I don’t know if this has happened to you—or if you might be going through it right now—but If you’ve had a period of uncertainty or confusion about who you are as a person or what your purpose in life is, you may have experienced what’s called an Identity Crisis. Most people actually experiencesome form of it at least once during theirlife. Our confusion and doubt areusually triggered by important life changes.
So, this can happen when we are in that tricky spot of not being a littlekid, but also not quite an adult. And just in caseteenagers think that it’s only them who feel this way, they should know that adults sometimes have a midlife crisis. Soldiers transitioning back into civilian life can go through an identity crisis. Health problems can trigger this. So can getting close to retirement. Allsorts of things cancause us to be confused about who we are and what we’re doing with our life.
This can even happen when it comes to our faith. Am I really a Christian? Does God really love me? What does God want me to do? Maybe we can call it a spiritual identity crisis. This, too, is common enough. God has some things to say to us about this in the parts of our worship service today, but also as we think nowabout Jesus’ baptism.
There was a little different kind of identity crisis going on at theJordan River. People were trying to identify who John was and wondering if he was the Christ. This was a question of massive concernto the people!As they were wondering about this, Jesus was baptized, and his identity was revealed. What we get fromallthis is the definitive answer about who Jesus is. And as we hear that, we also get the definitive answer about who we are too and the comfort that comes with it.
Jesus’ Baptism Revealed His Identityas the Promised Messiah Hewas Announced, Anointed, and Approved
John Announced Him
It’s hard to put ourselves in the place of the people who made their way along the dusty road out to the Jordan River to hear the preacher everyone was talking about. It’s hard to imaginelistening to him explain to you the need to repent before God and then stepping down fromthe bank of the river and having him pour water over your head so that you would be forgiven. His preaching was powerful and this “baptism” was something no one had seen before. Was this preacher the Promised One? Was hethe one anointed by God to be the Messiah? It sure seemed like he might be!
We’ve had to wait for big things—from a 13th birthday when we become a teenager to getting married to packing up your stuff at work and walking out the door for the last time. But the people at the Jordan River have us beat. It had been 400 years since God hadsent them a prophet to tellthem about a coming Savior, but God’s faithful people were waiting and watching. And they recognized something special about John—godly and impressive. So, they wondered.
I’m nothing compared to the Savior who is coming! John told the crowds. Not only was John unworthy to undo the Savior’s sandal straps, he didn’t have the power to do what the Christ would do!
It wasn’t that John’s baptism wasn’t effective—he made that plain as he preached and baptized them. But when he spoke of a different kind of baptism done by Christ, he was looking off three years into the future and seeing Pentecost—that incredible day when Jesus,the resurrected and ascended Lord, poured out the Holy Spiritwith power upon his apostles and flames appeared over their heads as they proclaimed the gospel to thousands of people who had gathered from many countries.
Then John told thepeople about winnowing and wheat and chaff and a barnand fire, using images very familiar to them even if they aren’t to us. Again, he was looking down the road—past Pentecost, over centuries and millennia, past us even—to the Last Day when Christ will return.
At that time, Christ will separate those who trust in in him from those who reject him, in the same way a farmer separated the grain from the straw, tossing it all into the air. The grain—the good stuff—was brought into the barn; the worthless stuff that blew off to the side was burned in the fire. Those who see Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away their sins will be brought into the “barn” of heaven. Those who reject Jesus will suffer the fire of hell.
John’s job was to tell this to the people sothat they would see himfor who he was— the one who announced the Christ—and to see Jesus for who he was—the Savior sent from God. This is the way he announced who Jesus was.
“Because I said so,” isn’t usually our favorite thing to hear from mom or dad or our teacher or our boss. It seems dismissive and sounds like there isn’t a good reason other than they want it that way. But with God, it is an appropriate and well-reasoned response becausehe is the perfect and ultimate authority who does andcommands all things with divine wisdom and with the good of his people in mind. It’s good for us to remember this when we think about Jesus’ baptism.
We knowthat in baptism we receive forgiveness and faith from God, so we pretty naturally ask, “Why did Jesus have to be baptized?” Part of the answer is “Because God said so.” Matthew’s gospeltells us that Jesus explained toJohn that he was to baptize him to fulfill all righteousness (3:15). Though not explained further, this was part of God’s plan for saving sinful mankind. Jesus had nothing to repent of, but he was obedient to the path the Father set for him. And it definitely brought him before the crowds of people around John as he began his public ministry.
