Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)
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I’m interested in the word “new” today. Sometimes it’s interesting to check out words in the Bible and how many times they occur. Of course, it can vary slightly, depending on which translation of the Bible that you choose to research, but I checked out the word “new” in the New International Version, which is my usual version of choice for preaching. The NIV tells me that within its pages, the word “new” appears 264 times. I’m a little surprised that it doesn’t appear more often than that. And it does vary from translation to translation, so in the King James Bible the word “new” only appears 136 times, while in the New Revised Standard Version (which is probably the most popular of the modern translations) “new” appears 408 times. So, why my fascination with the word “new” and how it’s used in the Bible?
First of all, we know that the word “new” gets used a lot in the Christian faith. There’s “new life,” and “New Testament,” and “new heaven,” and “new earth.” When I checked out my Bible, I discovered that there’s new wine (that we should put in new wineskins) and new clothing and new kings. There’s new grain and new clay. There are references to the new moon. Sometimes people get a new house, and we hear about new grass. There are even new ropes and even new gods referred to in the Bible. There are new carts and new swords and new cloaks. There are new altars, perhaps found in the new Temple that has a new gate. Of course, God’s people often sing a new song and there’s often new growth and sometimes we get a new name and a new spirit and a new heart. There are new treasures and new tombs, and there’s a new teaching sometimes offered in new tongues. We are, of course, a new creation. All right. I’ve made my point. For a book whose oldest writings could be close to 4000 years old, there’s a lot of emphasis on newness and freshness within its pages, and when you stress the idea that something should be new and fresh then you’re also offering the idea that something should be exciting and wondrous. There is one thing I haven’t mentioned yet.
Jeremiah in his prophecy promised a new covenant between God and God’s people, and both Jesus and Paul basically declared that new covenant in effect through the symbolism of the Cup we lift at Communion services. What I want to reflect on today is the nature of this new covenant between God and God’s people, because the new covenant we’re a part of gives us a new identity, and I think we get to the heart of that when we think about all of the symbolism attached to the baptism of Jesus, and there are really two key things - trying to figure out why Jesus was baptized in the first place, and then the voice from heaven, and really, I think that both of those key parts of the story are basically telling us the same thing. Jesus was baptized not because he had to be but because he chose to be. John understood the dilemma very clearly. “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” The point, of course, is not that Jesus needs to be made righteous. He’s already that. But he’s talking about “all righteousness” - not his, but yours and mine as well. By being baptized, he’s identifying himself with the work of God, because Jesus clearly sees John as having been called by God to engage in this ministry. And by being baptized, Jesus is identifying himself with us. He’s saying that he’s one of us. He’s saying that what we go through he’ll go through. He’s saying that our relationship with God will be his relationship with God. He’s saying that our life will be his life. And by Jesus choosing to be in solidarity with us, Jesus is accomplishing one other thing.
The story of Jesus’ baptism ends by telling us that as he came out of the water, “at that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’” Here is the moment at which all was revealed. Jesus had a relationship with God that was like no other. “This is My Son,” God said. My Son! And think about this for a moment. We usually think about this as saying something about Jesus - but really it’s saying something about us, because if by his baptism, Jesus is saying that he’s one of us, and if after his baptism God declares a special relationship, then God is also saying something special about us.
Until this point in the history of God’s people, the idea of God’s people being the children of God wasn’t very common. God’s people were just that - the people of God - but they weren’t especially thought of and they didn’t think of themselves as the children of God; a much closer and more intimate kind of relationship. Jesus changed that. Our relationship to God was changed by Jesus. You see, this story of Jesus’ baptism is primarily about identity. Jesus is declared by a heavenly voice to be the Son of God, and because we are in an unshakeable and unbreakable relationship with Jesus, this voice is also telling us that we’ve taken on a new identity as sons and daughters of God, as beloved children so precious to God that God would go to any length to demonstrate that love to us, even to the point of dying on a cross. That’s why this story of Jesus’ baptism is so important - because it’s the start of our understanding of what our identity as God’s children is really all about. We live in an age when so many people are trying to discover themselves; to figure out who they really are. The baptism of Jesus tells us that we come to understand who we are by paying attention to whose we are . We are God’s beloved children. We have infinite value and worth, and God will always maintain that relationship of love with us and will forgive us when we wander away, and God will be with us all the days we live. Amen!
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