Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17

I - God describes His servant; His servant is Jesus Christ. The way Jesus ministered was not with tons of judgement or anger, but usually stories and love, even love in his anger.
P - The Lord is strong, stronger than any being, and He can also give peace.
A - Jesus is Lord.  He died and rose to save us.  It is through his name that we receive forgiveness.
M - The Baptism of Jesus when the Holy Spirit came down as a dove

Grace, peace, and mercy from God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

These lessons are for celebrating the baptism of Christ.  Every single scripture passage refers to the Lord (or at least to God).

Isaiah is the prophecy of Jesus doing ministry.  The psalm is about praising the Lord which can refer to both God and to Jesus.  Acts refers to Jesus dying and His resurrection.  The Gospel is about the baptism of Jesus.

I could stop there, but that wouldn't be much of a religious reflection.

Many ministers say that we should be baptized because we are "good Christians."  They say that Jesus was baptized to "set an example for our behavior."  They tell us that we need to be completely "Christ-like."

Of course Christians need to be Christ-like, insofar as following His teachings, keeping strong to their faith, and loving others rather than judging.  However, some preachers go so far with how disciples should be Christ-like that it is scary.

Read Matthe 3:13-17 quickly.  Think about it.  Then read it again slowly.  Trace through each even carefully in the passage.

Does Jesus ever say that He needed to be baptized to "set an example" for his followers?  It doesn't say that anywhere.

In fact, Jesus did not start His official ministry until after He was baptized.  He did not already have followers.  The witnesses were God, John the Baptist, and John's disciples.  They were not the followers of Jesus.

How could Jesus set an example for His followers when they were not yet truly in existence?

Jesus said that he needed to be baptized in order to fulfill the prophecies.  

Of course others may have tried this same trick, but Jesus made John say that he needed to be baptized.  For an unexplained reason (other than being Jesus's relative - remember that Mary, Jesus's mother, was a cousin to Elizabeth, John's mother) John knew that this was the Lord.

When John baptized Jesus, the Holy spirit came down upon Jesus.  

It seems that Jesus would not need to be baptized, but He was 100% man and 100% God.  He was totally man in His flesh.  His flesh experienced desire and pain.  He had a human brain that though human thoughts.  The spritual side of God knew what was going to happen.  This is how it worked that Jesus could go through things, know that they had to happen, yet not want them to happen.

Just like we tend to be in conflict with what God wants, Jesus's flesh was in conflict with his Godhead side.  So, of course, as a man, Jesus worship God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Baptism was not to be obedient.  Baptism was a means of grace.  God's grace came upon Jesus when He was baptized.  God grace comes upon any humans when they are baptized.  So, why should any human deny a person of any age God's grace?

It is just that if a human is not baptized, a belief in God is most likely going to lead that person to wanting to receive God's grace.  However, it is only God and Jesus that knows the heart of that human.  There are certainly unnbaptized humans that purely believe in God and Jesus.

Let us remember not to judge upon if a person is baptized or not.  After all, it is not said those who are unbaptized will perish.  It says those that do not believe will parish.

Amen.

Yes, I know that the listening recommendation I chose is about baptism by immersion.  Baptism requires water, it does not say how much - immersion, sprinkling, and pouring are all valid forms of baptism.  After all, it is God's word that truly makes it valid.

Recommended Listening: Baptism by Kenny Chesney and Randy Travis (which can be listened to here.
Recommended Hymn: Baptized Into the Death of Christ by Jay Beech (lyrics can be found here.

Prayer of the Day (from the ELCA website)

O God our Father,
at the baptism of Jesus you proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit.
Make all who are baptized into Christ faithful to their calling to be your daughters and sons, and empower us all with your Spirit, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen