The Baptism of Jesus the Messiah

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This morning, we come back to our study of Matthew's Gospel. Let me begin by reminding you that the greatest proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be is simply to examine Jesus in the biblical record. John Piper, in the preface of his book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, makes that very point. Listen to what he writes.

Jesus, as He is revealed in the Bible, has a glory, an excellence, a spiritual beauty that can be seen as self-evidently true. It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it's light and not dark. Or tasting honey and knowing that it's sweet and not sour. There is no long chain of reasoning from premises to conclusions. There is a direct apprehension that this person is true and that His glory is the glory of God.

That's exactly what Paul said in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, and verse 4. He says, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” How do you overcome such blindness? Paul goes on to say, “We…preach…Christ as Lord.” And how does that remove the blindness? He goes on to say, “For God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’” In other words, as we look at the Scripture, as we see Jesus Christ through that, the Spirit of God opens blind eyes and enables people to see. 

Maybe you're here this morning and you are spiritually blind to the truth about Jesus Christ. You think He's not worth your time. You think he's not worth your allegiance. My prayer for you this morning is that God would say, “Let there be Light in your soul.” When we look honestly at Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Gospels, we see the glory of God. And in our study of Matthew's Gospel, we have the privilege of doing that every week. 

This morning, we meet Jesus the Messiah, the main character of Matthew's Gospel, we meet Him as an adult for the very first time. Twenty-eight years have passed since we last caught a glimpse of Him with the Magi and the trip to Egypt and the return. Jesus is now about thirty years of age, according to Luke, chapter 3, and we meet Him as He goes to be baptized by John. Now Jesus' baptism is extremely important. We know that because not only is it mentioned in all four Gospels, but being a witness of Jesus' baptism was a criterion that the Apostles set for the one who would replace Judas. In Acts, chapter 1, verse 22, they said:

It is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us–beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up (in the ascension)…one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.

They had to see the baptism of Jesus–it's crucial. But it's interesting that such a crucial event is recorded in such an economy of words. In Luke's Gospel, he records Jesus' baptism in just two verses, Mark, only three. The fullest account of Jesus' baptism comes here in the Gospel of Matthew. Let's read it together, Matthew, chapter 3, verse 13. 

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is 1My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

What I want to point out to you this morning, and I want you to come to grips with, is the reality that Jesus' baptism by John, in this text is, in fact, a crucial part of His work as our Redeemer. But what is the significance of this event? Well, what I want you to see in this passage, as we walk through it together, is that there are several pieces of evidence in this account that will help us come to an understanding of the profound significance of Jesus' baptism. So, we're going to look at several pieces of evidence and sort of let the case build; and then at the end, I hope to bring it all together and show you the profound significance of this event. So, let's look.

The first important piece of evidence is in verse 13, “Jesus’ Settled Determination.” “Then, Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan.” ‘Then’ gives us a time stamp; it means that this happened in the same time frame as John the Baptist's ministry, described in the first twelve verses of this chapter. So, Jesus arrived while all Judea and Jerusalem were streaming out to be baptized by John. It's at the height of John's popularity and ministry. Luke 3:21 says, “When all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized.” Now, when exactly did this happen? As I pointed out to you before, likely this was in the year 26 A.D. John's ministry, when you put the pieces together, likely began in the spring of that year, and Jesus' baptism was probably in the late summer of 26 A.D. 

Verse 13 says, “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee.” Now we learn back in chapter 2 that when Joseph, Jesus' father, returned from Egypt with his little family, he chose not to settle in Bethlehem, which was his initial desire, because Archelaus, the son of Herod, most like Herod in temperament, was ruling over Judea. So instead, Joseph decided to settle his family in Galilee. So here in our text, Jesus came from Nazareth, in Galilee, where He had lived all His life.

