Biblical Text: Matthew 3:13-17, Romans 6:1-11
Today was a confluence of events. We had a baptism in the service. It also was the Baptism of Jesus on the church calendar. So it was the perfect confluence for something of a teaching sermon. Just what is baptism. Textually there are two different Baptisms in the Bible. There is the baptism of John or the washings of the Israelites. Neither of these really have command in the Old Testament. They are outward rituals. Yet Jesus shows up and submits to that outward ritual. He does so to fulfill all righteousness, to empower his baptism that we practice. A baptism that does have the promises of God attached to it. Luther’s catechism as always is succinct. And this sermon leans on it throughout. But those promises of God that are in those waters of baptism revolve around two ideas. The first is the exchange. Jesus, the lamb of God, takes our sin, while we receive his righteousness. That is the exchange. But Paul’s explanation around baptism is deeper. In baptism we have been unified to Christ. We have been buried with him such that we might also rise with him. The sermon attempts to present these concepts.
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