Jesus is Baptized for Righteousness’ Sake

Baptism of Our Lord| Matthew 3:13-17| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| January 12, 2025

“And you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) spoke the angel to Joseph before Christ was born.  The next time the Evangelist Matthew uses that name Jesus is here in chapter 3. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.” (Matthew 3:13) Jesus’ name means the LORD saves. He comes to save His people from their sins. And for that reason, John tries to prevent Jesus from being baptized by him. John baptizes sinners. Jesus is not a sinner. He is the Savior of sinners. John had just proclaimed to the crowd that this One to Come was mightier than he, that he was not worthy to carry His sandals. Those whom John baptizes are sinners. John calls them to repent of their sin, to change their lives, to call upon God for forgiveness as they come to be baptized. He can make no such command of Jesus.

But Jesus tells him to let it be so now, for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness. So, John consents. But what does this mean to fulfill all righteousness? The word righteousness has two main aspects. First, is moral rightness. This is why Scripture frequently pairs the word righteousness with justice (1 Kings 10:9; Job 29:14; Psalm 37:6; 72:1; 89:14; 99:4; Eccl. 5:8; etc.). Righteousness cannot disagree with God’s moral law. The Law is good and right. Righteousness is good and right. The second aspect of righteousness is mercy. When a person does righteousness, he shows mercy to others (Matthew 6:1-2). This is why Scripture also frequently pairs the word righteousness with salvation (Psalm 51:14; 65:5; 98:2; Isaiah 46:13; 51:5-6, 8; 56:1; etc.).

Jesus came to save sinners from their sins. To save them He will fulfill all righteousness. But to fulfill all righteousness, He cannot simply throw out the Law, although it is the Law which condemns sinners. There are basically three theories for how we can be saved from our sin. The first is for God to simply overlook sin, to forgive it absolutely without payment or atonement, basically to say that sin is no big deal. But that would be for God to be unrighteous, unjust. It would be for God to deny Himself and become a sinner! God does not save sinners from sin by simply decreeing that sin is not sin. The second theory for how we can be saved from our sin is that we ourselves become righteous. This means that we overcome sin and do what is good, and God will declare us righteous because of the good we do. But this is impossible, because we are still sinners! St. Paul says, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desires to do what is good, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do I keep on doing.” (Romans 7) So, St. Paul makes clear that even after we have been born again to new life, and we pursue good works as we ought to do, our sinful flesh still leads us to sin. Even our good deeds must be forgiven, because they are riddled with sin. So, this second theory is also impossible, because in this life no one will be righteous of himself without sin.

The third theory for how we can be saved from our sins is not a theory of man at all, but it is revealed to us by God in Holy Scripture. This is that Christ fulfills all righteousness for us in human flesh and gives us this righteousness as a gift to be received by faith. You’ve heard it many times from St. Paul in Galatians 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem us who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” The Son of God was not born of woman for His own sake, but to save us who are born of women. He did not place Himself under the Law and fulfill the Law for His own sake. He is God. The Law is simply the description of His own divine will. He was not under the Law nor did he have any obligation to submit to the Law. But He placed Himself under the Law in human flesh for our sake, so that He could accomplish what we have failed to accomplish on account of our sinfulness.

So, also Jesus was not baptized for His own sake. He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit from eternity. From eternity the Father has said to Him, “You are My Son; today I have begotten you.” (Psalm 2:7) In John 17, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays to His Father, “And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.” So, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ as a dove, and when the Father spoke from Heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” They did not do this for Jesus’ benefit, but for ours!

But how does it benefit us for Jesus to be baptized? Because in Jesus’ Baptism, He joins Himself to sinners and takes upon Himself the burden of their sin. In the Jordan river, Jesus serves as the antitype of Israel, the true Son of God. God called Israel His Firstborn Son (Exodus 4:22). Israel was baptized in the Jordan, but did not remain faithful. Christ is baptized in the Jordan and remains a faithful Son. So, where Israel failed to be a good son, Jesus comes to be a good Son for Israel. The Father declares Christ His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the Father’s confession. Yet, He speaks this of His Son in human flesh. So, in His Baptism, God declares the title of Beloved Son of God in Whom He is Well Pleased to a man. And this title shall always be the property of human nature, for Christ is forever a man.