Just to remind you, after Joseph's death, likely in Jesus' mid-teen years, Jesus had taken over the family business. So, when we meet Him here at about thirty years of age, He's been very busily engaged for many years. He's been serving as the head of His family. He's been caring for Mary, His mother, and for His six younger siblings. He's been working as a carpenter there in Nazareth for somewhere between ten to fifteen years. This has been His life. “Then, Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan.” Now, we don't know exactly where Jesus' baptism took place. The traditional site is near at the Jordan River near Jericho. But we know from John 1, that just a few weeks later, John was baptizing at Bethany beyond Jordan further up the Jordan River. So, we can't be exactly sure where Jesus was baptized; although if you go to Israel today, there are a lot of people who would love to sell you a chance to be baptized in the Jordan where Jesus was. But we can't be absolutely sure of where this happened, except it was in the Jordan River.

Verse 13, it gets to the main point, look at it again. “Then, Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John, to be baptized by him.” In other words, Jesus is doing this intentionally. He makes the two-day journey from Galilee determined to find John the Baptist and to be baptized by him. This was “Jesus' Settled Determination”–that means it was important to Jesus, and that means it's important. We're going to see that importance as this passage unfolds. That's the first piece of evidence, “Jesus' Settled Determination.”

There's a second piece of evidence that underscores the significance of Jesus' baptism. That's in verse 14, “John's Shocking Refusal.” “But John tried to prevent Him.” John, hearing Jesus' request, simply refuses to baptize Jesus. Why? He was saying this to Jesus, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” Now, let me remind you of the timeline, what's really going on here. John knew at this moment, in this conversation, John knew Jesus, but he only knew Him as his cousin. He didn't yet know that His cousin, Jesus, was the Messiah. How do I know that? Because John tells us that in John, chapter 1, verse 33, he says, “I did not recognize Him.” He didn't mean that he didn't know who Jesus was, he didn't know Him to be the Messiah. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water,” that's God. “He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” So, in other words, John didn't know Jesus was the Messiah until after he baptized Him, when the Spirit descended upon Him.

So, why did he refuse before to baptize Jesus? John said, “I need to be baptized by You.” If he didn't know Jesus was the Messiah, why would he say that? There are only two options. One option is that there was some sort of premonition that he thought maybe Jesus was the Messiah, but the descent of the Spirit confirmed that after His baptism. That's possible, but I don't think that's likely. That's not what he says. “I did not recognize Him until the Spirit descended.” So why did he refuse here? The only answer left is that John knew Jesus well enough to know that He was his moral superior. Even before John knew Jesus was the Messiah, he knew He was holy. He considered himself unworthy to baptize Jesus with a baptism of repentance. Instead, he said, “You are holier than I am. You need to baptize me.” Even when John only considered Jesus to be a man, that's what he concluded.

So why did Jesus, then, come to be baptized by John? Well, there's a third piece of evidence in our text that begins to help us understand Jesus' baptism. It's in verse 15, “Jesus' Surprising Reason.” “But Jesus answering said to him (John), ‘Permit it at this time.’” In other words, what He's saying is, He's disagreeing with John. He's saying, “John, look, I get it, what you're saying, I understand that you think I should baptize you, but we're going to move forward with this,” That's what He's saying, I want you to do this as I'm asking,  “for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The word ‘fulfill’ here means ‘to perform fully.’ Jesus said, “By baptizing me with a baptism of repentance, we are fully performing all righteousness.” 

Now, as you might expect, that is a very pregnant statement. There's a lot to unpack there. And I'm going to going to come back to the meaning of this a little later. For now, let's just say this, “At the very least, it means that since repentance to prepare for Messiah's kingdom was what John was demanding of every person who was righteous, or who wanted to be righteous, then it was fitting for Jesus to do what any other righteous Israelite should do to prepare for the Messiah.” It at least means that, but it means more, and we'll see that in a moment. 

Verse 15, in response, it says, “then he permitted Him.” It's interesting that Matthew doesn't tell us about the baptism, the actual event itself; he doesn't describe it. I mean, don't you wish there was just a little description about what that was like? He doesn't relate that at all. Why? Because that isn't the point. In fact, Mark is the only one who describes Jesus' baptism, and this is all he says, Mark 1:9, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” That's it. In those simple, straightforward words, Mark describes one of the most important events in Jesus' life. He “was baptized.” The Greek word means ‘to immerse,’ ‘to plunge into something.’ Jesus was immersed; He was plunged into the Jordan River. So, John baptized Jesus, and he did so for a surprising reason, “to fulfill all righteousness.” Keep that in mind. 

