“Who Is The Son Of God

“Who Is The Son Of God?”

Text: Matthew 3:13-17

© January 13, 2007 by C. Edward Bowen at Crafton United Presbyterian Church.

One Sunday morning during a worship service the minister was giving the children’s message. And as often happens during a children’s message, the minister was trying to engage the youngsters by asking them a series of questions. At one point the minister asked, “Who can tell me what is small and brown and furry and buries acorns in the ground?” For a few seconds the children just looked at each other, but finally one of the kids blurted out, “Well, it sure sounds like you’re talking about a squirrel. But since we’re here in church, I know the answer just has to be Jesus!”

We might laugh, but don’t we often do the same thing? Here in church we often assume that the answer to virtually every question just has to be Jesus. Consider, for instance, the title that I chose for today’s sermon – the question, “Who is the Son of God?” Quite possibly when you saw that title, you were tempted to roll your eyes, sigh, and say, “Boy! What kind of a dumb question is that? Everyone knows the answer to that – especially people who come to church! Everyone knows that the answer to that question is Jesus.” But since that’s the way we think, we end up missing what this story about Jesus’ baptism is all about.

You see, back in the first century, when Jesus walked out to meet John the Baptist at the waters of the Jordan River, people all across the Roman Empire, people all across what you might call “the known world,” already knew who the Son of God was. People all across the Roman Empire, people all across the known world, already knew who the Lord was, they already knew who the Savior was, they already knew who the Redeemer was. Oh, yes – before Jesus ever set foot in the Jordan River people everywhere knew exactly who those titles belonged to.

But as far as people back in the first century were concerned, those titles didn’t belong to Jesus. At that time, as Jesus made his way out to the Jordan River, outside of his hometown, virtually no one had ever heard of Jesus of Nazareth before. No, as far as people back in the first century were concerned, the Son of God, the Lord, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer, were not titles that belonged to Jesus. No, as far as people back in the first century were concerned, everyone knew that all those titles belonged to none other than to Caesar, to the imperial emperor in Rome. Son of God, Lord, Savior, Redeemer – those were all titles that were stamped on the emperor’s coins, those were all titles that were engraved on the emperor’s statues, those were all titles that were imprinted on every official document.[1]

You see, what is so startling about Jesus’ baptism – but what we often fail to notice – is that at the climax of Jesus’ baptism, God’s voice booms out from the heavens and declares, “Jesus, you are my Son. Jesus, you, not the emperor, are the true Son of God.” Back in the first century, do you see how radical – how revolutionary – those words were? What is so startling about Jesus’ baptism – but what we often fail to notice – is that in Jesus’ baptism, we are being told that our highest loyalty, our highest allegiance, should belong not to what our rulers tells us to do, not to what society tells us to do, not to what popular opinion tells us to do – instead, our highest loyalty, our highest allegiance, should belong to what Jesus tells us to do.

Again, do we appreciate just how radical, just how revolutionary, that message is? Back in the first century, besides paying your taxes, there was basically just one other thing that was expected of you as a citizen of the Roman Empire. What was expected, and in fact required of you, was for you to go to an approved location once each year and make your loyalty confession. And all you had to do was take a pinch of incense in your fingers, drop it into a flame and in the presence of some witnesses utter a two-word confession: Kaisar kurios, the Latin words meaning “Caesar is Lord.” And having done that, a government official there would hand you a written certificate that you had made your loyalty confession, and you were then in good standing as a citizen of the Roman Empire for another year.[2]

But you know what? Many Christians back in the first century refused to take part in that ritual. Many Christians back in the first century refused to say “Caesar is Lord.” They refused to say that, because deep down in their hearts they knew that Caesar wasn’t Lord – Jesus was Lord.

But there was a price that those Christians had to pay for doing that. Since they refused to go along with the crowd and say “Caesar is Lord,” those Christians found that many of their friends and neighbors branded them as troublemakers and shunned them. And even worse, since they refused to go along with the crowd and say “Caesar is Lord,” many Christians found themselves being thrown into prison, and many others even found themselves being put to death by the Roman authorities.

Today we might be tempted to think: why did those Christians put themselves through all that when all they had to do was utter two measly little Latin words and that would have been the end of it? After all, as they spoke those words, Kaisar Kurios, “Caesar is Lord,” they could have had their fingers crossed and not meant what they said – the Romans wouldn’t really have even cared. Why were those Christians willing to suffer so much when all they had to do was go through the motions and take part in a small, simple, somewhat meaningless little ceremony?

Well, as far as those Christians were concerned, they couldn’t in good conscience take part in that Roman ceremony because of another ceremony that they had previously taken part in – the ceremony that we call the sacrament of baptism. Because in that ceremony, in baptism, they had publicly declared where their allegiance was – and it wasn’t to the emperor in Rome – no, their allegiance was to Jesus Christ. And because their allegiance to Jesus, because their commitment to him, was so deep and so great, they were willing to cling to Jesus no matter what – even if doing so might cost them their very lives.

When it comes to our baptisms, is our commitment to Jesus that deep, that great? Sometimes I wonder. Over the years I’ve gotten quite a few phone calls at the church where the person basically said, “Reverend, we just had a baby, and we’d like to see about getting our baby done.” “We want to get our baby done” – those are the actual words that I have heard on more than one occasion. And after talking with those parents, I find that unfortunately nine times out of ten, when parents ask to get their baby done, all they want is some cute little ceremony, splash a little water on the child’s head, take some pictures, and then run off to the grandparents’ house for some rigatoni and jello salad, with no plans to return to the church ever again. But even though that’s what many, many Americans today think baptism is all about, how different that is from what baptism is really supposed to mean.

When Jesus was baptized in the waters of the Jordan River, God’s voice declared him to be the Son of God. God’s voice declared Jesus to be the highest ruler, the one who is deserving of our highest allegiance, the one to whom we should be willing to offer our very lives. And so as we remember and consider our own baptisms today, we are forced to ask ourselves: Where does Jesus stand in our lives? Is Jesus someone we just think about from time to time? Is he someone that we just read about and believe in? Is Jesus someone we just turn to now and then when we aren’t quite sure which way to go? Or because of our baptisms, do we see worshiping and serving Jesus as the ultimate goal and mission of our lives? Because of our baptisms, do we see Jesus as being at the very heart of who we are?

Especially on this day that we call Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we remember that baptism is not just some cute little ceremony. Instead, it is through baptism that God lays claim to us and calls us to be God’s people in the world. So give thanks to God for the gift of baptism. But even more than that, show your thanks by living up to the high calling to which God has called us.