The Baptism of Jesus

If you have a Bible with you, tonight we are only going to be covering about 3 verses and that is Mark 1:9-11 and the event that is recorded in these verses is incredibly important for our lives and it is an incredibly important moment in the Gospels. Tonight we will be looking at the baptism of Jesus. As we will see, it isn’t until verse 9 where the much anticipated Christ from the first 8 verses will physically make His first appearance. There’s a shift in verse 9 from anticipation to arrival. And really, that is the hinge upon which the Bible rests. The Old Testament waits in anticipation for the arrival of Christ in the New Testament. It is often said that the waiting is the hardest part of anything. For thousands of years, the faithful of God have been searching and waiting for the day when the Messiah would appear and what we will read tonight is the public appearance of Jesus of Nazareth and who He really is. There are three questions that I want us to answer tonight and those three questions are: 1. Why was Jesus baptized? 2. Who was present at Christ’s baptism? 3. Why is this so important? Before we dive into these verses, I want to let you in on something that we will be doing as we go through this book. Like I said last week, the Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the 4 Gospels and it is also the most action oriented of the Gospels. Mark writes in such a way that seems to be driving us towards the next scene and there are some things that Mark leaves out that the other Gospel writers may include in their account. There is never a contradiction between the accounts when this happens but it just stresses certain elements about the different authors and their writings. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are often so similar that commentators have put them together in 1 work and refer to this as a harmony of the Gospels. What does this have to do with Mark 1:9-11? Well, I’m going to read verse 9 and then we are going to shift to Matthew 3:14-15 and then we will come back to Mark 1:10-11 and the reason that we are going to do this is because Matthew has some dialogue between Christ and John the Baptist that is important for us moving forward but just because we do this, that does not take anything away from Mark’s writing. Mark still writes a complete Gospel and we don’t need to add in other passages from other Gospels to make it coherent. But we will add other verses from the other Gospels into Mark’s Gospel if it clarifies what Mark is writing and we will do this again next week when we look at Mark 1:12-13. That’ s a long explanation as to why Matthew 3 is going to pop up when I read in just a second but before we dive in, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Mark 1:9 (NASB95)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

Matthew 3:14–15 NASB95

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.

Mark 1:10–11 NASB95

Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Why was Jesus Baptized?

The first question that we need to have answered is “Why was Jesus baptized?” We have information that those that were present did not necessarily have but John the Baptist seems to have understood. I mentioned this in Sunday school this past week but when we look at the Bible, Old or New Testament, we are looking backwards. We are looking through a complete Bible and this sometimes makes us forget that as events take place in the Bible, they were happening in real time for people. What this means is that for those that were present at Christ’s baptism, they did not know the things that Jesus was going to accomplish over the next 3 and a half years, they did not know His perfections, they didn’t even really know Him. But we do. We know that Jesus had no sin. Paul reminds us of this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Peter also says in 1 Peter 2:22 that Jesus was one, “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.” For His entire life, Jesus was completely perfect. There was not an ounce of sin that was ever on Him. He had no original sin and He committed no sins. He has forever been and forever will be the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. Why is this fact important for why Jesus was baptized? Well, what was John’s baptism for? If you remember from last week in verse 4, Mark says that John was in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. How does that work then for Jesus? Because He has no sin to repent of. Jesus does not need to be forgiven of His sins because He has no sins to be forgiven. So, why does Jesus go to John to be baptized? John is just as confused as we are. Notice again what he says in Matthew 3:14 “But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”” John knows who Jesus is. In John 1:29 we read of John, “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He knows who Jesus is, he personally knows Him because they were cousins, he knows that Jesus is the Savior of the world that has come to take away our sins, and as we saw last week, John understands that he does not come close to comparing to Jesus. John sees himself as totally unworthy to even untie the sandal of the Messiah, let alone to baptize the Messiah. It’s as if John is saying, “Why on earth would I baptize you? Shouldn’t you be baptising me? I’m the one that has sinned, you’ve never sinned and you have nothing to repent of!” When John says, “I have need to be baptized by you” that is the great need of all mankind. We all need the baptism that Christ offers. That’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need to have our identity found in Christ and the baptism that He offers to us. Christ convinces John to baptize Him when he says to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Here is where we find our answer as to why Jesus needed to be baptized. It was to fulfill all righteousness. Now what does that mean? We’ve already stated that Christ had a perfect righteousness because there was not a drop of sin in Him or on Him. I want you to notice a key phrase that really jumped out to me while I was studying this passage in Matthew 3:15. After Christ asks John to permit his baptism, Jesus says that it is in this way that it is “fitting for us.” Jesus doesn’t say, this is fitting for me alone, He says it is fitting for us. Why do I think that is so important? Because it shows us that Jesus’ baptism served a purpose for Him but it also served a purpose for all who would identify with Christ. You see it is in Jesus’ baptism that not only are we able to identify with Him, He identifies with us. James Montgomery Boice said, “In Jesus’ baptism by John, Jesus identifies Himself with us in our humanity, thereby taking on Himself the obligation to fulfill all righteousness so that He might be a perfect Savior and substitute for us.” You see, Jesus gets baptized not to remove any sin on His part but to reinforce the humanity of His part. By being baptized by John, Jesus is meeting us where we are and standing where we stand. Why is this so important for Jesus to identify with us? Because Jesus needs to be fully man in order to atone for sin. God cannot die, God does not owe God a payment for sin, man does and that is why it is so important for Jesus to be the Son of Man and to identify Himself as the Son of Man. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” What is a mediator? A mediator is the one that brings together two parties. He is the one that seeks to make an agreement between two warring parties. Jesus serves that role for us. Jesus stands in the gap and it is through Christ that we have access to God the Father and it is through Christ that God the Father is brought to us. Why is Christ’s baptism ultimately so important? Because of what it points ahead to. Sinclair Ferguson wrote, “Jesus’ water baptism inaugurated Him into a ministry which reached its fulfilment later in His baptism in blood upon the cross. What we have here in Jesus’ public acknowledgement that He had come to stand where sinners should stand, receive what they should deserve, and in return give to them His gift of grace and fellowship with God.” It is in Christ’s baptism where Jesus is identifying Himself with the very sinners that He came to save. But Christ is not the only one that was present at His baptism. Who else was there?

