The Baptism of The Lord: (Sermon for 11th January 2026)
preached by Mother Lucie Spiers, Assistant Curate. Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7, Acts 10: 34-38, Matthew 3: 13-17
The encounter we heard about in today’s Gospel on the banks of the Jordan - the
baptism of Jesus - is recorded in all four Gospels, in one form or another. Each
account is distinctive, yet all bear witness to this decisive moment at the beginning of
Jesus’ public ministry. His baptism is a statement about identity and commitment,
about the acceptance and affirmation offered to Jesus and by him.
In today’s reading from the Gospel according to Matthew, we are given nothing less
than a theophany - a showing forth of who God is. The Father speaks from heaven.
The Son stands in the water. And the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove,
hovering over the river before alighting on Jesus. The Spirit hovers over the waters,
reminding us of the first moments of creation, when the Spirit of God moved over the
face of the deep. Once more, something entirely new is about to begin. This
unveiling of Jesus’ divine power in the world addresses the longings of Advent as we
continue to await his second coming. In other words, the Epiphany continues. It is
the bridge between Christmas and Ordinary Time, as we witness the start of Jesus’
ministry.
Once again, it is John the Baptist, the forerunner, who points the way, the door we
must pass through to follow the story of Jesus. John, whose life and ministry have
been entwined with Jesus since he acknowledged the Messiah by leaping in his
mother Elizabeth’s womb when the pregnant Mary visited her.
As Christ rises from the waters of the Jordan, enfolded in divine love, he shows us
what we are called to become: the adopted children of God. The baptism of Christ is
not merely an isolated event in his life; it is the source and pattern for our own
baptism.
Jesus’ baptism and our baptism are sacramentally and physically linked—two
perspectives on the same saving reality. In the baptism of our Lord, Jesus looks
forward to and sacramentally anticipates the cross. This is visually depicted in
Matthew’s account. As he descends into the waters of the Jordan - the ancient
barrier between Israel and the Promised Land - Jesus enters fully into creation,
establishing a horizontal axis. When the Spirit descends upon him from above, a
vertical axis is formed. Together, these axes form a cruciform pattern: a sign that
what begins in the Jordan will be fulfilled on Calvary.
This is the moment echoed in our epistle reading from Acts – ‘God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.’ It is the moment when, like John, we
witness the truth of the Incarnation – the Christ who will become the sacrifice for our
salvation. Just as kings and prophets were anointed with oil, Jesus is anointed with
the Spirit, fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen Servant we heard in the reading from
Isaiah.
Just as at the cross, when the great barrier between God and humanity will be torn
from top to bottom, at Jesus’ baptism, the heavens are opened; and with them, our
access to God.
And so our own baptism looks back - back to Jesus’ baptism, and back to the cross.
In the waters of baptism, we share in the life of our Lord. We are united to his
baptism, his death, and his resurrection. As the season of Epiphany gives way to the
pilgrimage of Lent, we are called to take up our crosses with him - not as strangers,
but as God’s beloved children, whom he acknowledges in our baptism as he
acknowledges his beloved son.
The sacraments are the indispensable sustainers of the divine life within us. The
fourth-century theologian Gregory of Nazianzen described baptism as ‘God’s most
beautiful and magnificent gift [and], grace. It is called ‘gift’ because it is conferred on
those who bring nothing of their own.’ Jesus himself said, ‘It was not you who chose
me, but I who chose you.’ Baptism is the sacramental seal of that choice.
This is why the Church speaks of baptism as justifying us and washing away our sin.
We are all born into a badly broken world - one shaped by centuries of selfishness,
injustice, cruelty, ignorance, and fear. This history has created an atmosphere of
shadows and darkness that shapes our thoughts, actions, and desires long before
we are aware of it.
That is why this sacrament of baptism is so essential to the beginning of our
Christian journeys in earnest. Baptism is the moment when the Holy Spirit draws us
into the very life of the Trinity - out of this fallen world and into a new world. That is
why baptism is spoken of as new birth, enlightenment, transformation, and salvation.
It is why to be baptised is to be called a new creation.
Jesus’ baptism is also a profound statement of solidarity with our ‘present’. The
baptised life makes visible the invisible bonds between God and humanity, between
human beings and one another, and between humanity and all of creation. The
people line up along the banks of the Jordan, and Jesus deliberately stands with
them -identifying himself not only with humanity in general, but with sinners. Though
he himself was without sin, he freely chose to be counted among us.
Jesus shows solidarity with all humanity in this moment by offering his body - his
humanity - to human touch and the water of the river. He shows unity with God when
the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and the Father declares, ‘This is my Son,
whom I love, with him I am well pleased’. And that declaration is not spoken for
Jesus alone. It is spoken for us all.
Jesus is the point of reconciliation between God and humanity, the one who heals
our alienation. What he receives, he passes on. In him, we too are beloved. This
solidarity draws all of creation - all things, all people - into God, not in isolation, but
as members of a community being renewed and recreated in Christ, who has
entered the brokenness of the world to be with us and lead us home.
And this solidarity, this divine and human communion made visible at his baptism at
the Jordan, this is what will change and heal us and our troubled and fearful world.
