"In the same manner, and even much more, you should honor and exalt Baptism on account of the Word, since God himself has honored it by words and deeds and has confirmed it by wonders from heaven.  Do you think it was a jest that the heavens opened when Christ allowed himself to be baptized, that the Holy Spirit descended visibly and that the divine glory and majesty were manifested everywhere?

I therefore admonish you again that these two, the Word and the water, must by no means be separated from each other.  For where the Word is separated from the water, the water is no different from that which the maid cooks with and could indeed be called a bath-keepers baptism.  But when the Word is present according to God’s ordinance, Baptism is a sacrament, and it is called Christ’s Baptism.  This is the first point to be emphasized: the nature and dignity of this holy sacrament."
- Martin Luther, Large Catechism on Baptism, (Tappert)

Luther Quote Archive