The Righteous Baptized for the Unrighteous to Fulfill All Righteousness

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Baptism of Christ and the Fulfillment of All Righteousness

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the third chapter. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?

But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and, behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

And, behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. This is the gospel of the Lord, in the name of Jesus. Amen. So, today we are observing the baptism of Christ, which kind of leads to the big question.

Why is the sinless, spotless Lamb of God submitting himself to a sinner's baptism? Jesus has committed no sin. John the Baptist's baptism is a baptism of repentance. For the forgiveness of sins. So, what is going on here?

Well, that's kind of the point, isn't it? That Jesus, the Son of God in human flesh, has humbled himself. Taking on the form of a servant, being found in the form of a servant in the likeness of man, he has humbled himself and become obedient to the point of death, even death upon a cross.

Throughout Jesus' preaching, the words that the Father gave him, you'll note that all of Jesus' preaching, he says, were words given to him by the Father. There's a recurring theme. The one who exalts himself will be humbled.

The one who humbles himself will be exalted. The one who humbled himself is Christ. The sinless, spotless Lamb of God humbles himself to be baptized by John the Baptist in a baptism for sinners, which means Jesus has humbled himself to the point where he's allowed himself the sinless, perfect, spotless Lamb of God to be numbered among sinners.

What is going on? The answer to the question is this. Your salvation is what is going on. My salvation as well. In fact, John the Baptist knew very strongly that what Jesus was doing seemed backwards, inside out, upside down.

And this is going to get, let me just kind of put it this way. What I'm going to say today is going to ruffle feathers. This is just how this works. And the reason why it's going to ruffle feathers is because a lot of you have been taught that baptism is nothing.

That baptism doesn't do anything. That baptism is merely you getting wet because Jesus said to get wet. Jesus said you need to be baptized so you better get wet. But it doesn't do anything. It's just pure symbol.

This is how people talk. And I would note, don't listen to them. They don't know what they're talking about. Too many people have very strong opinions about stuff they know nothing about. And I mean absolutely nothing about.

They seem to know how things operate spiritually. What God can do and what He can't do. Without any word from God affirming their hypothesis, their opinions, their speculations. And so brothers and sisters, we need to consider what our gospel text says in light of our epistle text.

John the Baptist, the Greatest Born of Women, Still Needed Baptism

I like the, I really enjoy the wisdom given here in our epistle text by the church fathers when they put this lectionary together. But let's listen to the beginning of our gospel text. Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

Okay. John is trying to prevent Jesus from being baptized. He's hindering Him saying hey wait a second, I need to be baptized by you. Now if you remember there's a few things about John that we have to keep in mind.

Jesus says among those born of women, and in saying that He's referring to everybody who's born of natural descent. Those who are born who are descendants of Adam and Eve. Of anybody in humanity who is a descendant of Adam and Eve, John the Baptist is the greatest of us all.

The greatest. Okay. And then you'll note when Jesus talks about John the Baptist did you go out in the wilderness to see a prophet? Jesus affirms that not only was John the Baptist a prophet, but he was greater than the prophets.

That being the case, if you want to look at the best that humanity has to offer after the fall. The absolute pinnacle after humanity's fall into sin there is none greater than John the Baptist. He's greater than all the prophets and among those born of women there is none greater than Him.

That being the case, John the Baptist you're going to note doesn't sit there and go I'm the greatest. Yeah, I've got it. Jesus said I was greater than the prophets and that of all the people born in humanity I'm the greatest.

So I don't need a savior. Nope. The greatest that humanity's fallen humanity has to offer still needs to be forgiven of sin. Still needs a savior. John the Baptist confesses here very accurately that I need to be baptized by you.

Now if baptism doesn't do anything.

Why would he need it?

Think this out with me here for a second. Why would he need it if baptism doesn't do nothing? People talk about baptism. Well, it's just a symbol and it's a thing that you do to show the world that you've made a decision for Jesus.

No biblical text says that. John the Baptist says I need to be baptized by you Jesus and yet you come to me he knows that something's off here. John the Baptist confesses I'm the sinner. You're not. You're the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

I'm not. I need to be baptized by you. I need to be washed. I need to be cleansed and I would note that when John the Baptist says of himself it's true for me. It's true for you. It's true for all of us.

