Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Holy Gospel reading which was read a few minutes ago.

Dear friends in Christ, today is the church festival known as "The Baptism of Our Lord." Each year it falls on the First Sunday after the Epiphany. This festival gives us an annual opportunity to learn again what the Baptism of Jesus says about Him and His work, and we get to rejoice in what our Baptism into Christ says to us.

At the Baptism of Jesus the voice of God the Father spoke to Jesus, calling Him the beloved Son, with whom God is well pleased, and our Baptism in the name of the Trinity continues to speak to us whenever we recall it. Our Baptism says, "You are a child of God. Christ died for you and has washed away all your sins."

It might sound a little strange that I am speaking of Baptism as if it has a voice. But it does. Baptism's voice is the voice of God, because He has placed His Word alongside and in the water. Wherever God places His Word, there is His voice; there, He speaks to us. So the title of this sermon is, "The Voice of Baptism." First, we will hear the voice of Jesus' Baptism; then, the voice of our own Baptism.

Our Gospel reading says, "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." (Matthew 3:13-17, ESV)

The Gospel reading introduces Christ by His personal name, Jesus. A few weeks ago we learned that the name Jesus means, "He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). We also recall that another of His names is Immanuel, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). Whenever we hear the name of Jesus, we should be aware of what His name says about Him, that He is God with us and will save His people from their sins. When Matthew says that Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan River by John, the Holy Spirit is telling us that Jesus' Baptism is part of His mission to save His people from their sins. This tells us that the Baptism of Jesus is more than just a symbolic gesture; it is a key part of His work of saving sinners.

Back in Advent, we encountered John the Baptist at the Jordan River, calling people to repent and be baptized. People responded to John's message by confessing their sins to him and receiving baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of their sins. So can you see why John was perplexed when Jesus showed up for baptism? God the Father had revealed to John that Jesus was the Messiah, the one whose sandals John was not even worthy to untie, and John knew that Jesus didn't need forgiveness of sins because He wasn't a sinner!

Nevertheless, there was Jesus, asking for baptism alongside all those other sinners. John's heart must have sunk. "Oh, no! I had such great hopes for this Jesus, but now He's insisting on acting like all these other sinners. That's not the kind of Messiah I'm looking for." So John tried to prevent the Lord's desire to be baptized, which shows us that John needed a Savior from sin just as much as we do. John had his own expectations about how God must act, how God's salvation should be accomplished. All of us sinners, like John, would rather come up with our own ideas about what God is like rather than looking at the humble man Jesus, saying, "That's what God is like. He is God with us, who will save His people from their sins His own way."

Jesus rebutted John's protests, saying, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." John had spoken of the Christ's righteous judgments in calling people to repentance, and baptism in the Jordan didn't seem to fit into that sort of righteousness. John had predicted that the Messiah would judge sinners and separate the wheat from the chaff, which is of course part of Christ's work, but that is not the righteousness Jesus came to fulfill at the Jordan. John was looking for a righteousness of the law, a righteousness that unloads judgment upon sinners.

But that's not the sort of righteousness Jesus had come to fulfill. If you want a righteousness of the law, you need look no further than Exodus, where the Ten Commandments were given. "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). The grace of Christ is shown by His baptism in the Jordan. He did it to "fulfill all righteousness." Whenever Matthew uses the word "fulfill," he means that Jesus is fulfilling the Scriptures. That means that the baptism of Jesus was in accordance with God's will and was part of His plan to save the world. In the books of Isaiah and Psalms, the word "righteousness" refers to the mighty acts which the Lord performs to save His people. In the Old Testament, the exodus from Egypt is an example of God showing His righteousness by accomplishing a mighty salvation for His people.

