Luke 3:21-22 "The Baptism of Christ"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I certainly did…

Two weeks ago I picked up my eldest son, Ethan, from the airport. He is back from Calvary Bible Institute in Peru, South America.

And with Ethan back… all 6 in my family were blessed to spend Thanksgiving together… down at our in laws home in Cincinnati.

And all 6 in my family together… in this season with our eldest two in college… is something we do not take for granted.

How true are the words of James… “For what is your life? It is even a vapor...”

Parents with young kids… don’t blink… they will be graduating High School before you know it… life goes by so quick.

Use your time wisely to… as Paul wrote… “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

And speaking about training… we are scheduled to have Pastor Dan Finfrock come out in one month for the Inductive Bible Study training…

And Pastor Dan needs a headcount to determine how many books to ship ahead of time.

And we need a headcount for how much food to purchase.

Currently we have 36 people registered and expect that number to grow.

So, please… if you are planning to attend. Please register. You can scan the QR code behind me… there are fliers at the info table… the event is on our app and on our Facebook page.

I highly recommend this training… it was a big part of my Bible College experience… it’s helped me… and I’m confident it will help you to… rightly divide the word of truth.

And… let’s do that now… Please open your Bibles to Luke. Luke 3:21-22… just two verses today… but two important verses.

Last time we gathered, we read about how John the Baptist boldly called out the Tetrarch Herod Antipas… for many evils… including marrying his brother Philip’s wife…

Herodias… who was also his 1/2 niece…

Herod and Herodias were infuriated by John… and wanted to kill him, but imprisoned him instead…

… as Herod feared John… for he was a just and holy man…

… and Herod feared the people… because they counted him as a prophet.

And what an example John set for us… as he held his life and consequences to his life less dear than… calling out the evil of one of the most powerful rulers of his day.

Imagine the fire we could spark if we all spoke out against evil?

I’m thankful that we’re in a season where people seem to be growing weary of evil… and tired of the loud voice of culture that calls “evil” good.

I pray that many would go forth… in the spirit and power of John.

Speaking truth… and doing so in love.

As Luke concludes V20 and tells of the imprisonment of John… from a narrative standpoint… Luke now considers John’s role as finished…

John is exiting… and Jesus will now take center stage in this Gospel account.

And the first event Luke highlights is an important event… an event that in mentioned in all four Gospels… and that is “The Baptism of Christ”… our message title today.

And, in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 3:21–22 “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.””

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Now to you astute Bible readers… while Luke does not mention John the Baptizer as being the one to baptize Jesus…

… but a quick cross reference in Matt 3 or Mark 1 explicitly tells us that John indeed baptized Jesus.

And all the Gospel, except for Luke… tells of the Baptism of Christ first… and then John being imprisoned.

Which of course is the correct chronology…

John did not jail break out of the Fortress Machaerus… scoot back up to the Jordan… baptize Jesus and then return to prison…

As mentioned earlier… Luke jumped out of chronology… to wrap up the theme of John… and now in V21 and forward to focus upon our Lord and Savior… Jesus Christ.

Sometimes our Bible writers deviate from chronological order to stay true to the intent of their writing.

John’s Gospel deviates the most from chronology… as He present a theological account of the word of God who took on flesh.

And Mark and Luke are the most chronological

But, know this about the Gospels… so you don’t get tripped up… theme will at times trump chronology… and this is not wrong…

It may feel wrong from our western mindset…

But it’s not wrong… It’s very right… and true to the writer’s thematic intent.

And for Luke… in this moment… Luke shifts focus away from John… and now to Jesus… just as John stated… “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John the Baptist was well represented in Luke’s Gospel…

Luke tells John’s story more than any other Gospel writer, but now Jesus… whom John pointed to… whom John was forerunner for…

Is coming into the light…

V23 of Luke 3 states Jesus was about thirty years of age when He began His ministry.

And there would be two events… that must happen first before Jesus began His ministry…

His Baptism… and His Temptation.

It was not by chance that Jesus was baptized and tempted prior to public ministry beginning…

Both occured prior to ministry very deliberately… and both were theologically loaded events…

Where Jesus was baptized publicly to identify with sinners… was anointed by the Spirit… and the Father spoke from heaven identifying Jesus as His beloved Son.

And then tempted proving His obedience and victory over sin and Satan… where Adam and Israel failed.

Thus, qualifying Jesus as the sinless High Priest… the only one who could redeem the world.

And, Jesus was obedient… He was always obedient to the Father’s will…

And Jesus was baptized in submission to the Father… At His baptism… Jesus prayed and heaven was opened… the Spirit descends… the Father speaks…

Baptism was an act of submission… and approved from on high.

And then Mark 1:12 records… “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.”

Matthew 4:1 reads, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

The Holy Spirit drove Him… which is a strong word… He impelled Him… Jesus was driven forward into a meeting of temptation with the devil himself.

And Jesus would testify of His commitment to obey the Father’s will…

So many verses testify of this… especially in John…

Jesus said in John 4:34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

In John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

John 8:29 “He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

John 14:31 “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.”

And His baptism and temptation… were two first steps of obedience to the will of the Father.

And then… Jesus would begin His public ministry to fulfill all righteousness and call people to faith.

Very interesting… when you take a look at the four Gospel accounts… and the FIRST ACT of ministry following His Baptism and Temptation… it’s interesting to see what each Gospel writer was led to highlight…

Matthew records Jesus’ baptism and temptation… and then highlights Jesus returns to the Galilee region… to Capernaum… fulfilling prophecy and preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Which is a first century offering to the Jews of the Messianic Kingdom… now that the King was in their midst. An offering they ultimately rejected.

Mark highlights the same, but also emphasizes Jesus was preaching the gospel… and Jesus called people to believe in the gospel.

Luke emphasizes Jesus returned to Galilee in the “power of the Spirit”… and “news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”

John… highlights that Jesus called His first disciples… Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael…

And then the next scene displays Jesus’ first miracle… turning water to wine at a Wedding.

Marriage was one of the only things to survive the fall of man… back in Eden…

Thus how appropriate was it that the first sign miracle would be at a wedding?

This particular miracle was a symbolic preview of Christ’s redemption of humanity… as He would take a bride—His Church.

And so each of the Gospel writers… who wrote to various audiences… Jews, Romans, Greeks, and Unbelievers…

...they connected their Gospels to the hearts of their respective audiences…

And each unique writer was inspired by the Holy Spirit to portray some early aspect of the launch of Jesus’ ministry…

Offering the kingdom of heaven… a calling to change one’s mind (to repent)… a preaching of the gospel and call to believe… calling disciples… teaching in synagogues… and miraculously turning water to wine.

All displaying various facets of the King who had come…

The Messiah prophetically foretold of long ago had arrived.

And, I got to thinking… as Jesus was baptized and tempted as the first order of business before doing anything else in ministry…

Is there a parallel to our Christian life? Is there any relevance to this pattern as we walk our Christian life. I would say… in some semblance… “Yes.”

John wrote we know Him by keeping His commandments… and John wrote in 1 John 2:6 “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

Any believer who truly abides in Christ… meaning their relationship is intimate with Him… will obey God…

Just as Christ abiding in the Father… and obeyed the Father.

And this sequence that we see in the Gospels… baptism- temptation- ministry…

It mirrors what so often happens after belief in Jesus Christ…

Baptism… trials or testing… and then launch into ministry…

Consider how often we read in Acts of new believers getting baptized… experiencing trials… and entering ministry…

The Samaritan believers… they hear Philip, believe, and are baptized… Acts 8:12…

And then Simon the Sorcerer comes on the scene… attempting to buy the Holy Spirit… what confusion would this cause to new believers… what challenge would this cause to the reputation of a new church.

And then Philip is caught away… to the Ethiopian Eunuch…

Who Philip preached Jesus to (Acts 8:35)… and the Ethiopian believes… is baptized…

And then Philip was caught away again… and the Ethiopian’s trial would begin as he was a new believer completely alone heading to a foreign land with his new found faith.

Tradition holds he was the first missionary to Africa.

All he had was a scroll of Isaiah. I’m so thankful for my mentors and friends in the faith… I can not imagine what it must have been like to be alone like the Ethiopian…

… or in the Gospels… like the Demoniac who remained in Gadara… commissioned to tell all of what Jesus did for him (which he seems to have done faithfully).

Entering Acts 9… a young man named Saul has a radical encounter with Jesus… and he believes… is baptized… and then goes into Arabia, and then to Damascus when Jews plot to kill him… and many trials followed.…

… just as Jesus foretold when He stated “For I will show him how many things he must suffer from My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16)

Then in Acts 10… Peter preaches… the Holy Spirit falls… in what becomes known as “The Gentile Pentecost”…

And the household of Cornelius believes… and immediately gets baptized.

And then Jews contended with Peter… and he had to defend the inclusion of the Gentiles… before the church in Jerusalem.

But once that trial was overcome… the door opened for the Gospel to go to Gentiles…

But… the trial continued in Acts 15… as Jews tried to impose circumcision over the Gentiles leading to the Jerusalem Council…

So, Gentiles had to wrestle with the trial of Judaizers who wanted to impose works and law upon them.

One more… in Acts 16… The Philippian Jailer. Paul and Silas were praying in the jail he guarded… and an earthquake shook the foundations of the prison… freeing all the prisoners.

He was about to kill himself... before being executed for allowing the prisoners to escape…

But Paul and the prisoners remained… the Jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And the one condition to be saved was shared… “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

The Gospel was shared to him and his household… they believed… immediately the whole family was baptized.

And then the jailer would experience the nail biting trial between the Magistrates and Paul… as Paul refused to leave prison being that he was a Roman and was unjustly beaten and imprisoned.

Imagine what this new Christian Jailer was feeling and thinking… being stuck between two worlds.

And so… there is this strikingly consistent pattern in the New Testament: Water baptism → rapid onset of testing/persecution/opposition → empowered public ministry and fruitfulness.

And it mirrors what happened to Jesus… it’s a pattern set forth by Jesus… in submission to the Father’s will… and is meant to be a norm for His followers as well.

Jesus even declared so in the Great Commission… Matthew 28:19–20 “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.

The command for believers is a call to ministry for all believers… because the command is “to make disciples” which is supported by going, baptizing and teaching.

None of these should be skipped. Get baptized if you have not done so… because in baptism we identify with Jesus Christ…

His death… His resurrection… we go into the water putting to death the old man and rising anew spiritually.

Paul wrote in Romans 6:3 “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”

Again in Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

So, as we go into the water… we identify with Jesus and one of the key events that launched His ministry and mission.

If you have yet to be baptized, you’re missing out on a key way you can identify with Jesus.

So, you should get baptized and be obedient to the Lord’s will… just as Jesus was obedient.

The Ethiopian Eunuch said… “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

You don’t even need to wait for warm weather… My Pastor baptized my friend Matt in Matt’s bathtub. Matt’s now a Calvary Chapel Pastor in Florida.

There’s water at the YMCA… we can figure it out.

It’s a great season for the Polar Bear plunge… I’ll root you on.

And please don’t think that you can avoid trials and testings if you avoid getting baptized.

Trials and testings are inevitable. They’re a mandatory course… NOT an elective.

Peter had quite a bit to say about trials…

In relation to our future heavenly inheritance, 1 Peter 1:6–7 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”

Though we now experience various trials… which may be distressing… we rejoice in our salvation… looking forward to our heavenly inheritance…

I love how Peter describes life… stating, “now for a little while”… for what is life… it is but a vapor…

The little while of life that we live… as compared to eternity… though we may experience trials…

… there is good purpose in the trials…

And trials test our faith… as fire tests gold… removing it’s impurities…

The LORD spoke though Isaiah saying in Isa 1:25, “I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross...”

Which is the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal.

James 1:3 declares “the testing of your faith produces patience.”

In the context of servants submitting to their masters… Peter wrote when we do good and still suffer… even wrongfully and take it patiently… this is commendable before God…

… in that context 1 Peter 2:21 declares, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:”

Jesus was without fault… and yet was abused… but didn’t return abuse.

He committed Himself to the Father… bearing our sins on the cross… that we might live for righteousness.

And we should follow in His steps… all of His steps… faithfully obeying His Great Commission… and enduring suffering.

Jesus is our prototype… and the baptism-temptation-ministry sequence is the first of many steps that He leaves for us.

And so… in Judea… sometime around 29 A.D. … in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (according to Luke 3:1)…

… the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness… and he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins…

John was the forerunner… ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness… announcing “Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’

He testified He was not the Christ… and that One was coming

And multitudes came from all the land of Judea… and from Jerusalem… and they were baptized in the Jordan River (according to Mark 1:5)…

John baptized specifically in “Bethabara beyond the Jordan” according to John 1:28

Bethabara meaning “House of passage.”

And many Jews would begin their journey here… as they “confessed their sins”…

John called them a “brood of vipers” a “family of poisonous desert snakes”… for they came with impure motives… fleeing the wrath to com…

… and they trusted in the wrong things… and were rebuked by John for trusting in their national inheritance since Abraham was their Father…

Pharisees and Sadducees also came to his baptism… who trusted in keeping the law and doing works…

When as old as time… righteousness has always been by faith.

