40-12 The Anointing of the King
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Matthew 3:13-17
Matthew 3:13-17
It was the work of a perfumer (who needed tremendous skill) who would take fine spices including liquid myrrh, sweet-smelling cinnamon, aromatic cane, cassia, and olive oil, all measured precisely and blended in strict observance of the Mosaic Law. This result would be a holy oil used exclusively for religious purposes. The oil was used to anoint the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the furniture and utensils in the tabernacle, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering, the bronze laver—the purpose of this ceremony was to set these items apart, marking them as holy to the Lord.
Next, the priests were anointed with oil pouring it over the head which likewise marked them as holy and set apart for the Lord so they could minister as priests before God. The Israelites (Ex 30:22-33) were strictly forbidden from reproducing this oil for personal use (the precise recipe was given in the Law) or applying it to ordinary people or things.
31 “You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 ‘It shall not be poured on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 ‘Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
This was a sacred ceremony that the Lord commanded of Israel and though there was believed to be no supernatural powers linked to the oil, it served as a test of obedience for the nation and a demonstration of the Lord’s holiness. This anointing was not for priests only, but also kings were anointed as a way to confirm God’s choice as His mediator for the kingdom, it would set them apart and the people were admonished “touch not My anointed one”, but the anointing would also serve to symbolize the presence and empowerment of the HS enabling kings to carry out their duties. Anointing held a special place in the history of Israel.
What Matthew describes at the end of ch 3 is the anointing of LJC, the Messiah, the King.
38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
(quoted from Ps 45:7)
1 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; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
The Lord applies this passage to Himself in Lk 4—when He enters the Synagogue on the Sabbath. He is the anointed King. This is a very important event as the Lord Jesus, for the first time will be introduced to humanity as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). Luke tells us that Jesus is about 30 years old at this point (Lk 3:23). This is the age that priests originally began their priestly responsibilities (before being changed to 25, 20). John the Baptist has been faithfully preparing the nation by preaching in the wilderness and calling Israel to repent and many people responded by confessing their sins and being baptized. John was likely at this ministry for the past 6 months (since that is how much older he was over Jesus—and he too being of priestly descent would begin at the age of 30). Everything about the life of Jesus is leading up to this point of consecration…manifesting the King of kings to the world. Matthew will highlight 3 features of the baptism of Jesus.
1. The Journey of the King
1. The Journey of the King
vv 13-14
“then Jesus arrived…”
Each of the Gospels treat the baptism of Jesus from a little different perspective. Mark has a simple description along with the confirmation of the Father spoken to Jesus “you…” Luke tells us that Jesus was baptized after the other people had been baptized—so likely this happened in the afternoon—then after praying He received the HS. John only mentions that the HS came upon Jesus and remained on Him which signified to John that Jesus is the Christ. Matthew is the only writer to describe John’s reaction to Jesus coming “to be baptized” by John.
As John was finishing the baptisms for that day, we’re told that Jesus arrived from Galilee. His home the past 3 decades was the little town of Nazareth. Jesus travelled 60-70 miles to where John was baptizing (Bethany beyond the Jordan) which would have taken a considerable amount of time (4-5 day minimum as it was all on foot—how far can you walk on foot in a day—if we get 20K steps in we rejoice). Jesus arrives, He is by Himself (didn’t travel with His other family members—contrary to Gospel accord. to the Hebrews (which didn’t make it into the Bible)). He came for the express purpose of baptism—Jesus came to John in order to undergo the baptism John was administering.
Just a note on baptism—the term means “to dip, immerse.” That word was never used for sprinkling or pouring water on but spoke of a blacksmith who tempered a piece of iron by plunging it into a bucket of water; a piece of cloth dipped into a vat of dye, or a ship that sinks to the bottom of the sea. The baptism John administered was immersion (so we practice the same) and that is confirmed by Matthew’s description (vs 16) “came up…”
When John sees Jesus coming to him he begins to strenuously protest against Jesus’ baptism by him. vs 14 “tried to prevent” strikes the force of this objection—John would have hindered, prevented, tried to stop this from happening. And he explains why… “I have need…” John has spent the last 6 months preaching to the people, admonishing them to repent and hearing their sins being confessed. At once, he is confronted by his own unworthiness and sin when the sinless One is standing before him. We can understand John’s objection b/c his baptism was for sin and repentance. John knows Jesus has no sin and needs no confession/repentance so this baptism from his perspective would never be appropriate for LJC.