The HolySpirit Anointed Him
The identity of Jesus was revealed when a couple things happened at his baptism. One of those was the Holy Spirit coming down to anoint him—to make itclear that he was the one appointed to be the Savior. For this anointing, there was no oilpoured down over Jesus’ head and face and beard like was typical for prophets and priests and kings (like we heard about in thefirst reading today)—instead it was the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit descending on him.
Jesus is baptized and praying, and the ceiling of heaven is pulled apartfor a moment. Down comes the Holy Spirit inthe form of a dove and lands on Jesus. If you’ve ever wondered why the dove is a symbol of the Spirit and why you’ll see it on the paraments and in other places when we celebratethe coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in June, this is it!
In a very literal andvisible way, what God said through the prophet Isaiah said happened: I am placing mySpirit upon him (42:1). Of course, the Holy Spirit was and is always with Jesus as they, along with the Father, are the Triune God, but this visible action takenby the Spirit as Jesus set out tosave the world from sin was akind of anointing. Jesus was set apart for the work of salvation—a great responsibility to serve his Father and serve sinful mankind for which he would need the Spirit’s strength.
The Father Approved Him
It was almost timefor the gameto begin. The basketballs used for warmups were being rolled over to the racks and put away, the referees were making thereway to theirpositions, and as she started to head across the court to the bench for her first game she heard her dad call out to her, “I’m proud of you.” The game hadn’t started yet, but she made him happy, and he had been waiting for this day to come.
When Jesus stepped out of the river, newly announced and freshly anointed, his Father saidsomething like that. His Son had not taken the public battlefield to fight sin and death yet, but he was about to. And his Father declared his approval. 30 years before this the Spirit hadcaused Maryto conceive, and the Father sent his Son into the world to bring forgiveness and salvation to it. With divine patience and pace, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had looked forward to this day. You knowwhat happened from here. You knowhowall this ended too.
The One Announced, Anointed, and Approved went forward fulfilling all other prophecies about him. He preached about salvation by faith in him. He taught and healed and didthings that brokethe laws of nature. He took his perfection to a Roman cross…and he died. The perfect sacrifice. He had been set apart for this and he completed the task, pleasing his Father again— “still” really. And then, the ultimate victory—an empty tomb, a resurrection, ensuring those who look to him in faith that they too will have victory over the grave.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone is celebrated for something and somehow another person kind of tries to steal the spotlight a little? Picture this—a couple celebrates their 10th anniversary with a party and in front of everyone, the person who set them up on their first date makes a VERYbig deal of their part in it. We might say, “Don’t make this about you.”
But when we talk about who Jesus is and what he did before his baptism and after it, we have to say…it actually wasn’t all about Jesus. Oh, he did allthe work—everything needed to forgive all your sins, everything needed to make sure you will be in heaven. But it was all about you, all the way.
If someone were to ask, “Who are you?” what would you say? Maybe you would just say your name. Maybe you would add where you are from or what you do for a living. Although you wouldn’t say it out loud—maybe from somedark corner of your mind, the thought would come, “I’m no one.” or “I don’t really know right now.”
You know, none of those things really addresses who you are. For the truestanswer, the most pure and important answer to that question—Who are you?—you have to look to your baptism. That may sound funny if you don’tthink much about your baptism, whether you can remember it or not.
Just as Jesus went away from his baptism anointed by the Spirit, you and I were carried away from our baptism by our parents—or walked away from it ourselves— anointed by that same Holy Spirit. We were also set apart as our sins were washed away and we were gifted with faith in Christ. We were made a child of God with an eternal life inheritance—all because of Jesus. All that he did was credited to us, and our identity was changed. God tells us exactly what he did for us and exactly who we are. It doesn’t matter what else is going on in our lives or what our fickle feelings are telling us today—the definitive, objective truth is, you are a child of God.
If you’re trying to figure out who you are, if you are questioning yourself or are struggling with doubt about faith and God and life—andeven if you’re not—you would do well to think about your baptism—whether you can remember that day likesome of us can, or you rely on parents, godparents, or a simple certificate to tell you that you were baptized. There is comfort and assurance to be found there in the water and the Word. Let Jesus’baptism remind you of yours. It tells you exactly who you are. You are God’s child. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and mindsin Christ Jesus. Amen.