Even Abraham himself was justified as he “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Rom 4:3

And as John was questioned by the Pharisees why he baptized… and John replied in the Gospel of John 1:26 “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.”

Baptized in Gk is baptizo meaning “to dip, sink, plunge… to make whelmed (i.e., fully wet)… to immerse… to submerge.”

Thus, we fully plunge you under water when we baptize… and I do reserve the right to hold you under as long as I feel necessary.

Calvary Chapel Pastor Clark Van Wick in Temecula, CA… tells the story of his baptism by Chuck Smith…

Where as Clark was under water… Chuck began praying… and Clark looked up and saw Chuck from under that water praying… and praying…

And this is where I got anxious just listening to the story… because Clark says… he just kept praying… and just as Clark was about out of breath.… Chuck pulled him up out of the water and Clark gasped for breath… and Chuck hugged him… with Chuck’s big smile.

I won’t do that to you… I promise. But THAT is a baptism story.

In Matt 3:11 John stated “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance.”

To baptize is to identify with something… and John was calling the people to change their minds… and those baptized by him believed in what he preached.

Forgiveness of sins was not John’s baptism. To be forgiven of sins is dependent upon faith in Christ alone.

When we baptize… we perform a Christian baptism… identifying with Jesus… and believing what He preached.

And still that baptism does not forgive one of sins… only through trusting in Jesus are our sins forgiven.

And humbly, John recognized “… there stands One among you whom you do not know.”

It would seem Jesus stood there that day that John baptized so many… and called the Pharisee and Sadducees out…

They did not know their long awaited Messiah… and John would tell them that he was unworthy, and they should look to the Messiah…

… and His superior baptism of the Holy Spirit for those who believe… and of judgment and fire for those who reject Him.

Continuing in Matt 3:11 John said, “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.”

Disciples of Rabbi’s performed many duties, but there was one duty below that of a disciple… and that was loosening the teachers sandal straps.

A rabbinic saying testified of this… which went, ‘Every service which a slave performs for his master shall a disciple do for his teacher except the loosing of his sandal-thong.’

And yet in John 1:27 the Baptist declared, “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

John recognized that the Messiah who would be revealed after Him… but was preferred or praiseworthy and pre-eminent before John…

That coming One was so great that John did not even consider himself worthy to loose His sandal strap… a job looked down upon in the normal student/ teacher relationship.

And, to imagine Jesus being there… on scene… hearing John… watching the multitudes preparing their hearts for Him.

Seeing the opposition… the Pharisees and Sadducees… who should NOT have been opposition at all, but they were so lost in their traditions… and love for money… and works… that they couldn’t even see Jesus as their Messiah though He stood there.

They had left their first love. Let us never get so busy with religion and tradition and works that we lose sight of Jesus and loving Him as our first work.

And was it this same day… this same scene… that Jesus comes forward to get baptized? Luke writes in Luke 3:21 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized...”

Matthew adds in Matthew 3:13-15 “Then Jesus came from Galilee [from Nazareth Mark adds… Galilee being the Region and Nazareth the city] 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.”

John sees Jesus… not yet knowing He was the Messiah…

The day after Jesus was baptized John testified in John 1:31 “I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

John didn’t know Jesus was Messiah until after the Spirit descended upon Him and the Father spoke from heaven.

But, they were cousins… their mothers Mary and Elizabeth were relatives. And John knew the man Jesus and objected to baptizing Him… because he didn’t believe that Jesus needed to repent…

It was more appropriate in John’s mind that Jesus should baptize him, being that Jesus was more righteous.

But Jesus responded to John saying, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Righteousness in this sense is not positional righteousness as in Pauline literature.

Jesus here speaks about ethical righteousness… as in conformity to God’s will.

And this is why Jesus was baptized… for it was the Father’s will… and it fulfilled all righteousness which is a multi-faceted concept…

… that as we double click into… it helps us understand why Jesus was baptized… and why all four gospel writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit to document this most important event.

And there are several key reasons for the baptism of Christ… and as we unpack these reasons… we see the significance of the event:

Jesus… to this point in His thirty years of life… had lived in relative obscurity… until now. Now He is stepping into the public spotlight…

The Holy Spirit will descend… the Father will speak from heaven… the following day John the Baptist will declare, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

His whole life as the Carpenter in Nazareth would be a thing of the past…

And He would be baptized… not that He needed to change His mind about anything… not that He would confess sins like the multitudes that had gathered…

But, in His baptism Jesus identified with sinners. Jesus united Himself with the sinners He came to save…

… at the beginning of His ministry in His baptism… and ultimately on the cross as Isa 53:12 declared “...He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many...”

