1^st Sunday after Epiphany at Epiphany on January 11, 2008

Mark 1:4-11 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶ John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." ⁹ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Polluted Waters

Jeffrey was about a year old. He was in the airport, surrounded by all kinds of people, sights and sounds that he had never experienced before. As a result, Jeffrey went into sort of a sensory overload as his eyes and ears tried to take in everything.

That's why, when Jeffrey's mother reached into her oversized backpack and came up with a plastic spoon and a bottle of baby food, Jeffrey could have cared less. It made little difference to Jeffrey that his scheduled mealtime had long since passed by. Jeffrey simply wasn't interested in food. Mom popped the cap off a nutritionally well-balanced bottle of something or another. I don't know what the bottle contained, but the contents were colored a phosphorescent lime green. As far as texture, the green stuff had been thoroughly sliced, diced, ground, pureed, and smooshed. Mom scooped out a spoonful of the green goop and held the offering out to Jeffrey's mouth. She was shocked when Jeffrey's jaws clamped shut, his lips tightened into a slit and he immediately turned his head away, getting some of the radioactive green food on his cheek.

Mom sighed, smiled and patiently said, "But Jeffrey, you love this. It's your favorite. I got it just for you." Jeffrey didn't hear a word; and when Mom extended the spoon a second time, she ended up with green on her blouse as well as Jeffrey's face. Next, Mom tried the universal ... "Here comes the airplane into the hanger;" and she made an airplane sound. Next she made chugging sounds and cheerfully exclaimed, "Here comes the train into the tunnel." Jeffrey missed his plane and skipped his train. Then Mom got cute. She crooned, "Doesn't my widdle Jeffy weffy, wanna eatsy weatsy his foodsie woodsie?" The only thing Jeffy weffy did was look at his mom like she had lost her mindsey windsey.

Mom was starting to get flustered. She had exhausted all of the tricks which usually managed to get Jeffrey to open up and chow down. She had gone through all of her tricks but one. Mom pulled out the big one. She said, "Honey, this is really good. You'll like it. Even Mommy likes it." And Mommy did something extraordinary. She lifted the spoonful of room temperature, glow-in-the-dark, unidentifiable green stuff to her mouth. She licked off the spoon, swallowed, smacked her lips, and smiled. She ate food she didn't want; she swallowed food she didn't need; so someone she loved might benefit.

Hopefully this will give you an inkling of the love Jesus showed for you on the day He was baptized.

Before Jesus was baptized, He was pretty much unknown, growing up as "Joseph, the carpenter's son" in the obscurity provided by the remote Galilean town of Nazareth. True, when He was less than a day old, a handful of shepherds responded to the angel's message and knelt before Him in the stable. A short time later Simeon and Anna adored Him when He was first brought to the temple; and, yes, some Magi from the East had given Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Between their visit and the visit of Jesus at the Jordan, the only story of the Savior the Scriptures share is when, at the age of 12, He wowed the temple scholars. For 18 years there is nothing more known about the Savior; nothing that makes Him stand out; nothing that might have made Him identifiable as the world's heaven-sent Redeemer.

Then, one day, Jesus stepped out of the shadows of anonymity and into the dawning light of His ministry. One day, the man from Nazareth came to the banks of the Jordan River and asked that His cousin John baptize Him.

The Greek work, baptizo, “to baptize,” was often used to describe the dipping of a light-colored cloth into a darker dye. Once the fabric was soaked in that deeply colored dye it was changed - transformed from its original color into a deeper, darker hue. The extraordinary difference between the baptizing of cloth and the baptizing of sinners was that the process was reversed. God used John to take souls that had been blackened by sin and, through this river-washing, lightened and made them whiter.

It was an effective ministry and people flocked to John's wilderness location, asking him to take them into the river and wash them of their sins. Baptism was a request John gladly performed for anyone who was truly sorry for past transgressions. But when Jesus, the perfect Son of God, came forward desiring baptism, John expressed his reluctance to take Jesus down into the water. John might have had the look of a mad prophet about him, but the Christ's forerunner was nobody's fool. John was fully aware of his limitations. He accepted his place of being unworthy to even untie Jesus’ shoes. John baptized with water. Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. John knew he was to call people to repentance, but only the Savior could win lasting forgiveness. John knew he could lead people into the Jordan to be washed, but it would take the shed blood of the Savior to cleanse these souls permanently.

John also knew that Jesus didn't need to be baptized like the rest of us. Jesus wasn't afflicted by humanity's sin-sickness; Jesus had no transgressions that needed forgiving. So, why did Jesus come to be baptized? Do you remember Jeffrey's mother, the lady who ate what she didn't need so someone she loved might benefit? That's why Jesus was baptized. Motivated by love, Jesus experienced a baptism He didn't need so He might be washed of sins He didn't commit. Jesus was baptized so the people He loved, you and I, might benefit and be forgiven.