With His Baptism, Jesus begins His public ministry. Everything He does, enduring temptation, persecution, healing, forgiving, and suffering for sins, He does as the anointed Son of God in whom God the Father is well pleased in human flesh. His Baptism joins Himself to us sinners in a special way. It is like bathwater becoming filthy from all the children bathing in it. Christ is like a sponge, which goes into the water and sucks up all the muck and filth onto Himself. And so, by entering the Baptismal waters, He has taken upon Himself the sin of us all, and has made Baptism a lavish washing away of sins.

When Jesus commissioned His Church to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth, He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19) and so with no uncertain terms He joins our Baptism to His Baptism in which the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit manifest themselves. This is why Martin Luther writes in the Large Catechism, “So, and even much more, you must honor Baptism and consider it glorious because of the Word. For God Himself has honored it both by words and deeds. Do you think that it was a joke that, when Christ was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended visibly, and everything was divine glory and majesty?” (LC IV:21) And so, though we do not see it, we believe that the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are working in our Baptism.

This is why St. Paul says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) And if you have put on Christ as your garment, then so too has the Holy Spirit christened you, and so too has the Father declared from heaven before all His angels and saints, “This is my beloved child in whom I am well-pleased.” Yes, God is well-pleased with His baptized children, because they have been joined to Christ, so that all that is Christ’s is theirs and all that is theirs is Christ. This is why St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, “And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who has become to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (vss. 30-31)

Yet, there is always the objection, “Baptism doesn’t save. Faith alone saves.” Or “Jesus alone saves.” Well, it is certainly true that faith alone saves and that Jesus alone saves, but that does not discount that Baptism saves, because Jesus has joined Himself so closely with Baptism with sure and certain promises attached, that the one who has joined himself to Baptism has joined himself to Christ Himself. And this is never done without faith, otherwise all the benefits would be lost. But faith holds fast to the promise in Baptism, just as it holds to the promise of Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion. When you boast in your Baptism, you are boasting in the Lord!

When God became a man, He became the Savior for all humans. Yet, if someone does not have faith, then he does not receive the benefits of Christ’s incarnation. But that does not mean that we should not celebrate that God became man to join Himself to sinners and be their Savior. Jesus joined Himself to Baptism, so that those who are baptized may receive His righteousness. Obviously, if someone does not have faith, he does not receive that righteousness, just as unbelieving humans lose the benefit of Christ’s incarnation. But that does not make Baptism nothing. We who have faith should still celebrate our Baptism, because by it, Christ joins us to Himself and to His death and resurrection (Romans 6). It is likewise true that Jesus died and rose for all sinners. Yet, if sinners do not have faith, they do not receive the benefits of Christ’s death for their sins and resurrection. That does not mean that we who have faith should say that Jesus’ death and resurrection are nothing!

The angel spoke to Joseph privately in a dream when he said that Joseph should call the child’s name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. But when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, God proclaimed the angel’s message publicly for all to hear, including every generation to be born afterward, that Jesus has come to save sinners. He has joined the sinners’ bath, so that He might wash away their sin. And when you were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God declared to you personally that Jesus has saved you, that your sins are forgiven, that you are a temple of His Holy Spirit and that Christ Jesus covers you, so that you are God’s own child. If you do not believe this, then you lose it, just as you lose the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection. But don’t doubt it. Believe it. Jesus was baptized for you, a sinner, so that He might save you from your sin.

Jesus has saved us from our sins. And so, it should be unthinkable for you to return to those sins which would damn you, which anger your God, and from which Christ has saved you. So, when you consider your Baptism and how Christ has joined you to Himself through it, so also put your Baptism to work to resist sin and put it to death, by drowning your old Adam through repentance and rising as a new child of God, well pleasing to Him. Your Baptism is useful for you every day, because it has joined you to Him who saves you from your sin. Amen.