There's a fourth piece of evidence that helps us understand the significance of Jesus' baptism. It's in verses 16 and 17, “The Father's Supernatural Testimony.” Verse 16 says, “After being baptized,” that's where Matthew picks up; he doesn't tell us about the baptism itself. “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water.” Now, both Matthew and Mark describe the scene with very similar expressions. And the expression here emphasizes that John and Jesus were both in the Jordan River and that John plunged Jesus beneath the water. And as Jesus was coming up out of the water, either in that moment as He's being raised up out of the water, or perhaps as He is leaving John and wading out of the river, one of those, Luke tells us, Jesus was praying, and as Jesus was praying, three dramatic events occurred–the heavens opened above Him, the Spirit of God descended upon Him, and the voice of God spoke to Him.

Now, what makes those three events really significant is that in Jewish thinking, all three of those would be true of the Messiah. In fact, there is a Jewish document that predates our Lord by about two-hundred years. It's called the “Testament of Levi.” And this was the expectation of the Messiah:

The heavens will be opened and from the temple of glory, sanctification will come upon Him with a fatherly voice, as from Abraham to Isaac, and the glory of the Most High shall burst forth upon Him and the Spirit of understanding and sanctification or holiness shall rest upon Him.

That's what the Jewish people anticipated from Messiah. And that's what unfolds here.

Let's look more specifically at each of these signs. First of all, “The Heavens Opened Above Him.” “And behold,” verse 16, “the heavens were opened.” ‘Behold’ catches our attention, it says, “Pay attention to this, think about this, ‘the heavens were opened.’” And we're told in verse 16 that “he saw,” he saw the ‘he’ there refers to John. So, we know that John saw this dramatic event. Mark is also clear that Jesus saw this sign in the heavens. Mark 1:10, “He saw the heavens opening,” and then heard the voice of God speaking to Him. So, John saw it, Jesus saw it, and I tend to think that others were allowed to see it as well since Jesus is doing this in a public setting. That's implied, I think, as I'll show you in a moment, even though it's not stated.

Verse 16 said, “and behold, the heavens were opened.” Matthew uses the normal Greek word for open, but Mark uses a much more dramatic word in his description. Mark uses a word from which we get our word ‘schism.’ It means ‘to divide’ or ‘to tear.’ Jesus, John, and perhaps others there that day saw the heavens as if they were torn open. In fact, Mark only uses that expression, this verb, twice. He uses it of this event. The other time he uses it is when Jesus dies and the curtain in the Temple is torn in two. It's like the sky was ripped open. Both of those were supernatural events designed to serve as supernatural testimony to Jesus as the Son of God. When I think of that, I think of Isaiah, Isaiah 64:1, where Isaiah writes, “Oh, that You (God) would rend the heavens and come down.” It's an appeal for God to act to save His people. The great irony is in this moment, that's exactly what God is doing in and through His Son. He's rending the heavens, and He has come down in His Son. 

There's a second sign that happens, “The Spirit Descended Upon Him.” In the first century, the Jews also had a common understanding that the Messiah would be specially endowed with God's Spirit. In fact, documents that were found in Qumran, you remember in the last century, they found a lot of old documents. There were documents found there from the time of Jesus that weren't followers of Jesus, but speaking of the Messiah as one who would be specially endowed with the Spirit. Verse 16 says, John “saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him.” [Now, if you're awake this morning, and I know that's a struggle because of the time change, if it makes you feel any better, I lost three hours last night, so, you know, you don't feel sorry for me, I know that.] But something is strange about that statement we just read. John saw the Spirit. Think about it. The Holy Spirit is, by definition, invisible. God is invisible. The Spirit is invisible. He's a Spirit. John 3, the Spirit like the wind can't be seen. You can only see the results of where He's been. The Spirit of God, then, could have descended that day on Jesus without being seen, but He allows Himself to be visible to make a point. All three Synoptic Gospels, and when you hear me talk about the Synoptic Gospels, the word ‘synoptic’ means ‘syn’ with, ‘optic’–‘to see, to see together.’ That's a description for the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, because they tend to see events in the same way. John's kind of on his own. 

