Sermon for Trinity 4, June 28, 2026
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20 18Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (EHV)
Baptism makes us God’s disciples and beloved children.
Dear beloved children of the heavenly Father,
As we continue our walk through the Small Catechism, we come to the Sacrament of Baptism. For the next couple Sunday’s we will examine various aspects of this sacred rite, and this morning’s reading leads us to the question, “What is Baptism?” As I answer that question, my goal is to help you see that Baptism makes us God’s disciples and beloved children.
In preaching on this text that is often called the Great Commission, it is somewhat common to emphasize the word, go! What is always interesting to me is that the word translated that way is not a command. Jesus emphasizes this work a little differently. He has already told His disciples He was sending them out into the world. He had warned them that they would face opposition and even danger, but also that He would send the Spirit to teach and empower them for the work.
Here, Jesus also promises that He will always be with those who proclaim His message. Therefore, rather than just commanding them again to go, Jesus uses the interesting word that may most literally be translated, “Be discipleizing all the peoples.” Now, I realize that we don’t have that word in English which is why you usually see it translated as make disciples, or here, gather disciples. But the emphasis shows us not so much what we must do, but rather, what God will be doing through those He sends. Nothing we are able to do will force someone to follow Jesus or to believe in Him.
Being a disciple means to follow a teacher so as to learn from that one as a mentor—to become a devotee of all he represents. Therefore, to become a disciple of Christ requires the work of the Holy Spirit in us through the Gospel for “when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, he saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:4-5)
Naturally, throughout history there have been numerous instances of charismatic teachers who drew students to themselves. Some attracted huge followings. Some began new religions. So, what makes Jesus different? Jesus did not come into the world just to be a teacher, to rule a political realm, or to achieve some earthly fame or fortune. He didn’t walk this earth just to lead people to a more moral lifestyle. Instead, Jesus came to reconcile us with God and to restore to mankind the relationship and peace with God that the Lord God had originally established when He first created man.
When God created Adam, that man had a perfect faith and trust in God. Along with that faith and trust, Adam was truly alive and in fellowship with his Creator. That harmonious life was lost as a consequence of Adam’s fall into sin. Thus, as you have heard me report so often, no human could restore that peace. After the fall, we couldn’t even discover on our own who God is. The imaginations of mankind have run wild ever since Adam disobeyed. Some imagine there is no god. Others have looked at everything that troubles or blesses us, and desiring to ensure that the good things keep coming, they devised schemes and ceremonies to appease whatever deity they imagined is controlling all this, and don’t for a minute pretend that the devil didn’t have a hand in promoting those pagan deceits.
Still, though separated from mankind by the sins of the world, God was actively carrying out His plan to provide reconciliation with us. Now that Jesus had fulfilled every part of the law and the prophets and accomplished that goal from the point of His Father in heaven, the result is that reconciliation, salvation, and forgiveness had to be distributed among the people of earth still struggling under the torment and control of Satan and his underlings. The ransom price had been paid with Jesus’ blood and sacrifice. Now, it is time to separate the victims from the forces of evil.
St. Paul, the apostle Jesus sent to the nations, taught, “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Since salvation is a gift, how or where does this saving faith come to us? Remember, mankind’s natural condition: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world. You were following the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now at work in the people who disobey.” (Ephesians 2:1-2)
Having been born in the condition of spiritual death and slavery under the devil’s deceitful control, we dwelled in the dark bondage of sin. There are so many ways the Bible describes our horrible condition. Israel’s slavery in Egypt is but another picture of our dreadful state of being. We needed life and freedom and forgiveness of sins, but how to bring it to the people of the world?
That is where Baptism enters the picture. Baptism is God’s chosen instrument to give us life in His eternal kingdom. Early in His ministry, Jesus taught Nicodemus, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!” (John 3:5) As the Lord sent His apostles across the world, He was sending them out with the message of forgiveness and salvation that would bring people into His kingdom of grace. Baptism is God giving rebirth from heaven.
As Jesus told Nicodemus, “Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) The natural birth that brought us into the world gave us physical life, but that doesn’t include eternal life. We needed that rebirth from God to enjoy His heavenly home.
In the time of the apostles, a new baby was not considered part of the father’s household until that father accepted the child as his own. They, of course, had no DNA test to verify whether the child was his, but legally, the Roman father could deny a child for any defect or any other reason. The father could legally declare that disappointing child to be unwelcome in his house and set it out to die.
We were all born with the defect of sin which made us naturally repulsive to God, so God had every right to condemn us all to the death of hell. Yet, in His unlimited mercy and kindness through Baptism, God marks us as His own dear children. In the Revelation given to St. John, the angels of destruction were commanded, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants.” (Revelation 7:3)
That picture is repeated several times in the Revelation showing God’s people marked with God’s name on their foreheads which applies very nicely to what we see in Jesus’ instruction to His apostles, “gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you.”
We baptize in the name of the Triune God. At the same time, God is baptizing us “into” His name. In this act, God is claiming the sinner as His own beloved child made holy through the work and sacrifice and blood of His Son, Jesus. Being baptized, we are no longer foreigners and aliens to God, because “The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14) Thus, through the faith Baptism gives, God makes us His people, dearly loved and precious in His sight.
That being said, we are kept in that saving faith through the hearing of God’s Word. Now, some might debate whether saving faith comes through Baptism or through the hearing of the Gospel. Others might argue that you have to make that decision to believe, but ultimately, it is whether God has claimed you as His own child that truly matters in His everlasting kingdom. No person will ever enter heaven based on his own merit. Jesus warned Nicodemus, “No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.” (John 3:13) Consequently, it is through our connection with Jesus through faith that we will enter heaven. And, as you have heard before, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
At the time Jesus spoke the words of our text, the disciples were afraid they would never have Jesus in their lives anymore. Yet, we have Jesus’ confirmation that through Baptism and the faith that His message of grace gives, Jesus is always with us. As we keep His Word, that is to hold on to it in sincere faith, He says, “And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” Before going to the cross to suffer for your sins and mine, Jesus assured His worried disciple, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
Dear friends, through Baptism and the faith it brings, God the Father has counted you as His own dear child. Baptism is your entrance into the kingdom of heaven and the mark that God has made you His own. By the power of God the Holy Spirit in the Gospel, you are being prepared for life in His heaven, for “By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) No matter the circumstances in which you may find yourself in this life, take heart for Baptism makes us God’s disciples and beloved children. Amen.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever. Amen.