“...and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

These are the familiar words that we tend to imagine booming from the heavens as the voice of the Father proclaims his delight in the perfection of the Son after his baptism by John. We often like to smile softly at this scene and say, “ Wow, what a great example Jesus has set for us. We should follow his example and be baptized, because if the Son of God is doing it then we most certainly should too.”

Or what about this familiar conversation between Jesus and Peter as our Lord knelt to wash the feet of his disciples: “He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’” We often read on a little further and see that Jesus tells the disciples to do to others as he has just done to them, and once again we remind ourselves that we should be following his example and then we move on.

Of course, there is nothing necessarily wrong with saying that about these two scenes, but I would like to propose that in doing so, it may be totally missing the point. I would like to suggest that rather than seeing Jesus as a mere example in these passages, we instead really listen to what He is saying about what He has done for us. By seeing these passages in a new light, we gain more than a mere example to follow--we gain the sheer giddiness that comes from realizing that the sin of the world has been taken away for good. We gain religion shattering, life reorienting truths about the God that is crazy about us for no other reason than because He wants to be.

Purposefully Parabolic and Purposefully Paradoxical

So then, let us take another look at the first scene. Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized in the Jordan. John, however, was reluctant to baptize our Lord because the whole process initially seemed to be backward--why on earth would he be baptizing our God incarnate? The process in reverse seemed to be most sensible, for Jesus had no sin to be washed away. Shouldn’t Jesus be the one baptizing John? He agreed, however, to the Lord's request and baptized him. We all remember that as Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit descended on him like a dove, and there is the sweet proclamation of the familiar words of affirmation and perfect acceptance by the Father as mentioned above.

In the next scene mentioned, Peter refused to be washed by Jesus as he knelt before his disciples to wash their feet. Why would he allow his Master to serve him, as this too seemed backward? Should he not be the one serving his Master? He protests, but Jesus responds in a way that Peter cannot refuse. Jesus says he must be washed--he must be served by Him in order to share with him.

Both John and Peter experienced great confusion in the moment over the deeds and words of Jesus. In hindsight, however, this contrast and the order thereof makes perfect sense, as we now see what Jesus was showing us. Let us think harder about the two situations. Jesus was baptized right before his ministry began, as he performed his first public miracle only days after his baptism. He was not beginning his ministry with a mere example; he was showing us an earth shaking truth about what he was about to do for us. He proclaimed the gospel to us right then and there--He showed us why He was here. And think about the night he washed the feet of the disciples. This was the night before he was crucified--the night of the Last Supper. He was not just giving them an example to follow, he was once again proclaiming the gospel. He was telling us about what the cross, which he would soon endure, would accomplish for the world, even if they “would not understand until afterward.”

Everything Spoken for Us to Know That We Are "Safe in His Death."

Are we seeing it now? He was to be baptized so that the world could be baptized too. He was baptized so that we could be included in his baptism and therefore in the universal absolution of sin-- the washing away of our sin by our Lord Jesus Christ. My friends, he was proclaiming his death as he entered the water, and he was proclaiming his resurrection as he rose out from it. He then proclaimed our inclusion into that death and resurrection as he washed the feet of his disciples saying, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” He has indeed washed us though, and we do share with him. So now, just as it was so in the passage of Christ’s baptism, the voice of the Father from heaven declaring Jesus to be his "beloved Son in whom He is well pleased" also perpetually declares the same to be true of us. Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his mercy, grace, and love.

I mean do we realize what this means, folks? God is totally giddy over us; he delights in us. He is just as crazy about us as He is his perfect, holy Son for no reason other than the fact that that is who He is. He has cancelled the charges against us and we are home free--free to rejoice for all eternity in the endless love and mercy God. We are “safe in his death”, as Robert Capon said. We are in Him and He in us--we share with Him, just like he said we would if he washed us.

Let's Toss the Pharisaism, Folks.

But what about the law? What about being obedient to the Lord? What about following his commands? I won’t say much about all that here in this discussion, but I will say that the answer can be found in the place that we so often site as the reason we think Jesus merely wants us to “follow his example.” Listen closely. “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’” He is about to be crucified, and he just talked about them sharing with him if they are washed by him. He then says “Do you understand what I have done to you?” He’s telling us to pay close attention folks--this isn’t about scrubbing the dirty feet of our friends. This is about realizing that the sin of the world has been taken away by the blood of The Lamb, savoring the richness of that truth, and then dispensing that truth to others.

“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” We are to proclaim that absolution to all others in any way possible. We are to proclaim grace and forgiveness to all others, and we are to tell them that they have been washed clean by The Life and The Resurrection. So those good works, they are not to earn God’s favor. Whether you like it or not, He has already done all things necessary for that. Those good works are for your neighbor, that they may know they are loved by a God who would stop at nothing to have them and ravish them with his infinite love and grace for all eternity.

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Colossians 2:11-15