So, when you look at the Synoptic Gospels, they make a point of telling us that the Spirit manifested Himself in a visible form. The accounts, across the Gospels, say either “He descended as a dove” or “He descended like a dove.” What does that mean? Well, that expression could mean one of two things. It could mean the Spirit descended in a dove-like way, in a dove-like manner. In other words, He descended and, like a bird, would hover, He hovered over Jesus. In fact, some of the Jewish writers go back to Genesis, chapter 1, verse 2, and describe when it says, “the Spirit of God,” in the Hebrew there, ‘hovered’ or’ brooded’ “over the waters” at the beginning of creation–that they say it was like a dove hovering. Could be that's the idea here. 

A second possibility, and I think the one that we have to gravitate toward, is that the Spirit was like a dove in shape or form. In other words, He took, He took on something like the appearance of a dove because Luke 3, verse 22, says this, “the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove.” Now, that could mean, ‘actually in the appearance of a dove,’ or it could mean ‘something like a dove.’ But regardless, the Spirit visibly shows that He is descending on Jesus. Why? There are three reasons.

Number one, the Spirit descended on Jesus “To reveal Jesus' Identity as the Messiah to John.” Remember, John 1:33, I read it a moment ago, John said, the One who sent me, God, “who sent me told me, watch for the one on whom the Spirit descends and remains, this is the One” (Paraphrase). So, by doing this, the Spirit told John, “This is the Messiah.” 

Another reason the Spirit came upon Jesus was “To empower Him for His earthly ministry.” Matthew here says, notice, “the Spirit…lighted on Him.” Literally, the Greek text says, “He saw (John saw) the Spirit descending and coming upon Him.” John 1 says, “the Spirit…remained (or stayed) upon Him.” And Mark, very interestingly, literally in the Greek text says, “the Spirit descended into Him.” It uses a preposition that means ‘into.’ So, the heaven's part and visibly the Spirit marks His presence. Now remember, the Spirit is omnipresent; He's everywhere, so it's not like He's just there. He's specially manifesting His presence to make a point. And He comes down from heaven, lights on Jesus, and rested or stayed on Jesus.

Why is this? Well, in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God came to rest on men to give them the power for their assigned roles. And when you look at the Old Testament, we're told the Spirit came upon kings and priests and prophets. Well, guess what? Jesus the Messiah fills all three of those roles. He is a Prophet, Priest, and King. And so, the Old Testament prophesied that the Spirit of God would rest on the Messiah in a unique way. Turn back with me to Isaiah. Now, keep in mind as we turn to Isaiah, chapter 11, that Isaiah wrote his prophecy in the early 700s B.C. So, this is 700 years before Christ. Isaiah, chapter 11, and look at verse 1, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” This is a Messianic prophecy just to remind you, since you've slept a few times, since we looked at Jesus being from Nazareth, remember He was branch-man from branch-town. He was the shoot. Here's a dead stump, and out of that dead stump that represents Israel comes this living shoot that is the Messiah. And notice how He's described here. Verse 2, “The Spirit of the LORD (Yahweh) will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” 

Turn over to chapter 42, another Messianic passage, Isaiah 42 and verse 1, “Behold My Servant,” God says, speaking of the Messiah, “whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him.” Go over to chapter 61, another Messianic passage. In fact, this is the one, you remember, that was read in the synagogue in Nazareth and that Jesus preached a sermon there to those He grew up with. Isaiah 61, verse 1, “The Spirit of the LORD God [The Spirit of the LORD (Yahweh)] is upon me, because the LORD (Yahweh) has anointed me.” That's why His Spirit's on Me. He has anointed Me for My mission, which is “To bring good news to the afflicted; He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.” The Messiah was to be specially anointed with the Spirit to fulfill His mission, the mission of bringing the Gospel, the good news to sinners and accomplishing that great work. That's why when you come to the New Testament, to John's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 34, John says, “He whom God has sent,” that's Jesus, “He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He (God) gives (to Him) the Spirit without measure.” We enjoy the presence of the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to fulfill our giftedness in the church. Right now, I believe the Spirit's enabling me to use my gift for your benefit and blessing, but the Spirit's work in our lives is nothing like the work in Jesus' life. He gave Him “the Spirit without measure” to accomplish His mission. 

