Matthew 3:13–17
This is our first look at Jesus the adult. His words and actions reveal his principles and his intentions, which we will see him live out consistently for the rest of his life.
John was understandably reluctant to baptize Jesus. He knew Jesus, who would soon be a fellow prophet, already lived a righteous life. However, Jesus knew a bigger purpose for baptism than just a commitment to repentance, its primary role in John’s ministry.
For Jesus, his baptism was important simply because it was a good act, a way to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus did not come simply to not do bad—he came to do all possible good, including unnecessary acts like rededicating himself to living a righteous life through John’s baptism.
The baptism served another purpose for Jesus. He had spent years thinking, observing, praying, and studying, and he was now ready to change the world. Like any person embarking on a great, new mission, he wanted an event to mark the turning point in his life. Jesus’ baptism launched his public ministry.
It was a spectacular launch. As Jesus arose out of the water, two significant events occurred that would sustain him to the end of his ministry.
First, he received a new, and probably more powerful, presence of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures do not tell us to what extent he had the Holy Spirit earlier in his life, but certainly from this point on, he would have everything the Spirit could provide to help him in his quest.
Second, he heard words of approval from his proud Father. A human father tells his son or daughter how proud he is right before the child starts a new phase of life, like entering the university, starting a new job or getting married. The father hopes his words will sustain the son or daughter in the tough times that are sure to come.
God was no different. He was proud of his son and wanted that pride to sustain Jesus in the tough times. We can only guess at how often Jesus thought back to this day to gain strength to keep going.
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13 years ago
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A number of years ago I heard an interesting idea presented with respect to what was accomplished in the baptism of Jesus by John.
ReplyDeleteSomething we often overlook about John's baptism is that it was for the forgiveness of sins. The very save phrase that is used for "forgiveness of sins" in Acts 2:38 is also applied to the the baptism of John in Mark 1:4. We know that Jesus had no sin of His own to be forgiven when baptized by John; however, this does not mean that no sins were forgiven at that time. In an ineffable way, through His baptism, Jesus was, by His own perfect life and obedience, passing forgiveness on through baptism to all who would follow His example in baptism. We experience, vicariously and mysteriously in the act of baptism, the perfection of Jesus as our own because He passes the results of his perfect life on to those who submit to God in this same way. In other words He passes the forgiveness which He does not need on down to the rest of us who would die eternally without it.
Maybe a bit of "filling in between the lines" is involved in this idea, but I found it very interesting at the time and still do.