. I became His own dear child.” 

Dear beloved flock, in your Lord’s baptism, you see the God-man, Jesus Christ, who bore all of your sin. He has coved them completely with His holy and precious blood, washed you clean in the waters of Holy Baptism that you can live with Him forever in His kingdom without end. 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.