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This Week's Sermon THE BAPTISM of OUR LORD 11 January 2009 "Jesus Opens Heaven for Us" Mark 1:4-11 LSB Series B Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

Have you ever rushed out to get something you really needed, arriving at the merchant's door only to find it locked and the "closed" sign hanging in the window? It happens. "Closed" is a sign we don't like to see when we planned on purchasing something needed. These situations are usually minor inconveniences. We simply have to go back another time when the merchant will be open. But what if what you really needed could never be accessed because the door was always locked? What if we were talking about the door to heaven?

Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve into sin, heaven's door had been closed tighter than the vault at Ft. Knox. After they had been driven out of Eden, Moses concludes with this additional bit of information:

"He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24, ESV)

Because of our sin we cannot get into heaven. Sin made a separation between us and God. God cannot tolerate that which is not holy like himself. Therefore, that which is unholy cannot come into the presence of the holy. Yet, God did not leave this situation as it was because he had promised to send a Savior even before this final action. The Savior would be the woman's offspring. We have been celebrating the coming of that promised offspring, our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of Mary and Son of God.

The Epiphany season begins with the Baptism of Our Lord. When Jesus appeared in the wilderness he came to be baptized by John. It marks the official start of his redemptive ministry for the world. During this season you will hear of the miracles of Jesus. He does not do them for himself, but for us, in order that we believe that he is God's only-begotten Son, true God and true man, our Savior.

What happens in the Jordan is not for Jesus himself but for you . Jesus did not need to be baptized because baptism is for sinners. John was "proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." (Mark 1:4, ESV) Jesus had no sin, nothing for which he needed to repent, yet he came to John for baptism. He came to take on all your sin and to redeem it. His whole life and his innocent suffering and death is his baptism for you. Jesus stands in your place, with your sins covering him. He is baptized because he carries them in his own body.

But an amazing thing happens once Jesus is baptized. Mark records:

"And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove."

"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11, ESV)

Heaven is now opened. It can't ever be closed again! What happened to change God's mind about killing those who tried to enter? One person-Jesus. Jesus would open heaven for the world by his suffering and death on the cross, but here already at his baptism, it is as good as done. God the Father considers his work as having been completed.

The old Christmas hymn, "Let All Together Praise Our God" contains this marvelous stanza: 6 He is the key and He the door
To blessèd paradise;
The angel bars the way no more.
To God our praises rise,
To God our praises rise.

Text: © 1969 Concordia Publishing House Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, number 100010193.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

But what does it mean that "Jesus Opens Heaven for Us?" What does it mean that he unlocks the door for us? First of all, it means that Jesus, as the Key of David, has the right to unlock the door because of his sinless life and innocent suffering and death. You and I cannot do this. Only this One, this Son of Mary and Son of God could do that because he made an offering for your sin that satisfied God's just demands. Thus, we can say that the door has been demolished.

Second, it means that there is now nothing that separates you from the Father. If God the Father is well-pleased with Jesus, then he is well-pleased with you. Heaven and earth are again united in Christ. But how is this so? Don't you still have sins? Don't these count? You have sins but you have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection. Jesus joins himself to you in Holy Baptism. This means that your sins became his and his righteousness became yours. God looks at you and sees Jesus!

Note carefully the sequence of events here. Jesus is baptized, the heavens are ripped open, the Holy Spirit descends and rests on Jesus as a dove, and the voice of the Father comes from heaven in blessing. All is the work of God. You have no work of any sinful person. You have only the work of the Holy Trinity, all three Persons!

In his Large Catechism, Luther remarks:

³⁷ Thus you see plainly that Baptism is not a work which we do but is a treasure which God gives us and faith grasps, just as the Lord Christ upon the cross is not a work but a treasure comprehended and offered to us in the Word and received by faith.¹

Whenever one is baptized, the Holy Spirit brings Christ to that person with all of Christ's redeeming work. Christ's righteousness is put on that person like a pure, white robe. That individual now stands before an open heaven confident that he may enter because God is pleased with Christ. If one is baptized into Christ Jesus, then God is pleased with such a person. Think of it! God is pleased with you, not because of anything you have done, but because of what Christ has done for you. That work of Christ was given to you when you were baptized. You were made God's child. We often say it and sing it. You are a child of God and God is pleased with you because of Christ.

If Jesus opens heaven by his redeeming work and you have been joined to him through Holy Baptism, then heaven is open for you! No angels guard the way because the Father is pleased with you. You have been joined to Christ, his Son. He is pleased with Christ and he is pleased with you! You are God's delight, his pleasure, and that is to continue for all eternity.

Again, hear Luther:

²¹ In the same manner, and even much more, you should honor and exalt Baptism on account of the Word, since God himself has honored it by words and deeds and has confirmed it by wonders from heaven. Do you think it was a jest that the heavens opened when Christ allowed himself to be baptized, that the Holy Spirit descended visibly, and that the divine glory and majesty were manifested everywhere?²

Dear baptized ones, heaven is never closed for you because Christ was baptized for you. He unites himself to you in Holy Baptism. Therefore, your Baptism is your most treasured possession because it opens heaven for you and promises you eternal life! Celebrate your Baptism into Christ today and every day. Begin and end each day with the words Luther teaches us to use, making the sign of the holy cross and saying,

¹Theodore G. Tappert, The Book of Concord : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 441 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2000, c1959).
²Theodore G. Tappert, The Book of Concord : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 439 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2000, c1959).