The Baptism of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Intro; When we started looking at the earthly ministry of Jesus we saw John preparing the way for the Lord. He was preaching a baptism of repentance. Being baptized by John demonstrated a recognition of one’s sin, a desire for spiritual cleansing, and a commitment to follow God in anticipation of the Messiah’s arrival.
We also need to remember that it had been 400 years since there was a prophet of God who spoke to the people. The last words in the Old Testament speak of God’s judgement on the wicked and reward for those who fear His name. Then Malachi records these words;
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Those words are fulfilled in John the Baptist preaching and preparing for the arrival of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.
Now one of the most unusual thing happens at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He comes and is baptized of John in the Jordan. That’s what we will look at tonight in the four Gospels.
Baptize- [bap-tizo]; dip, immerse, submerge for a religious purpose. To baptize or immerse in water is a sign of purification from sin and spiritual pollution. To baptize or to be baptized into anything means into the belief, profession or observance of something.
1. Mt. 3:13-17;
1. Mt. 3:13-17;
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
[v.13] Jesus came from Galilee to the area of the Jordan to start His earthly ministry
[v.14] John tried to prevent from baptizing Jesus. Why? John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance (Matthew 3:11), but Jesus was sinless and had no need of repentance, John considered it inappropriate and inconceivable that he would baptize the Messiah, because Jesus had nothing to repent of.
[v.15] Jesus talked John into baptizing Him to “Fulfill all righteousness”. We’re gonna come back to this and discuss this.
[v.16] The Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon Christ. This is very important because it does 2 things; Spirit empowers and identifies!
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
[v. 17] God takes pleasure in His Son for His obedience and vocalizes that for all to hear!
2. Mark 1:9-11;
2. Mark 1:9-11;
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
[v.9] Why does Mark note that Jesus is from Nazareth of Galilee?
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them,
51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
[v. 10] The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus after He was baptized in the form of a dove
[v.11] God audibly confirms pleasure in His Son
3. Luke 3:21-22;
3. Luke 3:21-22;
21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Luke’s account follows the same order as the other gospels with two exceptions.
First of all Luke omits where Jesus was from. I don’t know if that’s significant or not.
Second, Luke adds that “while Jesus prayed” heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended and the Father spoke.
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.
40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Prayer opens heavens door for the Spirit to guide and God to speak!
4. John 1:29-34;
4. John 1:29-34;
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
When we read John’s Gospel account it reads as if John the Apostle interviewed John the Baptist as a journalist for the Jerusalem Times and it was printed on the front page of the Sunday paper!
[v. 29] He introduces the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world
[v.30-31] John reveals his call to prepare Israel to receive their Messiah. “I did not know Him” alludes to John had not seen Jesus in adulthood or for a long time.
[v. 32-33] One of the identifying marks of Jesus was the Holy Spirit descending upon Him and remaining with Him. This is also an identifying mark of the believer today.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
[v.34] John confirms through the Spirit that Jesus is the Son of God
5. Importance of Jesus’ Baptism;
5. Importance of Jesus’ Baptism;
Jesus came to John with all the other sinners. Now Jesus has no sin but by Jesus coming to John affirms John’s message of repentance comes from God.
Baptize- To baptize or to be baptized into anything means into the belief, profession or observance of something.
Jesus was immersed in baptism, not sprinkled, because he came up out of the water.
The Holy Spirit descends upon Christ in a form of a dove. What is significant about the dove?
To the Jewish mind of that day the dove was associated with sacrifice. Bulls were sacrificed by the rich and lambs by the middle class, but most of the people were poor and could only afford a dove.
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
A dove also represents new life. Moses sent out a dove after the flood had destroyed all living things and it returned with the olive branch, a sign of new life!
11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
This is the first time the Trinity, the three persons of the Godhead, is clearly seen in the New Testament. The Son, Jesus Christ, was being baptized; the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son; and God the Father voiced His approval.
“Fulfill all Righteousness”- Jesus is the righteousness required by God to forgive sin. So when Jesus makes this statement He is being baptized in obedience to God lining up with the preaching of John. It was God’s will for Him to be baptized by John in order to be identified (the real meaning of the word “baptized”) with sinners.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus’ baptism by John takes on an added dimension of “fulfilling all righteousness” when we consider that John was of the tribe of Levi and a direct descendant of Aaron. Luke specifies that both of John’s parents were of the Aaronic priestly line.
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
One of the duties of the priests in the Old Testament was to present the sacrifices before the Lord. John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus could be seen as a priestly presentation of the Ultimate Sacrifice, moving from the old covenant of law into the new covenant of grace. The day after Jesus’ baptism remember what John says;
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
The public baptism of Jesus sets the example for following generations of believers that we should not be ashamed that we have humbled ourselves before the Lord in repentance of our sin and have been pardoned through the sacrifice His precious blood! Water baptism is identifying with Christ, advancing the work of God in the church and throughout the world!
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
