Today's Reading: Matthew 3:13-17
Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 33:1-20; Romans 3:1-18
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. (Matthew 3:16)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Long ago, the Lord destroyed the earth by flooding it with water. The flood wiped out every living thing except those that were on the ark. When God's judgment was finished and over, Noah sent out a dove. The dove came back with an olive branch. He sent it out again and the dove didn't come back at all. The dove showed Noah that the judgment of God was over. It was finished. Noah, along with his family, was safe.
When the Holy Spirit descended like a dove at Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan River, the same message was being proclaimed: “God's wrath and judgment against your sins is over.” That wrath and judgment will fall upon Jesus. He takes them willingly by taking on your sins. That's why the Father says, “That's my boy!” with a voice from heaven. When Jesus takes on our sins, God's judgment passes from us to Him. He has become the lightning rod for the Father's punishment of our sins. This all begins when He comes up out of the water that sinners were baptized in. It is all finished when He dies on the cross of Calvary, wiping out our sins.
When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon you, too. You might not have seen Him, but God's Word promises He is there at baptism with the water and the Word. When you are baptized, you are born from above by water and the Spirit (John 3). When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon you to show that you now have peace with God. His judgment against your sins is done. It's over. It's finished.
If you ever doubt that you are at peace with God, remember your Baptism which ties you in with Jesus' Baptism, His life, His death and His resurrection. Those are yours for they are given to you by the water and the Word at the holy font. The dove of the Holy Spirit proves it. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Father in heaven, as at the baptism in the Jordan River, You once proclaimed Jesus Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit, grant that all who are baptized in His name may faithfully keep the covenant into which they have been called, boldly confess their Savior, and with Him be heirs of life eternal; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.