The third reason the Spirit descended upon Jesus was “To mark the official beginning of His ministry.” Luke, chapter 3, verse 23, Luke writes that right after Jesus' baptism, “He began His ministry” at “about thirty years of age.” In Acts, chapter 1, as I pointed out, the Apostle chosen to replace Judas had to be someone who had witnessed Jesus' baptism by John because that was the beginning. That was the beginning of His ministry. So, Jesus' ministry officially began with this public act. The Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism.

Now go back to our text, Matthew, chapter 3, there's a third dramatic sign that took place that day. Verse 17, “The Father Spoke about Jesus,” “and behold (pay attention, listen up, this is amazing), a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Now, this is really unusual because God often spoke to His prophets through visions and dreams, but there are only three times in the Old Testament when the Scripture says God audibly spoke from heaven so that people on the earth heard His voice, three times. The first was in Genesis 21, verse 17, “God heard the lad (Ishmael) crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.’” That's number one. 

Number two is at Sinai, Exodus, chapter 20, verse 1, the voice of God came from the heavens, came from above Mount Sinai to the people. In fact, Moses describes it this way in Deuteronomy 4:36, “Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice…you heard His words from the midst of the fire.” 

The third time in the Old Testament is to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, chapter 4, verse 31, “While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared:  sovereignty has been removed from you.’” Those are the only three times in the Old Testament where God speaks from heaven and humans hear on earth.

There are also only three times during the ministry of Christ when the New Testament records God audibly speaking from heaven. The first is here at His baptism. The second is at the transfiguration in chapter 17, verse 5, when God speaks again from heaven. The third only John records, it's during the passion week in John, chapter 12, verse 28. This is one of three times then, that God speaks from heaven during the incarnation, and it's God the Father.

We know it's God the Father because the voice comes out of heaven, it refers to Jesus as His Son, and the other two members of the Trinity are already present, Jesus in the water, the Spirit having descended upon Him. In Mark's Gospel and Luke's Gospel, the Father speaks directly to Jesus, “You are My Son.” Here in Matthew's Gospel, Matthew has the voice speaking more generally to John and to others, “This is My Son.” So, is that a contradiction? Of course not! The point is this, the Father spoke directly to Jesus, but it wasn't for Jesus' benefit. It was for the benefit of those around. In fact, on another occasion when God spoke from heaven, John 12:30, Jesus said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.” So, God spoke to Jesus, but not primarily for Jesus' benefit, it was for the benefit of others. R.T. France writes this: 

This voice comes out of the heavens and the words spoken leave no room for doubt that the speaker is God Himself. These words are therefore of the highest importance. Whatever verdicts people may reach on the question of who Jesus is, the reader of the Gospel is left with no option when the identity of Jesus is declared explicitly on the highest possible authority. 

What else do you need to prove that Jesus is who He claimed? God speaks three times from heaven with witnesses saying, “This is My Son!” 

And look at what the Father said to Christ, verse 17, “And behold, a voice out of the heavens said,” first of all, “This is My beloved Son.” Literally, it says in the original text, “This is My Son, the Beloved One;” this is My Son, the Beloved One. The word ‘beloved’ here is used in two senses. The first is obvious, it displays the Father's affection for the Son–He loves Him. But to say, “My Beloved Son is also at the same time to say, “He is My special, My unique,” we could even say, “My only Son.” This points to Jesus' unique relationship with God, to His identity. He is God's special, unique, one-of-a-kind, only Son. This expression almost certainly comes from Psalm 2, verse 7, a Messianic Psalm in which we read, this is the Messiah speaking, “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD (Yahweh):  He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’” The Jews of the first century understood that Psalm 2 was a Messianic Psalm. 

