Strange Righteousness--January 12, 2026

Strange Righteousness--January 12, 2026

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:13-15)

Whatever it means to be righteous, it doesn't include looking down your nose at other people. At least not for Jesus.  For him, "righteousness" isn't about being "above" somebody else or treating another person as "less-than." And it doesn't involve intimidating, threatening, or zapping some group or person you have labeled "unrighteous."

We need to start here today, I think, because so often in our day the word "righteous" itself comes with the unavoidable baggage of the term "self-righteous," and it conjures up all the times we've seen people look down on others from their own holier-than-thou perch.  All too often, the word "righteous" gets invoked by arrogant zealots who have deputized themselves to condemn anybody they think doesn't measure up, or folks who won't associate with the sinners, mess-ups, and failures because of some presumed need to keep their holiness untainted. And if that's what "righteousness" means, well, it sure doesn't make sense then that Jesus would show up in line like this to be baptized by John for the sake of "righteousness."

That's because going out to be baptized by John in the Jordan wasn't a proud sign of your holiness and moral perfection--it was a statement of your need to repent and turn around in a new direction!  The folks who went out to John the Baptizer came, as the gospels remind us, "confessing their sins," and used this moment as a turning point in their lives to reject all the rotten stuff, sins, and guilt of their past.  It had the feel very much of going to your first AA or other Twelve-Step program meeting--you went forward, basically to admit that you were a mess-up, had gotten in over your head, and couldn't manage in the old patterns anymore.  For the folks there on the banks of the Jordan River, being baptized wasn't a way to show folks how "righteous" you were--it was an admission of how "unrighteous" you were, in the hopes that such radical honesty would let you turn a new way.

And all of that leads to the conundrum about Jesus being there.  Why would Jesus come to be baptized as a show of repentance? Isn't he supposed to be the sinless Lamb of God?  Isn't he the one person whose Permanent Record doesn't need to be wiped clean? And why would going there to be baptized by John somehow "fulfill all righteousness"? We are so used to assuming that being "righteous" involves condemning or criticizing all the unrighteous people that we might expect a holy messiah to scold or smite these sinners at the shore, not to stand in solidarity with them.

But that's just it: Jesus redefines "righteousness" for us to show us that it was never about zapping rule-breakers or condemning people for not measuring up. Jesus' strange kind of righteousness comes and meets us where we are and stands with us--as one of us.  When Jesus goes to be baptized by John, it is a public statement that says, "Count me with all of them.  I'll stand in their place.  I haven't come to send people to hell--I've come to bring them to life."  For Jesus, "righteousness" is solidarity with a world full of unrighteous people.  

This takes the scandal of the gospel to a whole new level.  We have just finished the season of Christmas, of course, and its mind-blowing claim that God took on flesh in Jesus.  That by itself is staggering.  But now at the river Jordan in line with a whole crowd of people who are confessing that they are sinners looking for a new start, Jesus' presence is like saying that same holy God is willing to be associated with unholy and sinful wretches.  In Jesus, God identifies with us all, and not only us at our best moments of good behavior, but precisely when we are face to face with our sins.  Whatever it means for Jesus to be "righteous," then, it is not about condemning sinners, but actually taking their side--our side.  Whatever it means for God to be holy, it can't be that God is unwilling to be associated with the likes of us--because in Jesus, there is God standing in line with a bunch of sinners all seeking a new beginning at the water.

If that's true (and Matthew sure seems to believe it is), then our presence in the world isn't meant to be a condemning or condescending one. Rather, we are called to be, like Jesus, people who stand with others in love.  We are called, like Jesus, to be on the "side" of folks who are facing their baggage and their demons and starting over.  And because we know that Jesus' "righteousness" doesn't involve him zapping sinners but coming along beside them, maybe we can be honest and admit our own sins rather than covering up our worst selves because we are afraid of being found out.  Jesus' presence there at the waters makes it possible for us to be brave enough to tell the truth about ourselves rather than point the finger at somebody else in order to take the focus off of our own failures.

Whatever it means to be righteous, it doesn't mean that Jesus is our enemy or adversary looking to condemn us.  Jesus' kind of righteousness takes our side--the whole human family--and says, "Count me with them."

That is absolutely good news.

Lord Jesus, help us to see you, not looking down on us in condemnation, but at our side in solidarity.