That sort of righteousness is what Jesus is fulfilling in His Baptism. Jesus says to John, "Let it be so now," that is, "John, allow this baptism to occur right now, because even though I don't need baptism for Myself, I am allowing Myself to undergo this baptism in order to identify Myself with sinners. I have come to fulfill all righteousness by taking the place of sinners under God's law and judgment. I have come to accomplish a mighty salvation by saving My people from their sins, and this baptism is part of that salvation, because here in the Jordan, I stand in the place of all sinners to repent of their sins and fulfill all righteousness by taking all sins upon Myself."

After hearing this, John consented and baptized Jesus. Then the heavens were opened to Jesus, "and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him." The descent of the Holy Spirit also speaks to us about who Jesus is, and how He would fulfill all righteousness for us. In the Old Testament, one of the names for the Messiah was "Servant of the Lord." When the Spirit descends on Jesus, this indicates that Jesus is the servant of the Lord predicted in Isaiah 42, which is Old Testament reading this morning and says that the Lord would put His Spirit on His servant and the servant would bring forth righteousness for the nations. The Baptism of Jesus shows that Isaiah's prophecy had been fulfilled in the man Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah also speaks of the Servant of the Lord in several other chapters, and those apply to Jesus as well. In Isaiah 53 the Suffering Servant of the Lord is called the righteous one who would make many to be accounted righteous by bearing their iniquities and giving His life a ransom for the many. Jesus undergoes baptism for sinners in order to take upon Himself all our iniquities. Later on in Matthew, Jesus would say, "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for the masses" (Matthew 20:28). In that passage He points back to His Baptism and to Isaiah 53 and shows that He is the Lord's Servant who will die for the sins of the people, thus fulfilling all righteousness.

In other places in the New Testament, Jesus refers to His death on the cross as a baptism, that is, He would undergo the flood of God's wrath against all our sins and die to remove our guilt. Knowing that God the Father would send His Son to die for a bunch of rebellious sinners, isn't it strange that at Jesus' Baptism, the Father's voice came from heaven and said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." If the Father was so pleased with Him, then why did He cause Him to suffer so? Yet as Isaiah 53 puts it, "It was the will of the Lord to crush Him, to put Him to grief." Do you show your kids that you are well pleased with them by crushing them and putting them to death? The amazing voice of Jesus' Baptism says that God's righteousness is far different than ours, and His will for His Son is of an entirely different order than our will for our children is. God's righteousness involves sending His Son to the cross for sinners. Jesus said, "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again" (John 10:17). See what great love the Father has for us, that He would send His Son to stand in our place under His law and wrath. God doesn't even spare His Son, but gave Him up for us all!

We learn in Matthew 1 that Jesus is God's Son by conception and birth. In Matthew 2 we learn that He stands in for God's Son Israel when He flees to Egypt and back. Now He stands in the Jordan River as Israel, the son of God who had constantly displeased God, and is called the Son of God in whom the Father is well-pleased. Where Israel had failed, Jesus would succeed, doing what we sinners never could accomplish. Jesus lived His whole life perfectly, pleasing the Father every step of the way. He obeyed the commandments and loved His Father and all of us perfectly. Yet when Jesus was on the cross, no one could tell that God the Father was pleased with Him. Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" Where is God's pleasure in that forsakenness?

God the Father demonstrated once and for all His pleasure in Jesus by raising Him from the dead. The resurrection is the key. The fact that Jesus lives is proof positive that His Father is pleased with Him, that His Baptism in the Jordan River, His perfect life, and atoning death have fulfilled all righteousness for us.

And that brings us to the wonderful voice of Christian Baptism. While Christ's Baptism, life, and death all say, "Christ died for all sinners," your Baptism into Christ's life and death says to you, "Christ died for you specifically." In Romans 6, St. Paul says, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his" (Romans 6:3-5).

The voice of your Baptism says, "Everything Christ did in His life was for you. All of Christ's righteousness is yours. Your sins are forgiven. Eternal life is yours. The Holy Spirit is with you, to continuously forgive your sins and keep you in the faith. You are part of God's kingdom. God is well pleased with you because you are in His Son. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus, the Son with whom He is well pleased. You are a child of God. Your life has meaning; a greater purpose. So you don't need all that old sin junk anymore since you have everything you need in your Baptism into Christ."