Who was Present?

Look again at Mark 1:10–11 “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”” The holy Trinity is present at Christ’s baptism. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all accounted for. As Jesus comes up out of the water, He sees the heavens opening and the word that is used for opening does not mean like someone is opening a car door. The Greek word that is used is closer in line with the heavens are ripped open, the heavens are torn apart and Mark will use this Greek word only one other time in his book and that is in Mark 15:38 after Christ’s death on the cross and Mark writes that the curtain that was in the temple that separated the most holy place from the holy place, the place where the presence of God was said to dwell and the high priest could only enter once a year, that curtain is torn from top to bottom. This symbolizes that it is God Himself that has torn the curtain, it is God Himself that has accepted the perfect and final sacrifice of His Son. The same word that is used to say that this curtain that separated man from God has been torn is the same word when the heavens open and the Spirit descends upon Jesus. What a great image we see in this. The heavens are not just opened for us, their hinges are torn open. Christ’s obedience is so perfect and our salvation in Him is so sure that Heaven is left wide open for us. God bids us to come to Him because Heaven is wide open! All we need to do is come! All the world needs to do is come! God does not turn a single soul away that comes to Christ in faith! All for whom the Son has purchased, the Father joyfully welcomes into His kingdom! At the end of verse 10 we see that not only has Heaven opened, but the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ and this is likely a reference to Isaiah 61:1 which says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners.” Before we look at the verse a little more, just a quick side bar. The Holy Spirit descending upon Christ at His baptism is not to say that Jesus only became God at His baptism. There are some who make that claim that before this moment, Jesus only had a human nature and He became God as the Holy Spirit fell upon Him. That is not true in the slightest and it is a heresy known as adoptionism. Jesus has never not been God. He can’t become what He has always been. Even Gabriel before Christ’s birth told Mary exactly who was to be born and it was no ordinary human child that would become God. Gabriel told her that Jesus would be born the Son of God. For the Spirit to descend upon Jesus is to mark Him publicly as the Savior of the world. All the great things that are said in Isaiah 61:1 are found in what Christ has come to do. He has come to bring good news to the afflicted, He has come to bind up the brokenhearted, He has come to proclaim liberty to the captives and set the prisoners free. Christ has come to set the prisoners of sin and self free. Then as if that were not enough, the voice of God the Father comes out of the heavens and said, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” I think in this moment that we are reminded of the voice of God speaking forth the universe at creation and now we hear the voice of God as He speaks of the new creation that is found through Christ’s perfect obedience. In verse 11 we see 3 references to 3 other Scriptures. The first reference that we see is a reference to Genesis 22 when Abraham is about to offer up his only son Isaac. The Lord tells Abraham to take his only son, the son that had been promised to him, and to offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac go to Mount Moriah and it is there where Abraham takes Isaac and lays him upon the alter that he had built and just as the knife is about to take the life away from Isaac we read in Genesis 22:10–12 “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”” Just as the voice of the Lord called down at the moment of death of Abraham’s only son, the son of the promise, so now the voice of the Lord calls down again and this time to His own Son. Abraham would name the place where he was to sacrifice Isaac, “The Lord will provide” and sure enough, the Lord did because 2,000 years later, another Son would find Himself upon the alter as a sacrifice. Only this time there was no voice from heaven to stop the slaughter and God’s own Son died. But He did not die for no purpose. The Lord provided a sacrifice that would be a perfect, final sacrifice in the death of His only Son. So, we see an image of that as the voice of God calls out from Heaven. The other reference that we see is to Psalm 2:7 where David writes, “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” This is God’s declaration of the deity of Christ. Christ has always been God but it is now where the world will know exactly who the Son is. Then the last reference we see is to Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” Not only is Jesus the Son of God, the only way to receive approval from God is through the Son. John Calvin wrote, “Christ is not only beloved by the Father, but is alone beloved and accepted by him, so that there is no way of obtaining favor from God but through the intercession of Christ.” As we’ve mentioned before, if you want to go to heaven, here is the only way to get there. Even one way to Heaven is more than what we as sinners deserve. All of these truths are seen in the moment of Christ’s baptism. All of these glorious truths about the identity of the Son, the unity of the Trinity, and the relationship between God and man is seen in these verses. While we have somewhat already answered this question, let’s look at our last question. Why is all of this important? Why is Christ’s baptism so important and why is it so important that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all present at this moment?

