Text: Martin Luther (1483-1546) Tune: Johann Walter (1486-1570)
1.To Jordan came the Christ, our Lord,
To do His Father’s pleasure;
Baptized by John, the Father’s Word
Was given us to treasure.
This heav’nly washing now shall be
A cleansing from transgression
And by His blood and agony
Release from death’s oppression.
A new life now awaits us.
2.O hear and mark the message well,
For God Himself has spoken.
Let faith, not doubt, among us dwell
And so receive this token.
Our Lord here with his Word endows
Pure water, freely flowing.
God’s Holy Spirit here avows
Our kinship while bestowing
The Baptism of His blessing.
3.These truths on Jordan’s banks were shown
By mighty word and wonder.
The Father’s voice from heav’n came down,
Which we do well to ponder:
“This man is My beloved Son,
In whom my heart has pleasure.
Him you must hear, and Him alone,
And trust in fullest measure
The word that He has spoken.”
4.There stood the Son of God in love,
His grace to us extending;
The Holy Spirit like a dove
Upon the scene descending;
The triune God assuring us,
With promises compelling,
That in our baptism He will thus
Among us find a dwelling
To comfort and sustain us.
5.To His disciples spoke the Lord,
“Go out to ev’ry nation,
And bring to them the living Word
And this My invitation:
Let ev’ryone abandon sin
And come in true contrition
To be baptized and thereby win
Full pardon and remission
And heav’nly bliss inherit.”
6. But woe to those who cast aside
This grace so freely given:
They shall in sin and shame abide
And to despair be driven.
For born in sin, their works must fail,
Their striving saves them never;
Their pious acts do not avail,
And they are lost forever,
Eternal death their portion.
7. All that the mortal eye beholds
Is water as we pour it.
Before the eye of faith unfolds
The pow’r of Jesus’ merit.
For here it sees the crimson flood
To all our ills bring healing
The wonders of His precious blood
The love of God revealing,
Assuring His own pardon.
Tr. Elizabeth Quitmeyer (1911-1988)
REFLECTION
Aside from the questions of why Jesus, who is sinless, needs to be baptized, a compelling one, what we see here is amazing. While Jesus is being baptized and the dove flies down, we hear the voice of God approving of his Son and admonishing us to listen to him. Luther’s hymn says it, we would do well to ponder this voice.
There is something going on in the intellectual world today that is heartening to me. While the young we are told have thought that science and religion cannot agree, today reputable scientists are arguing that now science is pointing to the creator, in fact, I have heard it said that it is bad science to think today that there is no God. As one writer says, “God’s majesty remains in evidence all over the spectacular home he has built for his creatures.” (Spencer Klavan, Light of the Mind, Light of the world: Illuminating science through faith.)
What we experience in this scene of Jesus being baptized and during the Transfiguration is the breaking into our world “the mind that made the world and made us.” All that the mortal eye beholds/Is water as we pour it. /Before the eye of faith unfolds /The pow’r of Jesus’ merit.” The transcendent comes to us through water and in the flesh of a man. Amazing!
The older I get the thinner the veil between the visible and invisible becomes. The efforts by those in my youth to demythologize all the spiritual truths from Scripture by using the scientific method, I now find wanting.Those efforts made what is numinous and beautiful seem pedestrian. It has been rather like using a hammer to heal a butterfly. The past era has been ugly, we created ugly houses of worship that refused transcendence, and reduced Scripture to mere intellecutal concepts and ideas, not rich places to roam and be guided by.
That world, the Enlightenment, is now coming to an end. To be sure the accomplishments of science and the scientific method have given us much. But the method shouldn't be used on every question. Something new is happening. It is not sure that we will make it through into a better, more beautiful and richer world. Dystopian possibilities threaten, but I take heart that God’s speaking to us in the baptism of his dear Son rent the heavens wide so we could know him. He did this to have fellowship with us and bring us the light of the world. This is what the God of all creation, of the universe, has done to be near us and give us “the eye of faith” so we can see his light and life. Praise God.
HYMN INFO
Luther and Walter worked together in Luther's house some time during 1523 when they first started writing hymns. As director of Frederick the Wise’s chapel, Walter composed and led the singing there. He became the Lutheran composer of his time. While Luther was well trained as a musician, Walter probably helped him with his musical compositions, like "Out of the Depths." Walter wrote passions, motets and songs for use in the church. He lives on in the work he did with Luther on the first Protestant hymnals, the first, Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn in 1524. Later Luther would write hymns that became the Singing Catechism. This, one of the last hymns he wrote, is the hymn for the baptism section.
Bach wrote three cantatas for St. John’s Feast, Midsummer. One on this hymn, BWV 7. Enjoy it. The first and last stanza begin and end it, the middle movements are on the themes of each stanza. Enjoy the musical waters flowing!
LINKS
Concordia Publishing House version
Children's Choir Holy Cross Lutheran
Bach BWV 684 A setting of the hymn for soprano and organ
Bach's cantata BWV 7 Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam