The subject for this Sunday, as set forth in the accompanying New Testament texts, is baptism, the baptism of Jesus in Luke, and the baptism of the Samaritan disciples in Acts. Let us therefore use our Second Isaiah text also in relation to baptism, namely our baptisms. To be sure, the prophet originally directed these words to the Israelite exiles in Babylonian between 550 and 538 B.C., but they are also an excellent description of our relation to God in our baptisms into the church.

 

The words and especially the verbs to note in this text, which is technically called a "salvation oracle," are those that describe what God has done, is doing, or will do. God has "created," "formed," "redeemed," "called you by name" (v. 1). He is "with you" (vv. 2, 5). He is "your Savior" (v. 3). He consid…