Now, the folks in the world who are not baptized—or who have rejected their Baptism—they remain fully enslaved to sin. They are bound to serving themselves in this world, even at the expense of others. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you shall die. Live for today. Life is short, so grab what you can while you can; have the best food and drink, the most money, plenty of sex, and get the maximum amount of pleasure out of life."

But your Baptism says, "You don't need all that enslaving stuff. You're a child of God. He has given you the name, 'Christian.' He has given you His own family name, and has given you access to His house through prayer. He has told you that your old self was crucified in Baptism so that you would no longer be enslaved to sin (cf. Romans 6:6). You have died to sin; how can you continue to live in it? (cf. Romans 6:2) Instead, you are free to live a life of faith toward God and service toward others. You are holy, because you have received the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism."

God's holy name and Holy Spirit are placed upon you with the water. Therefore, you shall be holy, as the Lord your God is holy. This is what we pray in the Lord's Prayer: "Hallowed be they name." In other words, "Lord, your name is already holy, but we pray that your name would be kept holy here on earth." How do we, as God's holy children, keep His name holy? By honoring God's name as the greatest treasure we possess, by listening to His Word, receiving His sacraments, and by leading godly lives. When we are doing those things, we acknowledge God's name as holy, and confess that we are God's holy children.

Most of us here have children. We know that when our children are well-behaved and obedient, they bring honor to us. People say, "They have children they can be proud of." On the other hand, when our children are disobedient and rebellious, they bring shame to us. We are embarrassed when they commit public sins and lead lives contrary to the way we raised them to. People say, "Can you believe what such-and-such's child has done?"

As Christians, we are God's holy children, and we honor Him as our Father when we believe His Word and lead upright lives. On the other hand, when we doubt His Word and sin, we bring dishonor to God's name. The worst abuse of God's name is when we teach false doctrine or reject His Word and Sacraments. We also abuse our baptismal name when we use God's name in vain. In the Large Catechism, Dr. Luther explains that we also bring dishonor to God's name "by an openly evil life and wicked works, when those who are called Christians and God's people are adulterers, drunkards, gluttons, jealous persons, and slanderers. Here again God's name must be profaned and blasphemed because of us. Just as it is a shame and disgrace to an earthly father to have a bad, unruly child who antagonizes him in word and deed with the result that on his account the father suffers scorn and reproach, so God is dishonored if we who are called by his name and enjoy his manifold blessings fail to teach, speak, and live as godly and heavenly children with the result that he must hear us called not children of God but children of the devil."

As baptized children of God who still struggle with sins, you can see how much we need to pray for help living our lives in a manner pleasing to Him. Each day we must ask God for help in keeping His good name holy among us. But we also should continually look to our Baptism for comfort. When your kids rebelled against you, you rebuked them and disciplined them, but you forgave their sins and reconciled them back to you. I don't know if people ever send their kids to bed without dinner anymore, but you know the concept. The dinner table is a symbolic place of reconciliation and peace. When we have Holy Communion, the voice of Christ now says, "I'm not sending you to bed without dinner. Come to this altar to eat My body and drink My blood for the forgiveness of your sins."

This morning, though you have rebelled against God in your sinful thoughts, words, and deeds, the Lord has absolved you through the mouth of your pastor. The voice of absolution is the same voice as Baptism, and it says that your sins are forgiven, and God only speaks the truth. And throughout the week, the voice of your Baptism echoes that blessed truth: that Christ has fulfilled all righteousness for you, and in Him, you are well-pleasing to the Father. When the voice of Satan or the voice of your conscience accuses you, listen to the voice of Baptism. It speaks a better word, God's Word, that your sins have all been washed away by the blood of Christ and His righteousness is yours, so that you are a holy child of God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.