The Baptism of Christ

The Baptism of Christ by Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) is displayed in Santa Corona, a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church in Vicenza, Italy. The Baptism of Christ depicts the familiar setting of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. There is a softness to the entire painting – from the earthly landscapes to the divinity of the Holy Trinity. Bellini achieved these soft, blending colors with the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints.

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Symbolism

Bellini’s depiction of Jesus’ baptism is fairly traditional. Jesus is at the center facing the observer. John the Baptist, on the left, baptizes from a cliff using a bowl, instead of the traditional shell. Three women watch the baptism.

The hut in the upper right corner is said to symbolize the Old Testament, while the castle on the top of the hill on the left is said to symbolize the New Testament. The Jordan River stops flowing at the feet of Jesus, symbolizing that the divine cannot be mirrored in any reflection, even within water.

Heaven is opened and God the Father looks down and blesses the baptism of his Son. The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Cherubs fill the heavens and look on and rejoice.

The painting of The Baptism of Christ beautifully illustrates these Spirit-inspired words of St. Luke describing Jesus’ baptism: “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. While he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:

You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.

Luke 3:21-22

Why did Jesus get baptized?

Jesus’ baptism is important. He makes our baptism important. He blesses, sanctifies, and gives His divine power to our baptism.

The crowds that traveled into the desert to see John the Baptist went out there to leave their sins in the water.

You come to the baptismal font to leave your sins – your sins of idolatry, adultery, lust, gossip, spiteful words, and greedy actions. It is all left floating in the water.

Jesus goes into the baptismal waters, not to avoid sin, but to be covered in your sins. The sins your babies inherited from you. The sins your children picked up by watching and imitating you. The sins of your dirty mind and foul mouth. The sins of your apathetic hands and your lethargic legs.

Jesus takes all those sins and puts them on himself. He gets dirty with our sins, so we can be washed clean with his baptismal waters. In the waters of the Jordan River, Jesus who had no sin became sin for us. He took our sin and gave us his perfection. He took our death and gave us life. He entered the desert so we could enter the Promised Land. He took our slavery and gave us his Sonship.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit

Titus 3:5

Undeserved love

This Sunday in my church, I will baptize Allicia and her four children, as well as an older gentleman named Bob. Allicia has had a rough life. Her sister texted me saying that she was so happy for her because she “deserved this.” The reason I often get misty-eyed at baptisms is that – in reality – none of us deserve this. That’s mercy. God’s undeserved love. St. Paul writes about the mercy of baptism:   

He saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy

Titus 3:5

I was blessed to have baptized four infants in the hospital between September through November of last year. What does Baptism do for these infants? God’s mercy was poured over these babies. Their inborn sin they inherited from their parents was washed away. They were given the gift of saving faith in Jesus Christ. They were taken from the devil and made children of the heavenly Father. And their parents were given the assurance that if anything happened to their children, they would see their baptized children again in heaven. Because of God’s mercy poured over their babies in their Baptism.

Two different families will be baptized in our church this Sunday, the celebration of Jesus’ baptism. Their baptismal certificates serve as their adoption papers. The Bible teaches: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). They can always remember January 13 as the day God signed the papers, adopting them into His family of believers. What a blessing for these two families to be united with baptized believers in God’s huge family of faith! God’s mercy is poured over them, making them sons and daughters of God.

When Jesus was baptized,

Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you’.

Luke 3:21-22

 Many of us were baptized long ago. At the baptismal font, we literally had God’s mercy poured over our heads and into our hearts. Because of the baptism our God gives to us, God says that he is well pleased with us as his baptized children. Through those baptismal waters, the Holy Spirit has descended to anoint us with faith and salvation.

Nothing to offer

It doesn’t matter who we are or how old we are, when we come to Baptism, we have nothing at all to offer to the Lord – except for our sins. We come full of sins. Jesus washes those sins away. We come unworthy. He makes us “heirs of the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7). We come with our hearts clogged with doubts and minds filled with fears. He removes these doubts and fears and gives us “pledge of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21).

Baptism is more than a one-time event. It changes who you are. The old person has drowned in the baptismal waters. A new person arises out of those same baptismal waters. As baptized children of God, we are now different than we were before we got wet with God’s Word. You came with nothing but condemnation.  You leave with everything and eternity before you. You came naked in your sinfulness and you leave clothed with the righteousness of Christ. You came as an orphan and leave as a child of God with many brothers and sisters in Christ. You came under Satan’s control and leave living as an heir of heaven. You came born in sin and death. You leave reborn and renewed.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior

Titus 3:5-6

What can we do with it?

As baptized children of God, we have the power of the Holy Spirit so we can stand against sin, walk away from it, and throw it away. We now have the God-given ability to control our anger, curb our tongues and give up our addictions.

Baptism is not something that just happened a long time ago. It is an eternal identity. “God’s own child, I gladly say it; I am baptized into Christ.”

It takes only a few minutes for baptismal water to evaporate from the skin of the baptized, but the gift that it leaves behind is eternal. Upon your forehead and upon your heart, written in spiritual ink, is God’s own handwriting. He marks you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. Christ’s baptismal benefits have been stamped on you with eternal love.

Because of the open waters of the Jordan River, the open wounds of Christ on the cross, and the open grave of Jesus’ tomb, now heaven is opened to us.