We need to be baptized by Christ. Christ here notes his negative attitude. Notes his trying to hinder him from being baptized and notes even his logic. Yeah, you're not wrong here John the Baptist but he says let it be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Big theme in Scripture. Jesus has to fulfill all righteousness. This is part of Christ submitting himself to the will of the Father and he has humbled himself and allowed himself to be numbered among sinners though he has committed no sin.

This then hints at one of the great mysteries that we see like in Isaiah 53. God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all and here's where you gotta have to understand it. Is that Jesus' baptism and our baptisms they're all kind of part of the same package.

Jesus is the reverse version of it. The sinless one going into a sinner's baptism. It harkens to the fact that Jesus is the one who sucks up the sins of the world. You think of all the sinners going into John the Baptist's baptism and every single one of them is legitimately doing what?

Having their sins washed away into the Jordan. Jesus the sinless spotless lamb of God goes into the Jordan without any sins. So it's almost kind of like a reversal. It's like he's sucking up the sins of all the sinners who had their sins washed away by John the Baptist.

That's at least how the image looks and that makes sense then because when we are baptized, we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And think of it this way. Throughout the scripture, we hear these words, especially in the epistles of the New Testament that we who are Christians, we are in Christas.

We are in.

Christ. Hmm. In Christ.

How does one get in Christ? Answer. Baptism. The scriptures are very clear on this. The New Testament is not ambiguous or vague. We are in Christ because when we are baptized, we are baptized into Christ's sinlessness, his perfect righteousness.

We are baptized into his death, his resurrection. We are baptized into him. And so there's something really big going on here with John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ. But remember John's confession.

I need to be baptized by you. And here's the blessed bit, brothers and sisters. For all of us who have been baptized, not only do we confess along with John the Baptist that we need to be baptized by Christ, but we who have been baptized, we can say and Christ has baptized us.

That's kind of the point. And so I want you to think about this. You can't think of Jesus' baptism apart from ours. In fact, some of the greatest theologians I've read on the topic like to point out that Jesus' baptism really legitimately kind of stands out as the first ever Christian baptism.

And there's good reason for this, because when Jesus goes into the water and he's baptized and he comes out, what happens? Jesus receives the Holy Spirit. How many of you have heard people emphatically claim and opinionate that nobody can receive the Holy Spirit in water baptism?

This is how they talk. No, this is not possible. To which I basically would ask, well, then why did Jesus? Because Jesus is not nobody. He's somebody. In fact, he is the somebody. And so you'll note, those who are emphatically, you don't receive the Holy Spirit in water baptism.

Jesus did. In fact, the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 2 says, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children.

Peter says you receive the Holy Spirit in water baptism. Jesus received the Holy Spirit in water baptism. And here's where our epistle text is going to help us out. The wisdom of the church fathers in making this the epistle text, I think is, how do they say it today, nowadays?

I think it's a chef's kiss. This is a stroke of brilliance because you'll note that we oftentimes in our fallen state seem to think we know how everything operates. I remember back in the day, and work with me here, back in the day when I was a teenager, I would hear parents say to their adult children, well, you know, not to their adult children, to their teenage children.

They would say to their teenage children, you better leave home now while you still know everything. Teenagers seem to have this opinion that they know how everything operates and how the whole world works and how everything should go, and they're very strong in vocalizing their opinions in very strong emotional ways.

And the snarky parent would basically say, well, you better leave home now while you still know how everything works because you seem to be convinced that you know how the world operates. A lot of people have a lot of opinions regarding baptism, and it's kind of like that same kind of nonsense that teenagers engage in, thinking that they know how everything operates.

But we don't. We just legitimately don't. And people sit there and go, well, I've seen a baptism. I've seen baptisms before. And it's just really simple. Just people getting wet, man. And some churches, they sprinkle.

Some churches, they pour water. Some churches, they dunk. But at the end of the day, it's all just water and some guy saying, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That's all there is to it, man.

Yeah, if that's what you really think, you don't understand nothing. In fact, consider our epistle text. Paul writes, consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.

Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. This is reality for all of us, by the way. And me especially. I remember when I was a wee little tyke, a young lad. I would daydream, what would it have been like if I had been born a prince?

Or born to royalty or a duke or somebody powerful or something like that, right? That's just not my history. Let me just be blunt, okay? As I got older, I learned from the members of my father's family that I don't come from good stock.

Far from it. My great-great-grandfather, he fled Poland to come to the United States because he was a member of the Polish mafia.