This has stirred the debate for centuries even going back to the early church—asking the question “why would Jesus seek out John to be baptized by him, since He had no sin?” While there is no clear-cut answer to that difficult question, I can share 3 reasons why Jesus’ baptism was necessary:
Identifying With Sinners
Identifying With Sinners
Baptism itself (having no supernatural powers attending it) is the means of identification. Later, in Xn baptism, believers identify with Christ (united with Him in death and resurrection) and the church as each one takes the step of obedience to baptize—thus publicly showing that identification that the believer belongs to Christ and also to His body (the church). Jesus’ baptism is the means of His identification with sinners, whose sin He has come to earth to bear.
17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
This is not just taking on humanity but “in all things,” so His baptism is necessary to identify with us.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Jesus actually takes His place among the sinners and this baptism was a necessary step of fulfilling Is 53. The One who has no sin took His place among those who have no righteousness (2 Cor 5:21).
Exemplifying Obedience
Exemplifying Obedience
Following His death and resurrection, Jesus would command His followers to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, making disciples of all the nations and baptizing those who believe. Jesus would model this for His followers as an act of obedience thus validating the central importance of believer’s baptism today. Baptism is not something the church made up a long time ago. It is something that God has commanded, something every disciple of Jesus is commanded to do. This was exemplified by Jesus at the very beginning of His public ministry to show that obedience to God’s will is of supreme importance.
Picture of Salvation
Picture of Salvation
Besides this baptism administered by John, there was another baptism that Jesus would undergo—a baptism that was specifically related to His death. He spoke of this baptism on 2 separate occasions:
Before His final trip to Jerusalem
50 “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
Then when James and John asked to be seated next to Christ in glory (on right and left):
38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
Jesus was talking about death and His death along with His resurrection is a picture of salvation and prefigure of Xn baptism… Rom 6:3-4;
So every sinner who trusts in the LJC for salvation is figuratively baptized with Christ in His death and resurrection and then immersed in water as a picture of dying to sin and self and being raised to new life in Christ.
So these are 3 reasons why Jesus came to John for baptism and even though John tried to prevent this, Jesus expressed the necessity of it in vs 15 to explain the purpose of Jesus coming for baptism—to accomplish His work:
2. The Work of the King
2. The Work of the King
vs 15
John was not incorrect about his need to baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. But Christ’s knowledge of God’s purpose and the work He had been sent to accomplish needed to be fulfilled which required John’s obedient response. “permit it…” These are the 1st words spoken by Jesus and recorded in the Bible since the age of 12. Jesus was answering John’s opposition by giving permission and claiming something much more important is happening than a misperception that the people might have.
“it is fitting for us…” means it is seemly/proper to get on with the baptism b/c it is the path to fulfilling all righteousness. In this way, Jesus is expressing the important and necessary work of living in perfect obedience to God’s will—without which He would not have fulfilled all righteousness.
Stu Weber writes:
Matthew B. The King’s Baptism (3:13–17)
So Jesus’ baptism was unique. It was not a “baptism of repentance” (as John’s was) nor was it a “Christian baptism” (as ours is today). But it was an identifying step of obedience at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus would not have been fully obedient if he had bypassed this step that seemed to John to be unnecessary for the Holy One
Think for a moment about the obedience of Christ…it is absolutely necessary if you are to be clothed in His righteousness, that which the Father accepts and that which makes you right before God. This is because your righteousness (compared to God’s) is like filthy rags (IS 64:6). For us to become “the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21) Jesus had to live a perfect life of obedience.
Let me ask you a question to help you understand this. Did Jesus die for sins? Did His death provide us with forgiveness of sins? Of course! By His death our sins are forgiven and our guilt is removed. But if that is all Jesus did, there is something still missing.
Theologians have referred to this as the passive obedience of Christ. It is speaking about His suffering that He endured on behalf of sinners. It is called “passive” not derogatory but simply the cross is what He endured, what sinful men did to Him—the object of humiliation. We are so thankful for the penal, substitutionary atonement of Jesus b/c He did what we could never have done for ourselves—bearing the guilt and judgment our sin deserved and the just wrath of God in our place. Paul refers to this obedience:
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
But there is something else that we all needed, b/c we have fallen short of God’s glory, failed to live by the righteous standard of God’s will expressed in His Law…we needed someone to fulfill that Law in our place—to keep it perfectly, living in perfect obedience to God in order to earn righteousness for us. This is known as “active obedience” where Jesus lived in obedience to all the Father’s commands. This active obedience is necessary for 2 reasons:
First, Jesus had to live in perfect obedience while on earth so that He could be the sufficient sacrifice for sins. In the OT sacrifices had to be spotless and without blemish. Perfection was the only way God would accept it.
