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Today we not only celebrate Rose Sunday, but we also are having a baptism. One of the members of our Inquirers’ Class, Arthur Keillor, seeks the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Because baptism is what unites us together in Christ as One Body, it is important to know if one has indeed been baptized. After a year of searching to find proof of his being baptized, we have come to the conclusion that Arthur may not have received this holy sacrament of new birth. Arthur does not recall his parents or family members ever even mentioning his baptism. In fact, he just assumed that it had taken place. The fact that he wants to make it right after a lifetime of loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ is a remarkable testimony of his spiritual integrity.
In the gospel reading for today from John, we read again about John the Baptist. Last week we learned that the baptism of John was a baptism of repentance to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. In today’s reading about John the Baptist, John is confronted with the question as to who he is. Some were saying at that time that John the Baptist was the Messiah, while others believed him to be the prophet Elijah returned from Heaven. John denies all of these speculations about his spiritual identity.
Instead, John refers to himself as the “voice of one crying in the wilderness” as prophesized by Isaiah. The scriptures state, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord” ’, as the prophet Isaiah said.” John’s ministry was to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the Anointed One. From his mother’s womb, John the Baptist had been set apart by the Lord God to fulfill this vital ministry. John the Baptist had devoted his entire life in prayer and studying the Torah and the Holy Scriptures. Now the time had come for the Messiah to be revealed and John the Baptist knew that he was not the Messiah, but the preparer for the Anointed One. Just like the best man who goes ahead of the bridegroom, helping to prepare for the wedding; so too John the Baptist was sent ahead of Jesus the Christ, the bridegroom of the Church.
Spiritually, John the Baptist is the bridge between the old covenant of Abraham and the new covenant of Christ. John the Baptist stands with a foot in each doorway. Through his ministry the people of the old covenant are brought into a new relationship with God in order to usher them into the new covenant.
The old covenant was founded in the Law of Moses and the prophets, while the new covenant is established in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance. In John’s baptism, the old self was cleansed and given a second chance to do the will of God by preparing the heart to receive the Messiah as Lord and Savior. While the baptism of John brought about a renewed spirit, it could not give eternal salvation. Only through the waters of the baptism of the Messiah does the gift of salvation happen. This is because we are buried in Christ and rise anew through His resurrection as children of the new covenant. The sins of the old self are washed away forever and we are given eternal Life through Christ’s resurrection in the living waters of our baptism. We are birthed anew and become new creations in Christ.
Of baptism, St. Paul writes these words to the saints in Colossae: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.”
No longer are we condemned under the law. Instead, we have been set free to live anew as members of the Body of Christ. With this freedom comes the joy of knowing that we are Christ’s own. No weapon formed against us will ever prosper; because we are protected within the sacred heart of Christ through our baptism. Just as Christ abides in the Father God, through our baptism we now abide in Christ. We have become united forever with Christ our Lord and Savior. We are now living vessels and witnesses of the Father God’s everlasting love and mercy. For we, who were lost in the darkness of sin, have been released forever from the chains of our bondage. No more are we slaves to sin for we have become sons and daughters of the living God who is our Father in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is why we rejoice with the angels over the amazing love of the Father God who has made a way for us to return and be in His Presence always. This is the gift we have been given. It is the priceless gift of our salvation in Christ made possible through the holy waters of Jesus’ baptism; a baptism that transforms us spiritually into the image of our Lord. Now when the Father God looks upon us it is not our old sinful selves that He sees, but the Shekinah glory of Jesus Christ who covers us with His Love sanctifying us in spirit, soul and body. The Hope of the prophets fulfilled in the Love of the Father God through Jesus Christ is now the Joy of our salvation.
So let us join with St. Paul who wrote, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” May we who have been baptized remember our own baptism in Christ. May we rejoice with Arthur, who will soon join us in holy baptism, as a member of the Body of Christ.
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