https://app.dropwave.io/episode/52d821db-91ca-4ba2-8d5b-2eee80e1f94b/baptism-of-our-lord-octave-of-the-epiphany-obs-ad-2026.mp3

John the Baptist is in the wilderness. He preaches “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” But not just any kind of repentance will do. Repent because Jesus is near — because His Kingdom is at hand. Only repentance that looks to Christ for salvation will save.

So the baptism that John gives looks forward to Jesus Christ. Yet this Baptism is no mere symbol. Mark states explicitly that people are coming out to John in order to receive “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). This was not a baptism to get ready for the forgiveness of sins; it wasn’t looking forward to the forgiveness of sins. The Greek even uses the preposition ‘εἰς’ — not just ‘for’ the forgiveness of sins, but ‘into.’ It has a spatial connotation: “Into the forgiveness of sins.”

And we hear the same promise when baptism from Jesus is administered in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). There’s that same word again ‘εἰς’ — into the forgiveness of sins. So people from all the region come to John in the wilderness. They are “baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6). And they receive the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus, also, is coming to John for baptism. But John tries to prevent Him. No, Jesus I need to be baptized by You. Why does John respond this way? Because of who Jesus is. The name ‘Jesus’ means “the LORD — the I AM — saves.” He is God in human flesh, come to save sinners.

Why would Jesus need to be baptized? He doesn’t need to repent. He doesn’t need forgiveness. He is the Savior from sin. He is the Giver of forgiveness. He doesn’t need these things. But Jesus desires to receive Baptism. He treasures it. He tells John why: “for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Then John consents.

But what does Jesus mean? How is this statement convincing for John? Even more, what is this ‘righteousness’ that must be fulfilled? Righteousness is a judicial term. It’s courtroom language. It has to do with being in right standing before God, who is our Judge. It is to be ordered according to God’s will and to be at peace with Him. One who is righteous agrees with and lives according to God’s law. God, in His law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, tells us what is right and wrong. His Law tells us what righteousness God requires. We, by nature, are not righteous. We don’t measure up to the Law. We break our Lord’s Commandments daily. His righteous law condemns us all.

God wants everyone to be with Him, but the trouble is our sinful hearts and lives prevent that from happening. Unholy you and me cannot come before a holy God in our sin. We would be burned to a crisp. We also know that you and I cannot be the ones to solve the problem of our sin. We cannot become righteous on our own. Even our outwardly righteous deeds are full of bad motivations and ulterior motives. Even our good works are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64). We need God to fix it.

Now there are two ways God could fix sin. He could simply declare that our sin is gone. But this would make God a participant in our sin. It would mean that He is ignoring our sin and pretending it doesn’t exist. This would make Him unrighteous. So the only way for God to remedy the trouble of our sin is for Him to fulfill all righteousness and then give us this righteousness to us so that we receive it by faith.

This is why the Second Person of the Holy Trinity has taken our flesh upon Himself. He has come to be our Substitute — in every way. Eight days after He was born, He was circumcised. This Old Testament ritual placed Him under the whole Law and obligated Him to keep all its requirements. He is God. He does not need to keep the law for Himself. But He has come to keep it for us. In the same way, Jesus is not Baptized for Himself. He has done this, also, for you.

It seems to us that Baptism just kind of appears at the beginning of the New Testament, so we don’t know what to make of it. But the language around Baptism isn’t new. At the beginning of Exodus, Moses is instructed to tell Pharaoh that Israel is God’s firstborn son. God has come to rescue His son from slavery in Egypt.

Saint Paul tells us that when the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they were baptized into Moses — in the cloud and in the sea. God had brought them from slavery, through water, and into the promised land. Even crossing from the wilderness into the Promised Land was another passage through water — through the Jordan River — although they again walked on dry ground.

But Israel did not remain God’s faithful son. Even while they were in the wilderness, they despised the Lord who rescued them and fed them day by day. When they came to the Promised Land the first time, they were too afraid to go in, and they had to spend the next forty years wandering around the wilderness and relying on God alone for all their needs.

God was their Father. They were His beloved son. But they did not remain faithful. So God promised that He would give them another cleansing — a better washing. In Isaiah 1, God calls His people to be washed. And in Ezekiel 36, He promises: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

God would give His people a new and better washing. He would give them a new heart. He would give them the Holy Spirit. And He would preserve them in faith. In this way, He would restore them as His son.

So when God sends John to baptize, it’s interesting to see that John stands on the wilderness side of the Jordan River. It’s as though John is calling everyone — Jew and Gentile alike — back out to the wilderness to re-enter the Promised Land through God’s gift of baptism. In and through this water, God is making a new son.

But we know that God cannot just “declare” sinners to be His sons. He must also remove their sin from them. This water cannot be plain water. Normal soap cannot wash away sin. Only God’s Word can do that. God’s Word is the better soap. Malachi tells us that Jesus is like launderer’s soap. He is the one who will give us a bath.

For this reason, God will unite His Word with the water. He will give a water included in His command and combined with His Word. He will make this water to be a saving flood. He will do this by joining Himself to the water.

This is why Jesus comes to be baptized. For Jesus is the beloved Son with whom the Father is well pleased. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the Father’s confession. Jesus was placed under the Law at His circumcision. Now, in His Baptism, He begins His public ministry.

In John chapter 1, John the Baptist states plainly that the reason God sent him to baptize was so that Jesus “should be revealed to Israel.” In the Baptism of Jesus, it is publicly declared to all the world that this Man is the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. He will die not for Himself, but for you. He will die the death you have earned because of your sins. So if His death is to be effective for you, He must join Himself to you. He must be found in the place where the sinners He wishes to save are found. Isaiah 53 and Luke 22 say that Jesus was “numbered with the transgressors.”