Which means,.

Let me just put it bluntly, I come from a line of criminals. So I just don't have any noble birth. I have the exact opposite. I'm of ignoble birth, okay? But here's what it says. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. And this applies to baptism. You think you know what baptism is apart from God's word? And you can somehow say it's important or not important based upon your opinions?

You don't know nothing, okay? God legitimately chooses things that look foolish to the world and to your reason to do great things. So the only way you would know the great things that God is doing is by paying attention to what God says about that thing that you think is so stupid.

And you have to change your opinions and embrace what God has revealed regarding it, right? God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are so that no human being might boast in God's presence.

So you think you know what baptism is, right? Oh, it's just a little bit of water and some guy's saying this, that, or the other thing. You don't know nothing. In fact, let me kind of back this up by going to something like the book of Colossians chapter 2.

In Colossians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul says some very important words to us. He says, Captive. That means to enslave you, to bind you up, to somehow hold you against your will, to make you a hostage, right?

See to it that no one takes you captive by what? Philosophy. Okay, that's what he says. Make sure that no one takes you captive by philosophy. Oh man, how many people remember back in the day when a post-modernity was the bee's knees when it came to philosophical worldviews.

It was new on the scene and we were being told by all the mucky mucks and the big leaders in the seeker-driven movement that we needed to learn how to embrace post-modernity so that we could speak the gospel in a relevant way to a post-modern society and stuff like that.

How has that worked out, by the way, for Christianity? Those who embraced post-modernity are no longer Christians. They've deconstructed their faith. Right? So Paul says, don't let anyone take you captive by philosophy.

And you'll note that philosophers seem to think that they can figure out how the whole universe operates from the luxury of their, well, their living room reclining lounge chair. Really, you're going to figure out how the world operates by sitting on your keister.

And you can determine what is true and what is false by sitting in your chair and just thinking. It's your thinking chair. It's nonsense. Okay? Especially when it comes to the things of God because our epistle text, God says, he chooses the things that are foolish in the world to shame the wise.

So don't let anyone take you captive by philosophy or empty the seat according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, not according to Christ. For in Christ, the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily.

And that's the great mystery of the incarnation, God in human flesh. Right? God in human flesh has been born. And you look at Jesus, he's not going to look any different than any other child, but that's the thing.

This is that you need to have it revealed to you that he's far more than any other child. And that's kind of the big themes of the epiphany. Even the wise men worshipped Jesus, the child. Right? For in him, the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily.

You have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also, now here, listen to this baptismal language. In him also you, y 'all were circumcised. And this is going to include women.

Y 'all were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh. By the circumcision of Christ. Well, when did that circumcision take place? The one that took place without hands?

Having been buried with him in baptism. And you're going to note here the apostle Paul in Colossians 2 doesn't say that baptism is some kind of a symbol. Having symbolically been buried with him in baptism.

That's not what he says. He says that you have been. This is a reality that you don't understand. And this is why you're going to note here. Don't let people's strong ignorant opinions about what baptism can and can't do influence what you believe about it.

Let God's word dictate to you what's going on. I remember back in the day. There I was. I was in Nazarene. And I was told when you are baptized you are making a proclamation. Declaring to the world that you've made a decision for Jesus.

And over and again I heard language of baptism as somehow being a Christian's coming out party. But I would note that never ever did we ever invite the world to our baptisms at these churches. And set up bleachers so that the world can watch as people are being baptized.

It never happened. And I always thought what would happen if they did? What would be the reaction of the world? If baptism is the thing that I do to show the world that I've made a decision for Jesus.

Well there's the world gathered in the bleachers at my church every time we have a baptism. Going oh no! We've lost another one. Oh this is terrible. That never happens. You know why that never happens?

Because that's not what baptism is. You see the reality of baptism cannot be seen with your eyes. The realities and promises of baptism cannot be comprehended with your fingers or with your five senses.

They have to be apprehended by faith. By believing what the scriptures say about that. And so here it says that when you were baptized you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands and you were buried with Christ.

And also you were raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. Buried with Christ. Raised with Christ. In Acts 22 it talks about how baptism washes away sins.

Water doesn't do that. Water can't wash away sins. Especially Minnesota tap water. We had a baptism a couple of the last Sunday right? Yeah well Minnesota tap water wasn't what's used to baptize people.

