St. Matthew 3:13-17 Dearly beloved,
It is significant that the ministry of Jesus would find its beginning in the desert and at the Jordan River. We are all familiar with John the Baptist and his cry of repentance from the desert. But have you ever thought about why? Why does Jesus come and get baptized? And why does it take place in the wilderness, or, desert? To find the answer requires a good knowledge of the Old Testament. Isaiah speaks concerning the days of Jesus in chapter 35. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose”(Isaiah 35:1). In the Old Testament there were times of great harvest and plenty of water and provisions. The Feast of Tabernacles was the Jewish feast that celebrated God’s goodness to the people of Israel in the abundance of the harvest. The people of Israel would look at plenty of food and water and conclude that God had blessed them. On the other hand, there were times when God’s people were unfaithful and running after false gods. It was in the midst of unfaithfulness that God had sent the people of Israel into desert. One example was Israel’s wandering in the desert for forty years because the people had not believed that God would bring them into the promised land. Another example of a famine came as a result of the wickedness of King Ahab in Samaria. God cause a severe famine for three years, and it finally ended when God had his man, the prophet Elijah, come to King Ahab and show what the only true God could do. In the Bible the desert is the place where Satan prowls. The desert and wilderness is dangerous and carries with it the symbolism of a spiritual drought or famine. John the Baptist preaches from the desert and wilderness because he is waiting for the budding rose of Christ. Dwelling where nothing grows, a rose will suddenly spring up in that desert, as Isaiah prophecies. This arid and dry desert is meant for us to ponder how we live and how we confess. Christians, as they journey, sometimes experience periods of spiritual drought. Praying seems difficult. It seems nearly impossible to make time to meditate on the scriptures. The cares of the world seem to turn a thankful heart into a bitter one. Sin seems to threaten to take over the individual. Sometimes it seems that we are further away from Christ than when we first believed and when we were young in the faith. Such times as I speak are times of spiritual drought where we feel as though we are in the desert, hunted by Satan, left vulnerable and open to attack. Luther talks much about this in his writings. Luther once spoke to students in his home, talking about such times, where he commented: “Why do you trouble yourself with these speculations of yours? Accept the wounds of Christ and contemplate the blood which poured forth from his most holy body for our sins--for mine, for yours, for those of all men. ‘My sheep hear my voice’”(Letters of Spiritual Counsel, Martin Luther, pg. 134). Notice where Luther directs the attention of those who struggle with sin and doubt. He leads them to Christ, the rose that blossoms in the desert. This is what you are to do, my friends in Christ. The darkness and arid conditions of the desert and the ominous wilderness were dispelled at Jesus’ coming. Jesus comes to John and enters the waters of the Jordan River to be baptized. John was awestruck by the Holy God’s insistence on being baptized. “I need to be baptized by you and you are coming to me?,” says John. Jesus responded simply, “Let it be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus, again, leads us to think about the Old Testament. Speaking again about Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness, we see how that journey came to a close. At the end of forty years, Israel was granted the right to enter the land of Canaan, secure it and make it their land of promise. In order to enter the promised land they had to pass through the Jordan River. Joshua 3 recounts how it happened. The people came upon the Jordan River and they set up camp with the river before them. What happened next gives us insight into Jesus and His baptism in the Jordan. “And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, when you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the Levites bearing it, then you shall leave this place and follow it.” Joshua instructed the priests to carry the ark of the covenant into the Jordan and stop. Joshua then said, “Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan”(Joshua 3:11). When this took place, the Jordan miraculously parted just as the Red Sea had done. Joshua told the people, “Here you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, etc.”(Joshua 3:10). The ark of the covenant was where God’s presence dwelt as the people journeyed. The spiritual implications of this give us great insight into the baptism of Jesus. Just as the ark of the covenant entered the Jordan in order to destroy the enemy, God entered the Jordan in a different ark, which was His flesh, in order to destroy another enemy, Satan. It is not simply a coincidence that the next thing to happen after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan is His own wandering in the wilderness for forty days in order to claim His victory over Satan’s temptations. Jesus comes into the waters and creates a rich baptism for you. Jesus establishes a new kingdom, an everlasting kingdom. Jesus pulls the world out of the spiritual famine of unbelief and brings all who believe into His kingdom of righteousness. Jesus opens up the waters of baptism, just as the Lord opened up the waters of the Jordan, and you have entered those precious waters of baptism. You are Christ’s holy children, forgiven and inhabitants yourselves of the precious promised land of heaven. Each and every one of you are ransomed and brought into God’s kingdom through His love for you. So, while we journey, we rest in the arms of the holy God who came down from heaven to save us. Isaiah rightly says concerning those who walk on the path of Jesus: “A highway shall be there [in the desert], and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness....no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there”(Isaiah 35:8-9). Through the baptismal waters of Jesus Christ, which were poured forth from the cross, you journey on this holy highway covered in the blood of Christ, which ushers forth to you the right to enter the Lord’s prosperous and blessed land of salvation. Jesus comes out of the Jordan to fulfill all that has been spoken in times past and paves the road that you journey on even now. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
