Wednesday of Ad Te Levavi

Our gospel text contains the first mention of Christian baptism in the Scriptures: “[All the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding region] were going out to John, and they were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mt 3:5b–6). John was the first to baptize, yes, but he was not the founder of baptism. God is the Founder of baptism. In Luke, chapter 3, we read that “the command of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness,” and John himself says, “He who sent me to baptize with water said to me…” (Jn 1:33). Apart from the command and promise of God, if you poor water on someone’s head what do you get? As one of my catechism students said, “A wet guy.” But with the command and promise of God, that water is a life-giving flood that actually washes away sin, drowns the old sinful nature, and gives birth to the new man.

John did not invent baptism. He didn’t come up with his own message. He preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” as he had been called and appointed by God. And to whom did he preach? Who did he call to repentance? The pagans? Wicked people? No, actually, John was sent to preach to the people of God, and his message was as relevant to them as it is to us today, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” “But we are Abraham’s children,” some of the Jews protested, “We are people of God. He chose us for Himself over all the peoples on earth and gave us circumcision! We have the Law and keep it; we go to the temple regularly and carry out the holy worship that God Himself established. What’s more, we are descended in blood from the holy patriarchs. What need do we have of repentance?”

We might answer the same way. “If anyone needs to repent, it’s the folks who aren’t here tonight. We are the faithful. We come to church not only on Sunday, but in the middle of the week. We are the people of God. Repentance is for the wicked.” And yet, today God sends his preachers, just as he sent John the Baptist, to call the people of God to repentance: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight” (Mt 3:3b).

And how is it that we prepare the way of the Lord? First, this is not so much something we do as it is something that is done to us. The Law of God must have its way within us. The Law must destroy every shred of self-righteousness, by which we presume to think that we have no need of repentance. The Law must make us truly wicked sinners who stand in desperate need of the grace of God. This doesn’t mean that the Law changes us somehow into sinners. No, the Law simply reveals what has always been in your heart. Perhaps your hands haven’t committed a bunch of flagrantly wicked acts, but it’s only because your hands can’t keep pace with the wickedness that is in every one of our hearts and minds. When we encounter God’s Holy Law, which requires that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we are reminded that there will never a time in this life when we do not need to heed the call to repentance. Until the moment of death, you will be in over your ears in sin and in need of deliverance. Your deeds—no matter how good they can appear to be—are far too little to take away even the tiniest sin. To repent means to know and confess that you were conceived and born in sin and justly deserve everlasting death and damnation and have no hope apart from the mercy of Christ.

Second, you are prepared for the coming of the Lord, when you believe that your sins are forgiven out of God’s pure grace for Christ’s sake. You cannot buy or earn forgiveness. That’s why it’s called “forgiveness” and not “payment for sins.” It is the gift of God. Therefore, abandon all confidence in your outward piety and crawl, as Luther says, to the cross. Acknowledge yourself as a poor, condemned sinner and believe in Christ, the Lamb of God, who bears your sins and the sins of the whole world. And take comfort that you are baptized in His name and that in your Baptism you have put on Christ, together with all that he possesses.

Thus John in his preaching does both of these things: He first shows all of us our corruption, and then shows also where we are to find help. True repentance is when you believe God’s Word that accuses you and shows you that you are a sinner before God and stand condemned; and yet you do not despair, but are directed to Christ to seek grace and help from Him, firmly believing that you shall find it. In this faith, you and I may pray with all the saints who have gone before, “Dear Lord, I confess, feel, and believe that I am a condemned sinner. I therefore pray you: absolve me and wash me for the sake of Christ. Then I shall know that you are gracious to me, that I have the forgiveness of sins, and that I am pure and white as snow, according to your promise. Amen.”

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