LOC 013:
Life of Christ:
The
Baptism of Jesus
Last week we looked at John the Baptist and how he pointed men to
Jesus as the forerunner of the Messiah who fulfilled prophecies from Malachi
and Isaiah. This week we will look at a
narrative where the lives of Jesus and John touch more intimately--the Baptism
of Jesus.
John’s ministry was one of calling the Jews back to covenantal
faithfulness. It was a baptism based on
confession of sin and repentance. It
seems strange on the surface that Jesus would come to John to be baptized. Jesus had no need to confess sin and had no
sin from which to repent. There must be
a different purpose. This narrative
shows us what Jesus did and other Scriptures give us clues as to why he did
it. At the end of the event, we see the
blessing of the triune God come down upon Him.
Three of the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke, give us
different details in accord with their concerns as they were all moved along by
the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.
Mark gives the “Just the Facts” version:
The Act of Baptism
Mark 1:9-11 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John
in the Jordan.
The Divine Response
10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens
parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came
from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Jesus came from Nazareth to John to be baptized. After the baptism, the heavens opened, the
Spirit descended and the Father spoke as if to introduce his Son.
Luke recorded:
The Act of Baptism
Luke 3:21-23 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass
that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
The Divine Response
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon
Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in
You I am well pleased."
The Editorial Comment
23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of
age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Luke then goes into the genealogy to demonstrate the lineage of
Jesus the Christ. We’ve already looked
at that.
Matthew gives us most of the above and more. We will look at Matthew’s comments in greater
detail as we consider the baptism of Jesus.
Matthew wrote:
1. Jesus’ Intended Purpose
2. John’s Complaint
3. Jesus’ Reason and John’s
Reply
4. The Divine Response
1. Jesus’ Intended Purpose
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be
baptized by him.
2. John’s Complaint
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be
baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
3. Jesus’ Reason and John’s
Reply
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so
now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he
allowed Him.
4. The Divine Response
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the
water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased."
Let’s go back to unpack the text with the background found in
Luke. Luke had said, “23 Now Jesus
Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age....” This act would bring about the start of Jesus
earthly ministry in a quiet and subtle sort of way. He was about thirty.
The last full narrative we had about Jesus was eighteen years
previous to this event. All we know that
between these two narratives is that Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and
stature and in favor with God and man.
Here Jesus identifies with man and finds favor with God.
1. Jesus’ Intended Purpose
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be
baptized by him.
Jesus intended purpose was simply to be baptized. The reason for Jesus baptism is not the same
reason Christians are baptized. Yet, the
Baptism of Jesus shows us how important a thing it is. The Church should not neglect it, nor make
too much of it.
Some Christian groups do not practice baptism at all. Others believe it that in the act of baptism
there is a change in or on the person to mark them out as God’s own. The two heresies that have developed around
baptism since the early days of the Church are Baptismal regeneration and
Baptismal remission.
Baptismal regeneration is the belief that those who are baptized
receive the Holy Spirit bringing them to spiritual life or new birth. Baptism remission is the belief that the
water of baptism actually washes away all sin up to that point. Both of these are wrong and both of these
misunderstand the emphasis on forgiveness and the gift of the Spirit from Acts
chapter 2. Baptism in itself does not
change anybody. It does not call down
the Spirit to give the new birth and it does not obligate God to wash away your
sins. It is about identification with
God because of what he has already done for us and in us as those who believe.
Baptism is an important practice in the life of the Church. For the Christian it is an identification
with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The act pictures a dying and a rising.
Consider how intimately these two are tied together by the Apostle
Paul in Romans Chapter six.
Writing to the Roman Christians about sin and reconciliation, Paul
wrote:
Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Christian Baptism is into the death of Christ. That is, it is linked inseparably to
something accomplished in the sacrifice of Christ. Whatever his death actually represents, is
signified by baptism. This is another
reason to belief that the Death of Jesus actually accomplished the salvation of
all who will ever believe. If Christ’s death
was only to make men savable in a hypothetical sense, there is then no basis
for Christian baptism. Some of the
groups that have repudiated the practice of baptism have seen this connection,
others have not. Paul ties baptism to
the transaction that occurred in the actual death of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
From this, he draws a preliminary conclusion:
4 Therefore we were
buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life.
The symbolism and parallelism is important. Buried -- death = raised
-- walk in newness of life. It is a picture of what is actually in the
life. It is an outward display of an
inward reality. It is a picture of our
identification with the effects of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in
us. Baptism does not bring them about,
it confirms them to the conscience and proclaims them to all present.
This is the conclusion drawn by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle.
1 Peter 3:21 There is also an anti-type which now saves us--baptism
(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into
heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers
having been made subject to Him.
TO what does Baptism actually save or deliver us? From our sins? NO!
The answer of a good conscience.
Baptism is an outward display of inward realities. Baptism will not make you live a godly life
if you are prone to ungodliness. Baptism
will not make you any better. It is the
answer of a good conscience towards God.
Our walk with Christ that is already present in our desires and our life
is confirmed as we are baptized. It is
an additional affirmation that the subject is not his own, but has died to this
world and himself because of the work of Christ. Read on at the beginning of Chapter Four to
see Peter’s conclusion drawn out of these comments on baptism:
4:1 Therefore, since
Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind,
for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer
should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the
will of God.
Those for whom Christ has suffered that those who believe “should
not live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the
will of God.”
Baptism is for those who show the effects of God’s grace in the
life through a credible profession of faith and the active, however simply it
may be, pursuit of godliness. It is a
necessity for all who are Christs, but not a saving necessity. It is a grace of sanctification.