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
Second, Jesus had to live in perfect obedience in order to provide the righteousness that would be the ground for our justification. Because we have failed to live up to that standard (even 1 sin makes us guilty of the whole law), Jesus had to live a righteous life for us.
So Jesus had to die for our sins to remove our guilt and grant forgiveness and He also needed to be obedient in every way to God’s perfect will. That’s what He is telling John “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
Now, think of it this way…
Ask yourself “whose lifelong record of obedience would you rather rely on for your standing before God?” Jesus or your own? Are you good enough to deserve, earn God’s approval?
This is the work of the King to provide us the righteousness that justifies us before the righteous God.
3. The Anointing of the King
3. The Anointing of the King
vv 16-17
I’ll have you observe that all 3 members of the Trinity are present as Jesus comes up out of the waters of baptism. This would have been greatly encouraging to Jesus as from this moment He will begin a 3 year ministry that will culminate in His death and resurrection.
MT, Mk & Lk mention that as soon (immediately) He emerges from the water, the heavens were opened. Now, it is not clear if the heavens opening were for Jesus’ eyes only or if those who were witnessing the baptism also saw what Jesus saw. In any case, the heavens did open which would indicate the revealing of a heavenly mystery. This is not the 1st time (or the last time) the heavens would open.
1 Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
In these “visions of God” he saw 4 living creatures—and begins to describe things that are truly indescribable, along with a vision of the expanse that represents the divine glory.
As Stephen was being stoned to death and just before he died:
56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
In Revelation, John sees the heavens opened and begins to describe the present glories of the throne room of God as well as a vision of the domination of JC at the end.
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Jesus saw heavens opened and then He saw the Spirit of God (HS; also called “My Spirit” “His Spirit” “the Spirit of the Lord”) descending as a dove and coming upon Him. Now why did the appearance as a dove? Commentaries from several hundred years ago point out that the HS is invisible (Jesus affirms this to Nicodemus in Jn 3). In order to be seen, He had to take on a visible form. But there is question why a dove and not something else?
Early church father Origen (B. 185 AD) (very influential produced one of the 1st systematic theologies)
New Testament Ia: Matthew 1–13 3:16 The Spirit Descends When Jesus Is Baptized
The Spirit descended in the form of a dove, since wherever there is reconciliation with God there is a dove, as in the case of Noah’s ark … announcing God’s mercy to the world and at the same time making clear that what is spiritual should be meek and without wickedness, simple and without guile.
The Spirit descending on Jesus (and GJohn makes it clear that HS remained with Jesus) was prophesied by Isaiah:
1 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;
The HS would empower Jesus (in the fulness of His humanity) to accomplish the work that was before Him. Jesus didn’t utter a word, perform a miracle, make the slightest move with regards to the public ministry without the HS’s anointing taking place. In keeping with the OT practice, this set Jesus apart, consecrating Him and His work which enabled Him to perform every aspect that was necessary. Even the term Christ (Messiah) means “anointed one.”
Then the last thing that happens is a voice is heard from the heavens. Apparently, Matthew writes as if this voice is heard among the by-standers and not just for the ears of Jesus alone. “This is My…” (other gospels “You are My…”). These are words spoken by God the Father and a confirmation of the relationship b/t the Father and Son that is deep, rich and intensely personal. Thru Isaiah the Lord says:
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.
At His baptism, the Father calls him “beloved” (ἀγαπητός) this is a strong affection that the Father has toward the Son. His love for Jesus is great and I think we can safely say that His love directed toward the Son is above all that He loves. For it is in Christ alone (Eph 1:6) that believers are also called “the beloved of God” (Rom 1:7). It is the Son “in whom I am well pleased” (this is the confirmation of the Father who takes great delight in His Son. That includes the 30 years He has already lived and will certainly take into account the next 3 years. It also includes the great joy the Father has for all eternity.
7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ” 10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. 11 Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. 12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
DA Carson explains what things are linked In 1 simple utterance by the Father:
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke b. The Baptism of Jesus (3:13–17)
at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, his Father presented him, in a veiled way, as at once Davidic Messiah, very Son of God, representative of the people, and Suffering Servant
It is in Jesus that the nations will find hope:
18 “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 “He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 “A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory. 21 “And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”
Your hope lies in the Journey, the Work and Anointing of the King in Whom the Father has expressed His deepest pleasure b/c of the obedience and righteousness of LJC. There is no greater hope of reconciliation to God than thru Him.