Why is that Important?

Christ’s baptism is important because He identifies with us through it. Christ identifies fully with the human condition and by being baptized, really on our behalf, we are reminded that He lives on our behalf and He dies on our behalf. John Piper had a great image of what Christ’s baptism is like and Piper said, “When Jesus was baptized along with all the repenting people who wanted to be on God’s side, it was as though the commander-in-chief had come to the front lines, fastened his bayonet, strapped on his helmet, and jumped into the trench along with the rest of us. And when he did that, his Father in heaven, who had sent him for this very combat, signified with the appearance of a dove that the Holy Spirit would be with him in the battles to come.” Christ is no stranger to the human condition. By coming along side us, He is reemphasizing to us that He really is Immanuel, God with us. We know that He sympathizes with us because He lived a human life like we all do and we will talk about that more next week. Finally, why is it so important that the Trinity is present at this moment? There are a number of reasons but I think the most important one for us tonight is that it reminds us that the Gospel is not just a message from the Father or an act by the Son or a new way of life being brought by the Spirit. No, the baptism of Christ reminds us that all of the Godhead is at work in our salvation. Jesus was not the odd man out, God the Father did not force the Son to live and die, no they are perfectly united in their plan for salvation. God the Father sends the Son, the Son brings us back to the Father, and the Spirit regenerates us and makes us new based on what the Son has done. Let me encourage you with this, just as all of the Godhead is at work in the baptism of Christ, if you are a Christian, the entire Godhead is at work in you. The Father loves you, the Son has purchased you, and the Spirit has remade you. All of who God is is at work in your life. If you are not a Christian, this Godhead, this Holy Trinity, offers themselves to you. The baptism that Christ offers is more than just a baptism of repentance, it is a baptism of a new life, of a new creation, the old has passed and the new has come. The old has been washed away and now in the old’s place stands one that has had their sins wiped away. The Lord tells us in Isaiah 1:18 ““Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.” If you want to be made new, baptism on its own won’t help you. You have to be washed in the blood of the Lamb and it is only when that happens, that life truly begins but as we are going to see next week, that doesn’t mean that life becomes easier. One last thing that I want to mention before we pray is this: If you are a follower of Christ and you have not been baptized, maybe today is the day where you commit to following the Lord into baptism. We know that baptism is not a means for salvation but it is an outward sign of your inward salvation. Just as Christ was willing to identify publicly with you in His baptism, maybe now is the time where you decide to identify publicly with Him in your own baptism. If you haven’t been baptized and you feel like you want to be, talk to me before you leave today. Let’s pray.