Every time someone is baptized, every time bread is broken and wine poured, every time a sinner hears, “Your sins are forgiven in Christ,” Pentecost happens again.
They were still praying, trusting, and hoping. Why? Because they knew who was with them and who was for them: the risen Christ.
So Christ is risen, but what now?

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Matthew’s account of Jesus's baptism is only 5 verses and about 100 Greek words long, but multiple Hebrew stories are swimming right below the surface.
The Word of God, the Eternal Logos, Jesus Christ himself is revealed to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Little by little, we find that God hands us his story as our own.
In chapter 41 the servant is identified as Israel, but chapter 42 is a different servant. In fact, Matthew 12:18-21 makes the ID clear—this Servant is Jesus!
This text explicates the Christian life in light of the reality of Christ’s lordship and the gift of the Holy Spirit amidst a world and a Church which has not experienced the fullness of redemption and recreation itself.
Jesus did not need to be baptized. But he did it. Why?
It is the words the pastor speaks that send the dead out alive.
Is there ever a time when someone needs to be re-baptized? Not if we believe that God is the one who does the baptizing.
The following is an excerpt from “Faithless to Fearless” written by David Andersen (1517 Publishing, 2019).
Looking back on the year, the narrative we’re fed is that we should be able to show how much we’ve grown, how much we’ve done, all the successes we’ve had, how improved we are.
God cares for us because we’re created in his image, but he also cares for us because the second person of the Trinity, the Son, became one of us.
Christians are given a new name at baptism. We are given the Triune name of Father, Son, and Spirit.
God reveals Himself to us in Word and Sacrament but sometimes these revelations happen in unexpected ways.