So don't miss what's happening here. God the Father actually speaks audibly from heaven, and He identifies Jesus as His unique, special, one-of-a-kind, specially-beloved Son. And He uses language from Psalm 2 that is intentionally Messianic. What else could God say to say, “This is My Son and He's the Messiah?” Jesus' baptism confirmed His identity as the promised Messiah and the Son of God. Oh, and John got the message. Look at what he says just a few weeks later. After Jesus' temptation, turn to John 1, after Jesus' temptation, so about forty days later at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, notice what John says about Jesus. John 1, verse 31.

I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me (that's God), ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” (He's the Messiah! And, verse 34.) “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (This is my beloved Son.)

The Father also said, back in our text, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” The Greek word ‘well–pleased’ means ‘to take pleasure’ or ‘to find satisfaction in something or someone,’ ‘to take delight in.’ Literally, the verb tense of this expression is not what we would expect because what God actually says here is, “in whom I delighted,” in whom I delighted. Well, before creation, the Father delighted in His eternal Son. Here in our text, He delighted in Him during the incarnation, and He will delight in His Son forever. This expression, “in whom I am well-pleased,” comes from the passage we read just a moment ago, Isaiah, chapter 42, verse 1. Listen to it again, a Messianic passage, “Behold My Servant whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom my soul delights.” That is one of the suffering servant passages in Isaiah, one of those passages that points to the Messiah who would come and suffer for His people. So, think about it again, God the Father, in choosing that passage, identifies Jesus of Nazareth as the promised suffering Servant of Isaiah's prophecy–the one Isaiah wrote about 700 years before. The Father says, “I don't want you to miss this, this is my Son, the one I love, the unique Son that I've sent, and oh by the way, He is the Messiah that Isaiah wrote about, don't miss who He is (Summary paraphrase).

This passage also repudiates the ancient heresy of Modalism. Modalism is the idea that there is one God, that's biblical and right, but that one God Modalism says only exists as one Person. So instead of one God in three Persons, modalism says, “No, there's one God in one Person.” Think of it like this, it has to do with manifesting Himself in three distinct modes of activity. So, one person who just sort of plays different roles. It's like I, as one person. at times act as a father, and other times I act as a son, and other times I act as a pastor. I'm one person who sort of plays those different roles, those different modes. That's not what the Scripture teaches about the nature of our God. He is not one God in one Person. He is one God in three Persons; and in this passage, all three Persons are present at one time and One's in the water of the Jordan, One's descending on Jesus as He's being baptized, and the third speaks from heaven–and they're clearly distinct from one another! And yet we know that the Scripture says there's only one God, it says that in both testaments. There's only one God. So then, the Bible teaches that there is one God eternally existing in three distinct persons. We call that biblical truth, “The Doctrine of The Trinity.” And while that's not the main point of this passage, it is very clear that that is the truth. 

But as promised, I want to finish our time together by asking a larger question and that is, “How was Jesus' baptism related to His redeeming work?” In other words, “What does Jesus' baptism have to do with you, Christian? What's the point?” Well, let me give you three important points. This is how it relates to his redemption of you and of me.

Number one, “Jesus' baptism proved His perfect righteousness.” I mean, you see it already in verse 14 when John doesn't even know that Jesus is the Messiah. He doesn't know He's divine. He just knows Him as his cousin and already he's saying, “Oh no, I shouldn't be baptizing You; You should be baptizing me.” But that's not enough because a person can be holy and still have some lingering sin. That's part of what it means to live as a fallen human being in the world. And that person would not be qualified to be our Savior. So instead, you have the Father speaking from heaven at Jesus' baptism saying, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am (What?) well-pleased.” The Father was already well-pleased with Him. He didn't need John's baptism. He didn't need to repent. At the very start of His ministry, He is already morally perfect and, therefore, qualified to be our substitute and to provide us with His righteousness. 