It's God's word attached to the water. So having been buried with him in baptism which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. And here's another baptismal reality.

And you who were dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh. God has now made you alive together with Christ having forgiven us all of our trespasses. This is why Paul in Titus chapter 3 describes baptism as a washing of regeneration.

Because in your baptism you who were dead you've been raised to life. And you've been made alive together with Christ and God has forgiven all of our trespasses. And you'll note that having been buried with him in baptism we then are adopted as his children.

So when we hear the voice of the Father saying to Jesus in our gospel text this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. That then is also true for all Christians when they are baptized. Having their sins washed away.

Having been gifted with the Holy Spirit. Having had the circumcision performed not by human hands but by the hands of Christ. Having been buried with Christ. Raised with Christ. Their sins washed away and then being regenerated.

God then says to all who are baptized into Christ you are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased because you are in Jesus my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. That's the point. You see there's so much more here than meets the eye.

This Jesus' baptism smashes all of the idolatrous notions that say I know what baptism is and it's not what God's Word says it is. That's just nonsense. It is exactly what God's Word says it is. And let your reason be well your reason needs to submit.

Your reason needs to repent. You need to believe what the Word of God says because you and I we need like John the Baptist to be baptized by Christ. And all of us who have been baptized have been. We've had our sins forgiven.

The record of debt that stood against us canceled. We've had our hearts circumcised by the hand of Christ. We've been buried with Him. Raised with Him. We are in Him as a baptismal reality. So when we talk about Christ's baptism like I said we cannot talk about it apart from ours as well.

And I would note then that when it comes to our identity as Christians, baptism defines our identities. Absolutely defines them. You'll note that there's many a person out there whose sins have defined them.

When you hear their name you cannot help but think of their sin. You don't believe me? Let me throw a name out and see if there's a sin that comes to mind. Jeffrey Epstein. Yeah there's a sin that comes to mind isn't there?

It's not a polite one to name. Adolf Hitler. Is there a sin that comes to mind? Yeah there's a sin that comes to mind there as well. You get the idea. Human beings are defined by their sins often times.

But listen to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? What an interesting question. Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

It's true. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. They do not. So that being the case you'll note that would make us all uncomfortable because when you look at your life in light of the Ten Commandments you recognize wait a second I'm not righteous.

Right neither am I. Neither of us. None of us have earned salvation. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. So how are we not unrighteous then? Well he goes on to say these words. So do not be deceived.

And the reason why Paul has to say that is because there's plenty of people running around the visible landscape claiming to be part of Christ's church who are affirming people in sexual sin. It's crazy but it's true.

So Paul says don't be deceived. Listen neither the sexually immoral nor the idolaters nor the adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Now I would note that's quite an expansive list. That describes pretty much 100 of all humanity. You get mentioned in that list as well as I do. And so he says none of these people who've done these things are going to inherit the kingdom of God.

So then how how do we avoid God's condemnation? Paul continues verse 11. And such were some of you. Past tense. Such were some of you. And here it is. But you were washed. You see your baptism gives you a new identity.

You are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Your identity now. The name that God has placed on you is his own name. You are no longer named according to your sin. You who are baptized.

You are washed. You are sanctified. You're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. So baptism defines you. Defines you as no longer unrighteous but righteous. No longer sinner but saint.

All because of what Christ has done for you. The sinless spotless lamb of God. Being numbered with the sinners. God laying on him the iniquity of us all. Him going to the cross and suffering in your place so that you can be forgiven and pardoned and reconciled to God and then him delivering his death to you.

Through the gospel. Through the waters of baptism. Through the means of grace. That's the idea here. So brothers and sisters what a glorious day this is to remember Jesus' baptism. But it's also a glorious day for us to remember our own baptism.

That Christ who is numbered with sinners. When we are baptized we are numbered with the righteous one Jesus. Because we are baptized into him. Into his death. Into his resurrection. Our sins are washed away.

He circumcises us. He cancels the record of debt that stood against us. He forgives us and pardons us of all of our sins. He washes us and he redefines us. Our new identity is no longer according to our sin.

Our new identity is according to the fact that we are his. All because we have been washed. So brothers and sisters take heart. The father declared of Christ that he was his beloved son in whom he is well pleased and because you have been baptized into him you are also declared to be God's beloved child.

One with which he is well pleased. All for the sake of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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