Preparing for Worship - January 9, 2022

This is the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus and remembering the value of our own baptism or the need for our own baptism in Christ Jesus, if we have not yet received it.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 43:1-7. God speaks of what He has done for the people He has created. He has redeemed them and called them by name and saved them and calls them to Himself. “Fear not,” He says, “for I am with you.”

In the same way, our Epistle lesson, Romans 6:1-11, tells us that as Jesus died and rose again to new life, in our baptism we have died to our old life and been raised to a new life in Christ Jesus. We are no longer enslaved to sin, that it must reign in us. We are now alive in Christ and His enabling grace (v.14) and we will also live with Him, by faith.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 3:15-22. John has the people ready and wondering about the Christ, the promised Savior. John makes it clear that he is not the Savior, but the Mightier One will come, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, Jesus is baptized and identifies with all the sinful people who need baptism, including us. The Holy Spirit then comes upon Jesus in a visible way, as a dove, and the Heavenly Father declares that Jesus is His Son, perfectly pleasing to Him. The one true Triune God is at work in Jesus to rescue the sinful world through Him.

The Psalm is Psalm 29. This is a great Psalm of praise to the God of glory, whose voice was heard at creation “over the waters,” making our marvelous universe and world, and whose voice would be heard again “over the waters,” when His own Son would be baptized at the Jordan River. God’s power and strength can be seen in mighty storms and floods in the natural world; but above all, He is able to give spiritual strength and peace to His people (as is seen above all in Christ Jesus and what He did for us).