Jesus the baptized – Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus the baptized – Matthew 3:13-17
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 27, 2019

Just because you feel empathy for someone doesn’t mean you have actually done anything for them and yet there are those today who actually think that feeling something for someone is just as valid as actually doing something. Nothing could be further from the truth. James would remind us by asking, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15-16 NIV)” He would say that such faith is “dead” if it is not accompanied by some kind of action. James was not arguing about good deeds saving someone but rather what demonstrated faith in a person’s life. Baptism did not “save” Jesus but demonstrated his faith to the world.

Here in these verses we find the Messiah coming to the Jordan River to be baptized by John his cousin. There have been all kinds of speculation as to why God would do such a thing; everything from those who heretically claim that John is the actual Messiah to Jesus was only a man who needed reassurance. None of these are correct. Let’s therefore take a look today at Jesus the baptized…

READ: Matthew 3:13-17

After decades of silence we discover Jesus going down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Here we discover…

I. The obedience of Jesus the baptized! (Vv. 13-14)

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

  1. From the time Jesus is about eleven years old in Luke’s gospel where he leaves the caravan returning home from Jerusalem and is found by his parents in the temple arguing with the leadership until he goes down to the Jordan River 19 years have gone by! We know nothing of Jesus’ early years except what we are told by the gospel narratives. There exist heretical gospels written hundreds of years later that claim to depict Jesus’ early years and some from thousands of years later from medieval times as well. These are called the Gnostic Gospels. Gnosticism consists of a whole group of heresies, all with the central ideas that knowledge (gnosis) is the means to salvation, and that spirit is good and flesh is evil. In practice, it soon devolved into the extremes of asceticism and hedonism, as well as peculiar ideas about the nature of God and Christ. One such notion is that we can become totally holy and never sin. These later tales are at best fantasy and simple myths that people made up in order to fill in the missing years of Jesus. One is called “The Lost Gospel” which is supposed to depict Jesus and Mary Magdalene being married and having two sons. However, when you take a closer look at the manuscript it does not name Jesus or Mary and is from the sixth century! Over the years there have also been false teachers who claimed to have been given visions that depict Jesus’ early years. All of them are false and ungodly. Here Matthew tells us simply, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John”; the idea being that the time was right for Jesus to do this. He was old enough for people to listen to him because most rabbis had to be at least 30 years old and John had begun his ministry of calling the Israelite nation to repentance. However, we discover that “John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’” John recognized Jesus for who he truly was; the Anointed One of God! Standing in the Jordan baptizing folks for their repentance of their sins he comes face-to-face with the One who is sinless! John wonders out loud at Jesus’ willingness to come to him to be baptized. It is here we discover the obedience of Jesus the baptized!

  EXAMPLE: John’s baptism was done after the recipient had confessed their sin however Jesus was sinless. In fact Jesus is described as our “high priest (who) meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (Hebrews 7:26 NIV)” The Apostle John wrote that we “know that (Jesus) appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (1 John 3:5 NIV)” Jesus was therefore baptized to announce his coming, to show he was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and to identify with us! Jesus came to be with us, suffer as we do, and to be tempted in every way we are! It is here we discover the obedience of Jesus the baptized!

Being baptized does not save the recipient nor does it impart any form of grace; we see this iin Jesus’ baptism. He did it to show us who he was and it teaches us that…

II. Jesus the baptized followed through on God’s eternal plan! (V. 15)

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

  1. Remember I just shared with you that Jesus’ baptism also showed that he identified with sinners. I say this because we understand that Jesus’ baptism symbolized the sinners’ spiritual baptism into the righteousness of Christ, dying with him and rising free from sin and able to walk in the newness of life with him! Jesus’ perfect righteousness would fulfill all the requirements of the Law of Moses for sinners who could never hope to do so by themselves! Hebrews reminds us that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” and “because by one sacrifice he (Jesus) has made perfect forever those who are being made holy”! (Hebrews 10:4, 14 NIV) We can never earn our salvation! When John hesitated to baptize the sinless Son of God, “Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’” By this Jesus alluded to the righteousness that he alone provides to all who come to him to exchange their sin for his righteousness! Paul reminds us that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV)” I also told you that Jesus being God and being human can “sympathize with our weaknesses” because “we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV)! Jesus had entered the world as a baby born of human mother and grew to be a man that he would experience everything we do but make the conscious decision not to be tempted by the same things we are so he could be our strength! But also that he would “fulfill all righteousness”! He would be our sacrifice! Our past sacrifice, our daily sacrifice, and our ultimate future sacrifice! This is the plan of God that he would come as a man and die as our sacrifice! Matthew tells us that “Then John consented.” Jesus the baptized followed through on God’s eternal plan!

  EXAMPLE: I remember my father asking me one time after the wheel of my go-cart fell off, “Did you plan that?” We often forget that God’s plan will happen. God’s sovereign will is also called his “hidden” will. It is “sovereign” in that it shows God to be ruler of the universe who ordains all that happens. It is also “declared” because it involves God’s decree. It is “hidden” because we are usually unaware of it until what he has decreed takes place. God can but does not cause everything to happen; often the choice is ours to make and God permits it. However we can suffer or be blessed by the consequences of our choices. Like my go-cart wheel. There is nothing that happens that is outside of God’s will. We discover that Jesus the baptized followed through on God’s eternal plan!

If you forget that God is the Father, God is the Son, and God is the Holy Spirit you can fall into a faulty notion about whom Jesus is and why he did what he did. And it is here we discover just how important this is by…

III. God’s recognition of Jesus the baptized! (Vv. 16-17)

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

  1. God was involved intimately throughout Jesus’ life because he is God. When his detractors wanted to kill him they asked him to plainly tell them that he was the Messiah. If had he would be guilty of saying he was God so Jesus responds by telling them, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:27-30 NIV)” He told one of his doubting disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” meaning he has seen God (John 14:9 NIV). John the Baptist was baptizing the Creator of the Universe and “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.” He came up out of the water and “At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.” Interestingly we see the three personalities of the Trinity present in Jesus’ baptism because immediately afterwards “a voice from heaven saying ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” Later, This verified for John that Jesus is the Son of God. “Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. (John 1:32-34 NIV)’” It was also in keeping with Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the coming Messiah: “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2-3 NIV)” The descent of the Holy Spirit displayed for those present that God had empowered the Son, the Messiah, for his ministry among people. And finally we learn that “a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” What a wonderful depiction of God’s recognition of Jesus the baptized!

  EXAMPLE: I like it when others recognize me and are glad to see me, especially when I am outside of where they would normally see me. Sure it can be embarrassing if I haven’t shaved or I am filthy from doing some sort of hard work. Therefore isn’t great to know that God recognizes those he loves and that one day they will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”? This is what is occurring here when Jesus is baptized by John. We discover this wonderful truth in God’s recognition of Jesus the baptized!

Conclusion:

The obedience of Jesus the baptized! Jesus the baptized followed through on God’s eternal plan! God’s recognition of Jesus the baptized!
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This article is copyrighted © 2018 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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