And this baptism was so foreign to the religious leaders…

Immersion in water, for Jews, primarily was their practice for purification from ritual impurity…

And we don’t read of any of the Pharisees or Sadducees getting into the Jordan… self-righteous they were…

But, truly… there was only ONE inherently righteous person there at this Baptism scene… Jesus Christ… God incarnate.

And… while I imagine the religious leaders scoffed at this whole scene… scripture records they asked many piercing questions to the Baptist…

In contrast to them was Jesus… and He didn’t shy away from getting into the Jordan with the multitude of sinners…

And this comforts me… and shows me just how humble… and intention our God is…

How He lovingly stoops down to us… stepping into His creation to reach us…

Does this not touch your soul? Does this not cause your heart to leap out in praise of God who sacrificed dearly… the very sacrifice of His Son, so we could come back into fellowship with Him?

And as He was immersed in water… His redemptive work for mankind would be foreshadowed.

Fully under and emerging from water… symbolizing His death, burial, and resurrection…

The Lamb of God who would propitiate (or satisfy) God’s just wrath on sin…

Which could only be satisfied once for all with a perfect sinless sacrifice… not with the blood of bulls or goats… they could not take away sins (Heb 10:4).

Jesus’ baptism was also righteous as it affirmed John’s ministry as the forerunner to the Christ.

John was the messenger to announce the King…

I love the “next day” reflection in John’s Gospel where the Baptizer reflects on the Baptism from the day prior fully realizing Jesus was the Messiah He was to announce…

Reflecting on the Spirit descending and remaining on Jesus.

John would say in John 1:34 “And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.””

His work as forerunner was complete… His announcement finalized… and even the “next day” after… John begins to release his disciples… pointing them to Jesus…

We read in John 1:35–37 “Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”

And that is the work of the forerunner… to not hoard… to not hold tightly to “his disciples”… but to point them to Jesus for them to be released to follow Him.

This is a good lesson for us to remember… our goal is not to hoard and gather to build “MY Ministry”… but to equip and send those to follow Jesus.

John did this well… and Jesus affirmed John.

And His baptism was also righteous as the Triune God in this scene is revealed.

The Son is baptized. The Holy Spirit anoints the Son… for He is King, and the Father speaks from Heaven and validates the King.

Which is one of the clearest revelations of the Trinity in all of scripture…

And this Trinitarian revelation at the Jordan sets a model for how we as Christians should be baptized…

… which is baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit… as Jesus instructed in the Great Commission (Matt 28:19).

And so… when we step back and peer into Jesus’ baptism and reflect on Jesus’ words as recorded in Matthew… that His baptism was “fitting… [or proper] to fulfill all righteousness.”

We can extract multiple reasons why this statement is true…

And why this account is recorded in all four Gospels… for all generations to recognize the nature and righteousness of God…

As the Son-King was revealed… anointed… declared… approved… and humbly identified with the people He came to redeem.

Luke was the only Gospel writer to record the detail in V21 “while He prayed, the heaven was opened.”

Matthew records Matthew 3:16 “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him...”

Mark 1:10 “And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.”

But, Luke gathered this additional detail of Jesus being baptized… and praying… and heaven was opened.

We don’t know what Jesus prayed in this moment… but He indeed prayed… to commune with the Father during this pinnacle moment…

His ministry to redeem mankind would launch.

Since Eden… and the Fall… the time had come for His ministry to launch…

Within three short years the first Gospel would be fulfilled.

That being the protoevangelium… Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Luke 9x will capture these moments of Jesus praying… more than any other Gospel writer…

Beautiful and important moments where Jesus prayed to His Father prior to important events.

Certainly these stand as a model and as a reminder for us to also pray… and pray often… to talk to our God… to ask for His help… to praise Him for what He is doing and what He has done.

We read in V21 “while He prayed, the heaven was opened...”

One Scholar wrote, “Prayer is an ordinance that opens heaven: Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Pray often Christian… and commune with heaven.

Psalm 55:17 declares, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.”

Praise God for the direct connection with have to our God in heaven by the means of prayer.

Don’t minimize… and don’t neglect prayer.

And as Jesus comes out of the water… and as He is praying… heaven opens and we read in Luke 3:22 “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.””

This is one of the greatest scenes in the Bible… as the Holy Spirit descends and alights or remains upon Jesus (Matt 3:16; John 1:32).

