Welcome to Spirit of Truth Lutheran Church

The Common Thread

The ancients often thought of water as dangerous and troubling: the deep, an abyss, a stormy sea, a flood. Nevertheless, the Lord is with us as we pass through the waters. His voice—in command and promise—is above those waters, those dangers and troubles. God turns these waters upside-down. He uses what would cause death to bring life. Those who have been buried with him in the waters of baptism are killed and made alive. How does that work? God’s word, rising authoritatively over the chaos of watery death, promises life. And it is so. His Spirit, who gives life (John 6:63), comes to us in baptism.

First Reading – Isaiah 43:1-7

Biblical history readily comes to mind. The Hebrews passed through the waters of the red Sea and the Jordan River. God was with them so that they were not overwhelmed and swept away. We should also remember that we are baptized. This memory is clearly in the mind of the lectionary editors. Just as God was with the Hebrews as they passed through the waters, delivering them from captivity and leading them into the promised land, he is with us through the waters of baptism, delivering us from bondage to sin and leading us into the promised life eternal. 

Psalm – Psalm 29:1-11

The voice of the Lord is clearly heard, even over the roar of mighty waters, if people would listen. Have we listened? Have we heard the voice of the Lord thundering over the water of baptism? Without his word of promise, baptism is merely water. But with his word, whether heard in a whisper (1 Kings 19:12) or a roar, the waters of baptism are a certain promise of deliverance and resurrection. 

Second Reading – Romans 6:1-11

We were clothed in the sacrificial skin of Christ when we were baptized (Gal 3:27). His grace has increased in our lives, providing grace upon grace (John 1:16). But this does not mean that we should take his grace for granted and sin without care, since God will forgive us our sins. While it is certainly true that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, “God forbid” (Rom 6:2, Tyndale) that we should sin with abandon. Our old nature has been put to death in the waters of baptism, so we are now to live for God in Christ Jesus. 

Gospel – Luke 3:15-22

Jesus submitted to a baptism of repentance, a washing for sinners, so that he would be identified with sinners, God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Co 5:21). Jesus entered the Jordan instead of us, becoming a sinner in our place. He took upon himself the sins which we commit—indeed, the sin of the world (John 1:29)—though he was sinless. He then drowned our sin, the sin of the world, in the watery grave of his baptism.