“Heaven Was Opened at Jesus’ Baptism”
(Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 – Epiphany 1/Baptism of Our Lord – January 12, 2025)
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 – 15Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” … 21When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Dear Redeemed children of God, baptized into Christ:
Have you ever wished you could have a sign from heaven that you were in God’s favor, a sign that He was working out His gracious plans for you? Maybe at a difficult time in life, when praying for God’s direction or comfort, we have wished we could see heaven open to us, see our Savior with us, hear the reassuring voice of our heavenly Father, and see evidence of His Holy Spirit upon us and working in us.
Here we see that “Heaven Was Opened at Jesus’ Baptism”: 1) As the Son was praying, 2) As the Spirit was descending, 3) As the Father was speaking. This sign from heaven was not only for Jesus’ benefit, but for ours. It shows that, as we are baptized into Christ, He brings all the blessings of heaven to us as God’s children.
1) It was opened as the Son was praying
It says: “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened” (vs. 12). We might say, “It’s no wonder that heaven opened over Jesus, when we consider who He is as the only begotten Son of God. He is one with His Father and the Holy Spirit, as one God in three Persons. So when Jesus prayed, why shouldn’t heaven open over Him with an immediate sign of the Holy Spirit, and an audible response from His Father?
But as sinful humans, why should we expect heaven to open over us with any sign of God’s favor? There was no sin in Jesus’ heart or on His lips. But how often have we used the same lips that praise God to speak evil against others (James 3:9-10) or to speak dishonestly? Why should God hear our prayers when they come from hearts and lips that have proven so sinful and unloving?
Here we come to the reason the Son of God was baptized, and the reason heaven opened over Him. It was not for His sake but ours. Consider the meaning of this baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist. Earlier in Luke 3:3, it calls it “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Why would the perfect Son of God, who had no sin, submit to this baptism for the remission of sins? It is because here, He steps forward as the Savior of the world, identifying Himself with sinners He came to save. The perfect Son of Man, who needed no cleansing from sin, submitted to baptism as the Substitute who would take the sins of all mankind to the cross. Therefore, heaven opened over Jesus as He prayed as our Savior.
Now consider what this means for us as we are baptized into Christ. In baptism, we receive the remission of sins that Christ earned for us by His holy life and innocent death on the cross. As the apostle Peter told the crowd on Pentecost day: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38-39). Again, as Saul was told at his conversion, before he became the apostle Paul: “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
So as we are baptized into Christ, our sins are washed away. Therefore, we can call on the name of the Lord, knowing He hears us for Jesus’ sake. Hebrews 10:22 invites us to pray confidently, saying: “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Since we are baptized into Christ, sprinkled by His blood and washed with His pure water, heaven is opened over us. And God hears our prayers in Jesus’ name, as He promised in John 16:23: “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”
Do you ever wish you could have a sign from heaven that you were in God’s favor? God gives you baptism as a sure sign, connected to His Word of promise. Jesus says: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).
2) It was opened as the Spirit was descending
Next, heaven was opened at Jesus’ baptism as the Spirit was descending. It says: “The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him” (vs. 22).
As true God with the Father and the Spirit, Jesus did not need to be anointed by the Spirit according to His divine nature. But as He entered His office as the Savior, He was anointed with the Spirit according to His human nature. This marked Him as the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the who had been promised and had now come. As God had said in Isaiah 42:1: “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him.” When Jesus was in the synagogue at Nazareth, He opened the scroll to Isaiah 61:1 and applied this prophecy to Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me.” Jesus was endowed with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38) to equip Him for His great task of redeeming sinners, a work He began publicly at His baptism.
Again we might say, “It’s no wonder that heaven opened over Jesus and He was anointed by the Spirit since He is the Holy God in our flesh.” But as sinful humans, we do not merit such a sign. By our unholy nature, we have no claim to the Holy Spirit. Even as Christians who desire to live by the Spirit, how often Galatians 5:17 rings true: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” So we may ask, “Why should we expect heaven to open over us, with the Spirit of God descending on us, filling us, leading us, and blessing us?”
Yet this too is Jesus’ gift in baptism. No sinner has power to put the Holy Spirit into baptism, but Jesus does. As John the Baptist testified: “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (vs. 16). John faithfully applied the water with God’s Word; but as a sinner, he confessed that he was an unworthy servant. This is true of any of us who applies baptism. But Jesus, the Savior of sinners, puts the Holy Spirit and saving power into baptism. As He washes away our sins, He pours out the Spirit on us. Titus 3:5-6 says: “According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
In this washing of regeneration, God pours out His Spirit on us abundantly; and we are born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Peter held out this promise to the crowd at Pentecost: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is to you and your children” (Acts 2:38-39). It is the Holy Spirit who works repentance and faith in our hearts, and in the hearts of our children, so that we know and trust in Jesus as our Savior.
Do you ever wish you could have a sign from heaven that God’s Spirit was on you, blessing you? You have it in Baptism. As we are baptized into Christ, heaven is opened over us and the Holy Spirit comes upon us like a dove of peace, to assure us that our sins are washed away, to comfort us as heirs of eternal life in Christ.
3) It was opened as the Father was speaking
Finally, at Jesus’ Baptism heaven was opened as the Father was speaking. It says: “And a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased’” (vs. 22).
It is normal for any father to take pleasure in seeing the good behavior and accomplishments of his children. So we might say, “It’s no wonder that heaven opened over Jesus, and His Father expressed His love and pleasure in Him. For the perfect Son of God always did His Father’s will.”
But as sinful humans who have inherited the fallen nature of our father Adam, we do not merit such a sign from heaven. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says: “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” But who of us has lived a perfect life that makes us worthy of being called children of the perfect heavenly Father? So we may ask, “Why should we expect to have heaven opened over us, with the Father expressing His love and pleasure in us as His children?”
But this too is God’s gift to us in baptism. At Jesus’ baptism, the Father declared to His Son: “In You I am well pleased.” It pleased the Father to see all righteousness fulfilled in His Son for us. As Jesus was baptized and anointed the Savior of sinners, it pleased the Father to give Him the burden of all our sins to bear away from us. At the cross, it pleased the Father to punish His Son instead of us, to save us from death and damnation. Then it pleased the Father to see His Son rise from the grave, having won our forgiveness and eternal life.
As heaven was opened over Jesus at His baptism while the Father was speaking; so now, as we are baptized into the Son, heaven is opened over us, and the Father expresses His love and pleasure in us. Galatians 3:26-27 says: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Now that we are baptized into Christ, united to Him by faith, God has clothed in the righteousness of His Son. He looks on us through the perfect life of Jesus and declares: “You are My beloved children; in You I am well pleased.”
Truly in baptism, we have a sign from heaven that we are in God’s favor. God the Father has washed away all our sins by the blood of His Son, and poured out His Spirit on us, claimed us as His children. As such, our heavenly Father promises to hear our prayers in Jesus’ name, to provide for our every need of life, and to strengthen our faith by His Spirit. And at last, what God has begun in our baptism into Christ, He will carry on completion; until the day He raises us to heavenly glory.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.