A Trinitarian Focus: Revelation from the Father
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 40:44
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· 5 viewsJesus’ baptism reveals what the Father’s delights in: By pouring His love into our hearts by faith we are received through His Son for His Glory.
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Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Prayer
A compassionate doctor has traveled deep into the jungle to provide medical care to a primitive tribe afflicted with a contagious disease.
He has had his medical equipment flown in.
He has correctly diagnosed the problem, and the antibiotics are prepared and available.
He is independently wealthy and has no need of any kind of financial compensation.
But as he seeks to provide care, the afflicted refuse.
They want to take care of themselves.
They want to heal on their own terms.
What should we think of a story like this?
The doctor has done all the work to be able to apply his medicine to the disease, but the refusal from the tribes people grieves the doctor.
Jesus’ baptism reveals what the Father delights in: By pouring His love into our hearts by faith we are received through His Son for His Glory.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
The question is: why did Jesus need to be baptized along with the other people?
John was baptizing for repentance and people were confessing their sins.
Obviously, this was not why Jesus sought to confess his sins.
The Baptism of Jesus
The Baptism of Jesus
“Identified with His People”
Notice what John’s response to Jesus is...
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
John gives three discernable reasons why it was shocking for Jesus to come to him.
The first is because of the person....
Person
Person
“Insignificant Man”
As JTB has already said...
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
JTB realized that he was much lesser than the Lord Jesus.
Which leads him to astoundingly state...
Matthew 3:14 (ESV)
“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
JTB couldn’t wrap his brain around why Jesus would come to him.
Now at this point it is possible that JTB didn’t know who Jesus was fully.
But he knew enough to know that Jesus didn’t need baptized like the rest of the crowd.
He knew enough to know that he could not detect sin in his life that needed to be turned from.
The second is because of the baptism...
Baptism
Baptism
“Lesser by Comparison”
Now assuming that JTB knew more of who Jesus was, he would have known that his baptism was significantly less important than Jesus’.
JTB admits.
Matthew 3:14 (ESV)
“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
JTB recognizes that Jesus needs to baptize him.
In a similar way to Peter confessing that He needed to be washed by Jesus...
John 13:6 (ESV)
“Lord, do you wash my feet?”
JTB admits that he needs to be baptized by Jesus.
He saw that he needed to be baptized because he saw that he was “more sinful” than Jesus.
The third is because of the insignificance...
Unnecessary
Unnecessary
“Doesn’t Need It”
JTB also saw that Jesus was NOT in need of the baptism in the same way that John was.
He knew that Jesus did not have need of it in the same way that the people were.
Matthew 3:14 (ESV)
“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
This prompts the Lord to respond to JTB and say…
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
Why would Jesus need to be baptized?
I will deal with this more thoroughly next week, but for now it is important to see that Jesus was baptized to be represented with the people.
In the same way that the prophets of OLD would confess and repent for sins they didn’t commit, they stood along with their people.
Just like Daniel prayed Daniel 9:5
we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.
Daniel is not saying necessarily that he has sinned like his people, but he is identifying with them.
He is saying that he is like them.
Jesus in like measure is baptized.
Now I want you to notice what happens when Jesus is baptized.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Instant Replay
We live in a time in sports history unlike ever before.
The fact that we have instant replay has completely changed the game of baseball.
Bad calls used to be a part of the game, but this is no more.
Now, all the time, calls are challenged and reversed.
I want us to slow down this particular scene and capture the weight of what Matthew is showing us.
He is showing us quickly the profound reality of the Trinity.
Why would it be important to understand the Trinity?
Without a proper understanding of the Trinity,
we have no gospel.
If we don’t understand that God is Triune,
we can’t enjoy the good news of the gospel.
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Since this is an “instant replay” of sorts, I want us to flip the biblical data.
Revelation from the Father
Revelation from the Father
“The Fatherhood of God”
Was this voice from heaven heard by everyone?
The answer here is that it doesn’t matter.
But it is entirely possible that many people heard the voice of the Father declaring of the Son, “This is my beloved!”
Both Jesus and JTB are in view here as hearing the voice from Heaven.
And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
I want us to focus on three particular elements within this statement from the Father to the Son.
The first focuses on Relationship...
Relationship
Relationship
“Uniquely in Relationship”
The Father declares of Jesus a status of Sonship.
It needs to be inserted at this point that God the Father is NOT the father of all humanity.
Sometimes, people will see from passages like Ephesians 3:14
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Paul is speaking here of all humanity being made in the image of God.
But this is not the first time we see someone called a son of God in the Bible.
Adam as a son
Adam as a son
“Created from the Dust”
Luke 3:38 (ESV)
the son of Adam, the son of God.
Adam is referred to as a son of God because God formed him from the dust.
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
The Lord formed Adam from the dust and blew into his nose so that he would have life and breath.
This theme of son of God is prominent in the Bible.
Later it is picked up with the people of Israel.
Israel as a son
Israel as a son
“Rebellious son”
Exodus 4:22 (ESV)
Israel is my firstborn son,
Israel is called a son of God because God promised them to Abraham.
The promised was realized more fully when he brought them out of Egypt.
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
This sonship is continued on through David into the promise of the Davidic king.
2 Samuel 7:14 (ESV)
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
This promised son would sit on David’s throne forever.
So this is NOT unprecedented to hear God speak of his son.
But at the same time, there is a big difference here.
All of the son language in the OT are culminating.
Adam, the son of humanity.
Israel, the son of rebellion.
David, the son to sit eternally on his throne.
They all come together to this ONE pinnacle SON.
Jesus the Son
Jesus the Son
“Eternally Begotten Son”
See humanity is made in the image of God.
