January 11, 2026 Baptism of Lord St. Andrew Church Rev. Anne McAnelly
When I was a kid, I loved to play the game of reaching into a cloth bag and touching the objects someone else placed inside while trying to figure out what they were by their shape and feel. I had to rely on my sense of touch without my ability to see. Of course, the feather was long and soft, the army man felt hard and pointy, the seashell was cool with ridges on one side and smooth on the other. As children we explore the world through touch. Babies put everything in their mouths, toddlers love stomping in the poodles, skinned knees teach us about pain. As we mature, we learn about tender touch, inappropriate touch, hurtful touch, and romantic touch. We can be touched physically with a hug or squeeze of the hand, emotionally with words or images that evoke a response and we can be touched spiritually by a prayer or song that moves us.
We experienced all three of those on Thursday, January 6th when Don and Kathryn welcomed baby Enzo into the family – emotionally touched. When we remembered the 5th anniversary of the violent actions of the rioters at the Capital, physical and brutal touch. And spiritually with Epiphany, God’s revelation of light to the world through Jesus Christ. We just heard Isaiah declare the Suffering Servant, upon whom God’s spirit will rest. One who will bring justice, give sight, and be a light to the nations. One who when they come will bring a new thing, a new song.
Now let us hear the first words of Jesus and the profound words of God as Jesus is touched by God’s spirit in baptism. READ Matthew 3:13-17
One of the greatest pastoral privileges is baptizing a baby. New parents bring their infant child to be blessed, sprinkled with water and touched by the Spirit of God. After touching the child’s head with water, I love carrying the child down the aisle, holding her close, showing her off to the community of faith that has just welcomed her. Infant baptism is not about forgiveness of sin, but a sign and seal of the covenant of grace made by God through Jesus and extended to us. In baptism, God claims us as beloved children and members of Christ’s body, the church. We do not believe that you need to be baptized to be saved, but rather that in baptism we are publicly declaring that God claimed you first, that God touched you first, that God loved you first and we are marking that in worship through baptism.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus was baptized? Why would a sinless person need to be baptized? Let’s remember that John has been preaching, “Repent of your sin and be baptized!” Maybe that is why John protested baptizing Jesus. He knew he was not worthy to carry Jesus’ sandals, but now he is asked to baptize Jesus? In response, Jesus appeals to righteousness. Now righteousness means obedience to God’s law, seeking God’s righteousness. Yet righteousness has a relational component, how we are in relationship with God. Maybe that is why both the servant Isaiah described, and Jesus at his baptism, share certain traits. Both are beloved by God, both are marked by the gift of God’s spirit and for both it is a new beginning.
God proclaims Jesus as his beloved Son- God’s relationship with Jesus. Moreover, his baptism marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. What I find fascinating is that God’s declaration of Jesus as Son, happens at the beginning AND the end of Epiphany. So maybe we are supposed to get this idea. God sent God’s Son to reveal God’s love and light to the world. Here at his baptism and again when Jesus is transfigured atop a mountain, God claims Jesus as his beloved Son. What could be more wonderous, more radiant than that profound fact. One that touches our soul, our faith and our imaginations.
Imagine the heavens opening, the Spirit of God descending like a dove and hearing God’s voice claiming his beloved Son. Climaxing with God’s Spirit alighting on Jesus, touching Jesus. This gentle and powerful touch. This holy and inspiring touch. This unified Trinitarian touch! Baptism is the touch of God through the spirit onto us. “When we are baptized, we too receive the Spirit and we too are identified as beloved children of God. We are baptized with Christ and into Christ, so that God’s plan of righteousness might be fulfilled in us and through us” (Working Preacher, Mark Allan Powell).
Baptism is more than an action; it is God touching us in a profound way. So, I return to the question, why did Jesus get baptized? “If Jesus would bring a baptism of “Holy Spirit and fire” (3:11), why does he need a baptism with mere water? If Jesus would preside over the judgment of the world, why would he need to seek repentance?” (Working Preacher, Eric Barreto). Why did Jesus join the throngs of people exposing their sinful ways, repenting, as John immersed them into the Jordan River? Jesus did not get baptized to take away his sins, he got baptized to take away your sins! Jesus was baptized to take away your sins and mine. But you say, I thought that is why he died on the cross and you are right. However, the reason Jesus was baptized is to give us an example of surrendering to God. Baptism is a new thing that is happening when the spirit of God descends upon people. Because now through Jesus, God dwells among us. God is with us. No longer do people need to be circumcised, now people are united into the covenant with God through baptism. “At the moment of (Jesus’) baptism he receives the commission to undertake the role of the suffering Servant of God, who takes on himself the sins of his people. (It is like God’s voice declares:) Thou art baptized not for thine own sins but for those of the whole people…This means that Jesus is baptized in view of his death, which effects forgiveness of sins for all men. For this reason, Jesus must unite himself in solidarity with his whole people, and go down himself to Jordan, that ‘all righteousness might be fulfilled’” (Baptism in the New Testament. p. 19, Oscar Cullmann).
The beauty of baptism, God touching his Son, God’s Spirit alighting, is all for you. The light, love and grace of God from the beginning, it was all for you. Your sins and mine, your relationship with God, your righteousness with God. Baptism is a precursor of Christ dying on the cross when Jesus felt the nails hammered into his hands and feet, the weight of his breath strangled, so that you are saved, you are loved, you are freed, hugged, and blessed.
This week I read a little book on baptism entitled Baptism in the New Testament by Oscar Cullman, a German theologian. The book helped to shape this sermon. “This little book was a Godsend. In it, Dr. Cullmann not only acknowledges the difficulty in understanding why Jesus submitted to a baptism of repentance. He also offers a simple explanation for it. Cullmann says, ‘It was not a baptism of repentance for HIS sin; it was a baptism of repentance for MY sin, and yours. Just as Jesus died on the cross, not for his own sin, but for yours and mine, so also was he baptized in solidarity with, and on behalf of, you and me.’ By this act of going to John to be baptized, by this act of joining people who were acknowledging that their lives were totally messed up and empty and uncertain and in need of a fresh start, Jesus publicly demonstrated the meaning of Emmanuel. God is with us; God has come to us; God has joined us in this world, in our human condition, in our human predicament. God understands! God knows what life and death are really like for you and me! (Sermons.com, Johnny Dean).
So, as we remember Jesus’ baptism, and our own, let us revel in the beauty of Jesus’ baptism as the quintessential trinitarian moment. A moment when God touched Jesus, when the Spirit alighted upon God’s Son so that we could know forgiveness. So that God’s generous gift of love and grace are lavished upon us, claiming each one of us as God’s beloved child. Amen.
