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The following reading from the CONCORDIA edition of the Book of Concord is for the Gospel, Luke 3:15-22 for the Baptism of our Lord, January 13, 2013. It is from Large Catechism, Part IV, page 435. Jesus, the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased has instituted a baptism by which we may be delivered from sin, death,and the devil and enter Christ's kingdom. Click here for the reading formatted for the back of a standard CPH bulletin. Pastor Doug May
You must honor Baptism and consider it glorious because of the Word. For God Himself has honored it both by words and deeds. Furthermore, He confirmed it with miracles from heaven. Was it a joke that, when Christ was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended visibly, and everything was divine glory and majesty [Luke 3:21-22]? I encourage that these two—the water and the Word—by no means be separated from each other and parted. If the Word is separated from the water it may be then called a bathkeeper's baptism. When the Word is added, as God has ordained, it is a Sacrament, called Christ's Baptism. This is the first part about the holy Sacrament's essence and dignity. In the second place, since we know now what Baptism is and how it is to be regarded, we must also learn why and for what purpose it is instituted. We must learn what it profits, gives, and works. For this also we cannot find a better resource than Christ's words quoted above, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" [Mark 16:16]. Therefore, state it most simply in this way: the power, work, profit, fruit, and purpose of Baptism is this—to save [1 Peter 3:21]. For no one is baptized in order that he may become a prince, but, as the words say, that he "be saved." To be saved is to be delivered from sin, death, and the devil [Colossians 1:13-14]. It means to enter into Christ's kingdom [John 3:5], and to live with Him forever. (paragraphs 21-25)
These are excerpts from the Book of Concord.
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