But Jesus is as Colossians says…
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Now some assert that at this point that God the Father is adopting the Lord Jesus as a Son.
This is NOT at all what is happening here.
Rather, it is a revealing of the Sonship from eternity past.
It is the declaration of the Son of God from before time existed.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Word of God, the Son who is being baptized was with God in the beginning.
Genesis 1:1–3 (ESV)
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said,
Expository Thoughts on Matthew Matthew 3:13–17: The Baptism of Christ
It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, “let us make man.” It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, “let us save man.”
Now there are many people around the world who reject the idea of God as Trinity.
They want to assert that,
“God is ONE, and He does not have a son.”
“God is ONE, He is not a father.”
If God was a single person, then salvation would look entirely different.
He may offer forgiveness, but he would not offer closeness.
He may allow us to live under his rule and reign, but with an infinite distance between us.
The problem with this line of thinking is that all the attributes we read in Scripture need an object.
For example, 1 John 4:16 "God is love"
If God was a single person, then there would be no way for Him to express that love within Himself in eternity past.
But the mystery seen even in these short verses is the mystery of the Trinity.
The mystery of the SINGULAR nature and the THREE persons.
Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The singular name of the plural persons.
“Here, then, is a salvation no single-person God could offer even if they wanted to: the Father so delights in his eternal love for the Son that he desires to share it with all who will believe. Ultimately, the Father sent the Son because the Father so loved the Son—and wanted to share that love and fellowship. His love for the world is the overflow of his almighty love for his Son.” - Michael Reeves
What kind of relationship did the Father have with the Son?
Quality
Quality
“Beloved Son”
Matthew 3:17 (ESV)
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Or literally.
“My son, the Beloved [One]”
The Father’s expression of His Love for His Son is the best news imaginable for us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The love that the Father has poured out on the world is the love that He has always shared with the Son.
The overflow of the love between the Father and the Son has bubbled over to overflow onto the world.
Or as Jesus says in another place....
O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
There it is!
We see God’s purposes in sending the Son.
That is, the Father sent his Son to make himself known—meaning not that he wanted simply to download some information about himself, but that the love the Father eternally had for the Son might be in those who believe in him, and that we might enjoy the Son as the Father always has. -Michael Reeves
The problem is that we don’t believe this.
The lie of the serpent from the beginning to Adam and Eve was that God was not really GOOD.
It was that God did not have their best interest in mind.
The lie of the serpent was that God really didn’t love them and was withholding from them.
Legalism - Does not believe that God is love, so they will work for it themselves.
Antinomianism - Does not believe that God is love, so they will avoid submitting to His Lordship.
[Taken from Michael Reeve’s, Delighting in the Trinity]
Martin Luther was a man who knew well how knowing God as Father changes everything.
Luther understood that God was righteous and hated sin.
He understood how HOLY God was and how UNHOLY he was.
But he wasn’t able to see beyond that.
"I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God."
Not knowing God as a kind and willing Father, a God who brings us close, Luther found he could not love him.
He and his fellow monks transferred their affections to Mary and various other saints; it was them they would love and to them they would pray.
Looking back later in life he reflected that, as a monk, he had not actually been worshiping the right God, for it is "not enough," he then said, to know God as the Creator and Judge.
Only when God is known as a loving Father is he known aright.
"For although the whole world has most carefully sought to understand the nature, mind and activity of God, it has had no success in this whatever. But .. God Himself has revealed and disclosed the deepest profundity of his fatherly heart, His sheer inexpressible love.”
Through sending his Son to bring us back to himself, God has revealed himself to be inexpressibly loving and supremely fatherly.
What Luther found was that not only does that give great assurance and joy—it also wins our hearts to him, for...
"we may look into His fatherly heart and sense how boundlessly He loves us. That would warm our hearts, setting them aglow with thankfulness."
In the salvation of this God we see a God we can really love.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
The Father delights in pouring His love into our hearts by faith.
Matthew 3:17 (ESV)
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
What is the Father’s disposition toward the Son?
Disposition
Disposition
“Delighting in His Son”
Matthew 3:17 (ESV)
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
For many of us, when we hear of God as Father, we think...
“I hope he is not as harsh as my father.”
“I hope he is not as cruel and inattentive as my father.”
“I hope he is more engaged in my life than my father.”
A person’s conception of God as Father is all screwed up.
But when we hear the Father say of the Son,
“In Him, I take great delight!”
Because the Father is well pleased in His Son, then He will be pleased with all who trust His Son.
The Father delights in receiving sinners on the basis of His Son.
This is the best news for me and you.
Remember that doctor from the beginning.
He had the medicine.
He had the remedy.
Finally, a few brave young men step forward to receive the care being freely provided.
What does the doctor feel?
Delight.
His joy increases to the degree that the sick come to him for help and healing.
It’s the whole reason he came.
How much more if the diseased are not strangers but his own family?
So with us, and so with Christ.
He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.
Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
All who have turned from their sins and trusted in His name will received that same smile from the Father.
“[W]hen the triune God gives us his Word, he gives us his very self, for the Son is the Word of God, the perfect revelation of his Father. The Word was with God and the Word was God...This God does not give us some thing that is other than himself, or merely tell us about himself; he actually gives us himself. If he just dropped a book from heaven, he could keep us at the sort of distance we would expect. But he doesn't.
The very Word of God who is God comes to us and dwells with us. And so, in Jesus Christ the Word of God we see the most revealing revelation. In Jesus we see that God is Father, Son and Spirit, for he is beloved by the Father and anointed with the Spirit. In Jesus we see a God so generous and kind that he gives himself to us and comes to be with us. -Michael Reeves