Jesus' Baptism
Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:55
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Introduction
Introduction
Why was Jesus baptized?
He had no sins to be forgiven of
It’s strange to think he was baptized into himself
Why was anyone being baptized?
It’s only a practice we see in the New Testament
It was wildly popular
5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
What was going through the minds of everyone as they went out to see John and be baptized?
In the Wilderness
In the Wilderness
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
Question 1: Why is it significant that John is baptizing in the wilderness?
He is the voice crying out in the wilderness
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
But why is God voice in the wilderness?
Why not the city?
Why not the forest?
Why not from heaven?
What is special about the wilderness that God is calling his people into it?
The Book of Hosea
Israel is like an unfaithful wife committing adultery with all of the idols
Hosea is told to marry an adulteress so he can feel the same pain as God does
3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Gomer bears him a son
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
Gomer bears a daughter
8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
Gomer bears a son named Not My People (Lo-ammi)
In Hosea 3 Hosea is told to bring Gomer back because that’s what God will do with Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
What is God hoping to accomplish by bringing Israel into the wilderness
Restore the land and plant vineyards
Turn the Valley of Trouble (w/ Achan) into a door of hope
Make the relationship like it was during the Exodus
God speaks very fondly of the times in the wilderness
Might be strange to us as Israel was constantly rebelling
God sees it differently in Jeremiah 2:2
2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
Despite the grumbling, Israel was completely dependent on God
Water from the rock
Manna from heaven
Willing offerings for the tabernacle
21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.
God had to stop them from giving so much they were being so generous
What the wilderness meant
God is alluring his people back to him (like going back to where you had your first date)
He is going to restore Israel
He is going to see their love and devotion to him
He is going to lead them through another Exodus
This time from Rome
This wilderness and exodus context helps us understand the practice of baptism
Saved Through Water
Saved Through Water
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
Paul is using the Exodus generation as a warning against sin
The Corinthians thought they were immune
We’ve been baptized
We partake the Lord’s supper
We are filed with the Holy Spirit
So were the Israelites
Baptized in the cloud and in the sea
I suspect the cloud might be a reference to the Holy Spirit
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The cloud was the presence of the Lord
It filled the tabernacle
Now we are the temple filled with the Holy Spirit
The sea was the Red Sea Crossing
No they weren’t immersed in water - they crossed on dry ground
They went in as slaves and rose up as Israelites into a new covenant with God
This was the definitive break with their old life
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Baptism is the definitive break from the old life and the old enemies of sin and death
We rise up into a new covenant with God
But they’re not being baptized in the Red Sea - the Jordan
Question 2: Is there any significance of John baptizing in the Jordan specifically?
7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” 14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.
7: God is going to perform a sign to show that he is with Joshua as he was with Moses
10: Here is how you know God is with you and will drive out the enemy
13-17: The Sign - another Red Sea Crossing
The priests take the ark into the Jordan
The waters pile up upstream
Just like the Red Sea, Israel passes through on dry land
This is another baptism
Paul made the following Old Testament connections to baptism
It was being freed from slavery and oppression
It was a sign of God’s presence and protection
Afterwards the enemy is defeated and Israel lives in a new relationship with their God
We should make the same connections with our own baptism
I assume everyone going out to John was making similar connections
John is a prophet
He’s reenacting the Red Sea Crossing - we’re going to be free and be with God
He’s baptizing in the Jordan for forgiveness of sins - God will be with us as we drive out the enemy
Naaman
A Gentile leper - complete outside to God
He is made clean by washing in the Jordan - ritually pure to approach God
If Naaman can be made clean it should work for Israel too!
Why is Jesus Baptized?
Why is Jesus Baptized?
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
Answers (good and bad) of why he was baptized and what it means to fulfill all righteousness
The silly
Jesus was repenting and finding forgiveness
Ignores Jesus’ sinlessness
Jesus didn’t know he was the Messiah until the Spirit descended
John knows but Jesus doesn’t?
Luke 2:49-50
Corporate identity
He is ‘joining up’ with God’s people - the New Israel being formed through John
As the suffering servant he was baptized to identify with sinners and be ‘numbered with the transgressors’ (Isa 53:12)
To bring righteousness to us and make our own baptism effective (representative figure)
Simple obedience
It was an act of obedience to the Father. Without obedience he could not be righteous
To set an example “for us”
Another way of saying ‘to fulfill scripture’
Not that there is a passage saying “The Messiah will be baptized”
He’s the representative and ideal of God’s people
He’s going through a similar reenactment of the Exodus and coming into a closer union with God
After Baptism
After Baptism
Heavens are opened
Spirit of God descends on him
Proclaimed to be the Son of God
The Opened Heavens
The Opened Heavens
1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— 2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! 3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
The Spirit
The Spirit
Baptism and the Holy Spirit are always connected
Israel was baptized into the cloud could be a reference to the Spirit
Acts 2:38
Acts 19:2-3
Why a dove?
16 options listed by Davies and Allison
Most likely should connect it to the dove in Noah’s Ark
Peter connects Noah to the Flood (1 Peter 3:21)
The waters of judgment overcome the world - it’s baptized!
The dove is a sign of salvation
Beloved Son
Beloved Son
Many people see this evoking three passages
You are my son - Psalm 2
Beloved son - Genesis 22
With whom I am well pleased - Isaiah 42
Psalm 2
6: Jesus is king
8: He will inherit the nations
9-12: Serve him or be judged
Genesis 22
God provides a sacrifice of his own son
Mt. Moriah is where the temple is eventually built
You cannot approach God without sacrifice, and God has provided his own son for that purpose
Isaiah 42
Jesus is constantly equated with the servant in Isaiah
Spirit context makes a good connection
Matthew will quote Isaiah 42:3 himself later