At this point, He's thirty years of age, and every day of His life, every moment that He has taken breath as the God-Man, He has been perfect! Think about every stage. As an infant, as a toddler, think about that for a moment, as a child, as a teenager, another tough part of life, as an adult. In every stage of life, the Scripture says, “He was without sin,” not a trace of sin. In other words, He never thought a sinful thought, not one time in His whole life! He never spoke a sinful word, not once! He never acted out in any sinful way! And more than that, He never failed to do anything positive that God had commanded! You know what that means? That means every moment of His life, He loved God perfectly–like you and I were supposed to have done. And every moment of His life, He acted completely unselfishly, loving the people around Him. You know, that is so out of sync with who we are, it's hard to imagine a life like that. And yet, that's the reality; He was perfectly righteous! For thirty years, He accumulated righteousness, and you know what that meant? That meant He was qualified to stand in the place of sinners and die for them because only One who was perfect could satisfy God's justice on behalf of others. Otherwise, He would have to die and be punished for His own sin. He had to have no sin to stand in our place. 

And we needed righteousness. We not only need forgiveness–we need positive righteousness. Where does that come from? It comes from Jesus' thirty perfect years of obedience! And when you believe in Jesus Christ, not only do you get forgiveness, not only does God wipe the record clean and pardon you from all of your sins, but He imputes to you, He credits to your account the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, and He treats you as if you had lived that life! As my mentor has put it so beautifully, “On the cross, God treated Jesus as if He had lived your sinful life so that forever He could treat you as if you had lived Jesus' perfect life.” That's the gospel! Jesus needed to be perfectly righteous, and He was.

Secondly, “In His baptism (and I love this.), Jesus identified with the sinful people He came to save.” Remember now, John's baptism was what? It was a baptism of, you can say that, “It was a baptism of repentance.” So, look at verse 6 of Matthew, chapter 3, “they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” Now go to verse 13, “Then Jesus arrived…coming to John, to be baptized by him.” Well clearly, He didn't need to confess His sins, He didn't need to repent. And yet, Luke 3:21 says, “when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized,” it's amazing! Leon Morris writes, “Jesus might well have been standing with John and calling on sinners to repent. Instead, He was with the sinners, affirming His solidarity with them, making Himself one with them in the process of the salvation that He would accomplish.”

Remember how Isaiah 53 puts it? Verse 11 calls Him “the Righteous One.” And verse 12 says, He “was numbered with the transgressors,” that's what's going on here. It's the beginning of His ministry in which He's numbered with us, “the transgressors.” It's the beginning of that path to the cross in which He will ultimately accomplish our salvation by being numbered with us and dying in our place the death we deserve. D. Edmund Hebert writes, “He deliberately identified Himself with sinners, taking His place with them in order that as their representative, He might redeem them.” Friends, Jesus is not only the friend of sinners, and He is, He's the substitute for sinners; He's the savior of sinners!

Number three, “Jesus' baptism served as a vicarious repentance in the place of His people.” This view traces all the way back to Justin Martyr, who died in the year 165 A.D. It says this, “Jesus was baptized with a baptism that had to do with sin, repentance, and forgiveness. And yet, He didn't need any of that, and so it wasn't for Him, it was for us.” Isaiah 53 predicted that the Servant would take the sin of His people on Himself, that He would be our substitute. Christ's death provided us with a substitute death for sin. Christ's life provided us with a substitute righteousness. It may very well be that Christ's baptism provided us with a substitute repentance. Why is that necessary? Well, let me just ask you, “When is the last time you truly, with all of your heart, repented?” The Puritan was right, “Our repentance needs to be repented of.” But Jesus is our perfect substitute. In Christ, friends, we have a complete Savior. That's what we begin to see in His baptism. This is where it starts; He identifies with sinners–the perfectly righteous One was numbered with the transgressors! 

Let's pray together. Father, thank You for this amazing account. Thank You for the truth of who Your Son is; thank You that You left no doubt. I pray for all of us who know and love Him, help us to reflect on His life and ministry, on the gift that you have given us in Him, to love Him more, to follow Him more obediently. 

Father, for those who may be here who don't know You, may this be the day when You bring them to see Christ as the Savior, as their Savior. May they repent and put their faith in Him. We pray it in His name, Amen.