The Holy Spirit is NOT a dove… but chose in the moment to come in a bodily form like a dove…

Which was highly symbolic of the gentle and pure nature of God… and to fulfill OT patterns.

Two images in particular… when Noah’s dove returned with an olive branch in Genesis 8… this signaled the end of God’s judgment by flood… new life sprung on earth… a new season had begun as the old era of sin’s dominion on earth was cleansed.

And… once specific kind of dove was a turtledove… which was a allowable bird that the poor could sacrifice if they could not afford a lamb (Lev 5:7; 12:8)

These were the doves Joseph & Mary offered in Luke 2 at Jesus’ dedication.

And now the Holy Spirit takes the form of a dove… this symbol of purity, peace, and a herald of hope for salvation…

In the Old Testament… Oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit… and new Priest, Prophets and Kings were anointed with Oil…

… setting them apart as holy… equipping them to speak God’s word… and empowering and commissioning them to rule.

And as the Holy Spirit descends and rests on Jesus… this is His Messianic anointing by the Holy Spirit as the Great High Priest, Prophet and King of kings.

This moment would fulfill Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me...” which Jesus later reads in synagogue in Luke 4:18.

And then the Father speaks from heaven… just adding to this glorious scene.

Amazing that the Pharisees and Sadducees hard hearts did not melt in these moments. But so it is for those veiled in deception.

Father God audibly speaks from heaven “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Which fulfilled Gabriel’s words in Luke 1:32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest...”

And in this Jesus receives divine approval from heaven… and confirmation of His identity.

In Jewish thought to be the Son of God… was equivalent to being God.

And this declaration from the Father alludes to two OT passages:

Psalm 2:7 “The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”

And Isaiah 42:1 “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.”

Ps 2 is a royal coronation Psalm attributed to Jesus by Paul in Act 13:33… which shows Jesus is of the royal Davidic line as the Psalm was also written by David according to Acts 4:25.

And Jesus’ genealogy which Luke writes about next beginning in V23 also tracks Jesus’ lineage through David… which would fulfill OT prophecy that Messiah came from David’s line.

Isa 42:1 testifies that Jesus was the obedient Suffering Servant.. the greatest Servant of the Lord… whom God’s Spirit was upon… and He would bring forth justice to the Gentiles… to every people, nation, tribe and tongue who trust in Him.

And as we close… don’t overlook the words of the Father that He was “well pleased” with Jesus.

Prior to any of the first acts of ministry that we discussed earlier.

Before Jesus offered the kingdom of heaven, preached the gospel, called disciples, taught in their synagogues, performed miracles… before He did any single act of public ministry the Father was already well pleased.

And what we know of Jesus up to this point was very little… He was Son of Joseph… a carpenter… at twelve He was in the temple listening and asking questions… “about [His} Father’s business”…

Luke 2:52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

And now as He is thirty He comes to be baptized for fulfill all righteousness and was praying to the Father… and was about to begin His ministry in obedience to the Father’s will to redeem mankind.

And God looks down from heaven at His Son… and is “well pleased.”

(Worship Team please come)

As we close… I would encourage you to model what we see of Jesus’ life… be about the Father’s business… increase in wisdom and in favor with God and men…

And be obedient to the Father’s will… get baptized… handle trials in a way that honors God… and enter into the ministry of making disciples.

Let’s Pray!

Well what better way to close out the beautiful passage, then to celebrate Communion. Our communion passage is…

1 Cor 11:23-31 “...the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.”

Please distribute the elements...

Communion is a time for us to look three directions…

We look back remembering Jesus’ sacrifice… His broken body and shed blood for the remission of our sins.

His new covenant. Salvation by faith through grace.

Look forward in hope of His imminent return… we proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. He is coming.

This is also a time to look inward for a moment of self-examination…

To reflect on our treatment of other Christians… have we been loving… and unselfish… (per the context of Paul’s passage)?

Reflect and also confess to God any unconfessed sin.

Examine yourself… in order to partake in a worthy manner.

But, the reality is… none of us are worthy… so Praise Jesus… because only in Him have we been made worthy.

Once you have prayed… take the communion elements individually.

Our worship team will play one worship song, and then close us in prayer.

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If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord...

...either let the cup pass and do not partake in communion -or- the better option...

Pray and trust Jesus as your Savior today.

Believe that His death was the sufficient sacrifice for your sins.

… and then take communion.

Our prayer team will be available to pray with anyone who needs prayer as we close.

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