But let’s go back to the Apostle Paul and his interconnection in
these matters between the death of Christ and Baptism. He draws more conclusions:
5 For if we have been
united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the
likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified
with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no
longer be slaves of sin.
What was crucified with him?
Our old man, our man of sin.
Why? That we may no longer be
slaves of sin and that the power of sin in the life of the believer might be
broken.
You see, if any man is in Christ, he is what according to 1 Cor
5:17? A new creation. Old things have passed away, behold all
things are become new. Baptism is needed
to identify with Christ by virtue of his re-creation of us in salvation. He breaks the bondage to sin as a way of
life. If you are still in bondage to
sin, you don’t have new life. OUR OLD
MAN was crucified with Christ that we might not be slaves to sin. He died that he might be our master instead
of sin, the dreaded tyrannical taskmaster.
He reiterates:
ROM 6:7 For he who has
died has been freed from sin.
The blessing of it all:
ROM 6:8 Now if we died
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that
Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has
dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all;
but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Ready--as for you, in the same way that Jesus now lives unto
God....
ROM 6:11 Likewise you
also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
This is still linked to Paul’s statement about baptism. These are long Greek inspired sentences.
Another conclusion:
ROM 6:12 Therefore do
not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
And another
ROM 6:13 And do not
present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present
yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you
are not under law but under grace.
The temptation of Grace:
ROM 6:15 What then?
Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
The Argument
ROM 6:16 Do you not know
that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves
whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to
righteousness?
The New Master
ROM 6:17 But God be
thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from
sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Baptism for us is about this radical identification with Christ in
his death and resurrection. TO be
baptized in the name of Christ is to be baptized into all this great theology
represents. It is not to make you feel
better or to have another religious experience, baptism is for those who have
this radical identification with Christ and who purpose to walk in Newness of
life.
Jesus needed non of that as the perfect thirty year old who came
to seek and save that which was lost.
John the Baptist understood this.
When Jesus came, we have....
2. John’s Complaint
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be
baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
John knew his place and his own nature. Jesus did not need to heed the message of
repentance John was preaching, but John as a prophet points to Christ once
again. John confesses his greater human
need. John needed the baptism of Jesus.
Humility is an elusive grace.
John shows true humility in his complaint against what Jesus
wanted. He knew the ministry he had to
call the Jews back to covenantal fidelity--something Jesus exemplified at all
times and in every way. We should not be
afraid to appear weak in order to speak the truth.
It is alright to talk to God about what we don’t understand. That’s what many of the Psalms are all
about. He is gladly bothered with our
complaints as well as our praise. We
should remember to listen to him when he speaks. And, he has in his word. John complains, listens, then responds
appropriately.
3. Jesus’ Reason and John’s
Reply
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so
now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."
Jesus explains to John something John had not considered. He is doing this to fulfill all
righteousness. Whatever that means.
Remember Matthew is concerned to show the Jews how Jesus is the
fulfillment of all God had promised in the Prophets and his own time.
From John’s message and ministry, righteousness would have been
understood as a turning to God through confession and repentance. We would expect Jesus to join John in his
preaching ministry, yet we find him down in the water waiting to be
baptized. How does this fulfill all
righteousness?
One of Matthew’s favorite OT Prophets is Isaiah. Throughout his prophecy the messiah to come
would be a servant who would identify with the needs of the people. He would be the suffering servant who would
save them from their sins and transgressions and bring a light with profound
hope to the nations. The servant had to
identify with the people he would serve.
Here at the outset of his public ministry, Jesus is not afraid to
identify with the need of sinners. We
will see how throughout his ministry he identified with sinners. It was the downtrodden and the deviant that
he loved; it was the religious establishment he despised. He did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.
Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by fulfilling the ministry of
the servant expressed in too many places to quote. Jesus identifies with his people from the
bottom up, rather than the top down. It
was not about Jesus authority, though he had all authority, it was about is
servant’s heart for the lost sheep of Israel.
Being confronted with the need of Jesus to fulfill all
righteousness, John decreases, that Christ might increase. Matthew records....
15b Then he allowed Him.
4. The Divine Response
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the
water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased."
Jesus is baptized. The Holy
Spirit descends. The Father speaks.
The eternal Trinity is present manifest in forms known to man for
a few brief moments. Incarnate Jesus as
God and man. The Spirit like a dove
coming to rest upon him. And an audible
voice from God the Father.
This shows us the unity of God in the ministry of Jesus. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are all
here giving their approval of the Son of God incarnate.
The Unity of the Godhead.
What one person of the Trinity does, they all do in full agreement. A subsistence of God will not act on his own,
but with the full knowledge of and participation of the others. The trinity is not three beings. God is one essential being with three
subsistences or persons.
The Same spirit who was present hovering in the creation is
present on this one who would have a ministry of re-creation. The Father speaks volumes to make men aware
of the true nature and character of this man dripping with the waters of
baptism.
God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased."
My shows the intimate connection.
He came from Mary, was raised by Joseph, but he is MINE. Jesus is God’s beloved. The father love for the Son defines the true
quality of love for everyone and forever.
The Christians are not accepted in themselves, we are accepted in
Christ, the beloved one. Ephesians 1:6
“to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in
the Beloved”
Jesus is God’s beloved Son.
According to Isaiah once again, ISA 9:6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His
shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This beloved Son is the one with whom God is well-pleased. TO hear these words at the beginning of his
ministry must have been a blessing. As
it will be for us who hear these words at the end of our lives:
MAT 25:21 "His lord
said to him, 'Well done, good
and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you
ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
MAT 25:23 "His lord
said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over
a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of
your lord.'
From beginning to end, the baptism of Jesus points us to his
identification with man as sinners and to our need to be identified with him
and his death. That is our only hope of
eternal salvation.
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