Do you understand this kind of love? Of course you don't. No sinful human can begin to comprehend this kind of sacrificial love shown by the Savior. All we can do is watch in amazement as God's perfect Son stepped into polluted waters and took upon Himself the sins of the adulterer, the drunkard, the glutton, the blasphemer, the thief, and whatever kind of particular sinner you might happen to be. All we can do is gasp in wonder as Jesus, not reluctantly but willingly, put His feet into the Jordan and emerged totally committed to walking that path that would lead Him to a wooden cross set on the crest of a skull-shaped hill on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

It's not surprising that when the courageous Savior emerged from the waters of the Jordan, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and our heavenly Father said with pride: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." The Father was pleased that Jesus had taken up His work of redemption that would cause Him nothing but frustration and rejection. The Father was pleased Jesus was ready to fulfill the ancient prophecies which had foretold of how God's Son would spend His life rebuilding the broken bridge between sinful humanity and the perfect Deity. The Father was well-pleased that His Son had not shirked the job of giving Himself as a ransom for our salvation. The Father was well-pleased that His Son did not shrink from His responsibility of living and dieing so we might be forgiven.

Jesus' walk into Jordan’s waters would not be the last time Jesus would be confronted by the pollution of sin. See how much and how often the Savior suffered so you might be washed in Baptism’s waters so you might be given faith, so you might be saved. See the Savior as He stood up against Satan who came armed with terrible temptations. Watch and see how Jesus' call was rejected by the unrepentant, how His love was misunderstood by the multitudes. Watch how His offer of peace was refused; His attempts to bring harmony and hope to humanity were unwelcome and unwanted.

See how, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the all-powerful Son of God was driven to the dirt by the crushing weight of your sins and mine. Can you see your sins as He saw them that night? Which sin? All of your sins were laid upon Him, but now I'm speaking of that special sin that still causes you sadness and still creates a sickness in your stomach. I'm speaking of that special sin that embarrasses you; that sin you keep hidden in the deep recesses of your heart. I am talking about that sin you would never share with your closest confidant or dearest friend. Jesus saw that sin, your special sin, and He carried it.

Look upon your Savior. God's perfect Son who was baptized for you, also accepted the betraying kiss of a disciple; He stood silent when lies were told about Him; He declined to defend Himself when He was beaten; He didn’t waver when He was spit upon; He didn’t whimper when He was crowned with thorns; and He didn’t cower when a whip tore His back to ribbons. The same love that took Jesus into the sin-laden waters of the Jordan also kept Him upon the cross of Calvary. You would not, could not, have withstood the indignity, the suffering, the agony and pain, but He did. He suffered all this so your soul might be washed, completely and forever, of the sin that stains it; so your dark heart might be illuminated by the light His love brings, so your troubled conscience might be given a permanent peace.

Because of the Savior's sacrifice and His resurrection victory, because of Baptism and the faith and forgiveness it imparts, believers know that the Savior has won the ultimate victory. At Bethlehem, God showed us His Son for the first time; at the Jordan, God blessed the holy commitment of the Christ; on Calvary, Jesus became the sacrificial atonement for our sins. Then, on the third day, at the empty tomb, the living Lord Jesus announced His sacrifice was accepted and death itself had been defeated. Because of what Christ has done, all those who believe on Him as Savior can hear the Father say to them, "You are My dear sons and daughters. Because of Jesus, you are forgiven and I am pleased with you."

I want you to truly understand the enormity and sacrifice of what Jesus did that day at the Jordan River. Years ago, when families were big and water had to be carried from a well to the house, Saturday night - the night before church - was family bath night. In those days it was not unusual for a number of children to share the same bath water. Sharing bath water sounds gross, doesn't it? Let me make it more gross. How do you feel about sharing someone else's bathwater who is not a member of your family? How do you feel about stepping into a tub which holds the same water in which a total stranger has bathed? I told you it was going to get nasty.

You would retreat from such an idea, but Jesus went forward. The day Jesus walked into the Jordan, those waters were filled with sin - your sin, my sin, the sins of all humanity. The day the Baptizer led Jesus into the Jordan, the water was polluted with every evil you can imagine, every evil you can do. Your human eyes may not have been able to see those sins, but they were there. Great quantities of immorality, deceit, pride, gossip, greed, slander, murder, lust, polluted that river. Any wrong of which humanity can conceive was floating there that day. No, you and I wouldn't have gone in; we wouldn't have gotten close.

But Jesus, who knew all of those sins, and who knew the sinners who had dirtied the waters, didn't hesitate. Jesus wasn't ashamed to step into our sinner's bath water; He wasn't reluctant, not at all. On the contrary, Jesus insisted He go in; He demanded to be let in. The day of His baptism the sinless Son of God stood in the water with the prostitute and the pervert, with the unwanted and the unloved. Jesus chose to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with serious sinners like you and me. Scripture says, "For our sakes God made sinless Jesus to be sin for us, so that in Him we might have and become the righteousness of God" (Paraphrase 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus’ walked into polluted waters so that by your baptismal waters you might be washed clean. Amen.