The Baptism of Jesus Christ
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As we continue this week making our way through the 1st chapter of the gospel of John,
…we come today to - basically - the second part to last week’s sermon...
Last week we looked at John the Baptist being sent BY GOD to water baptize...
with the purpose of REVEALING Jesus to Israel...
And what we saw from John was this obvious pursuit to DISTINGUISH...
himself from the coming Christ
his baptism from the greater one to come
his message from judaism
And so this week now - we come to the day that Jesus Christ himself - gets baptized by John the Baptist...
NOW - what i wanted to focus in on today was - the PURPOSE of the Baptism of Christ...
And just so you know - It would be an understatement to say that there are a VARIETY of VIEWS out there about why Jesus was baptized...
Nevertheless, let’s look at what the Bible says.
We’re actually going to need to look at a couple of Gospels today in order to get the full picture of this event.
29 The next day he 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 ranks before me, because he was before me.’
31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Now - in regards to the actual baptism of Jesus, this book of John doesn’t provide much detail...
And so having just read this account...
Let’s go to Matthew to get some more detail...
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.
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
As we know from last week, John the Baptist came baptizing with water in order to reveal Christ to Israel...
And the MESSAGE that John brought with him regarding his baptism was this:
The Lord is Coming (John 1:23)
Sin of all men (Luke 3:3)
Worthlessness of flesh/works for salvation (Matt 3:9)
Judgment (Luke 3:9))
Wrath of God Upon mankind due to sin (Luke 3:7)
Hell (Matt 3:12 - Mark 9:43)
GOOD NEWS:
Repentance (Luke 3:3)
Salvation (Luke 3:6) is found in the MESSIAH
Forgiveness of Sins (Luke 3:3)
Spiritual Baptism of Christ (Luke 3:16)
Bear Fruit (Luke 3:8), Humility, Truthfulness, Contentment (Luke, 3;11-14)
And so with this BEING the message that John brought...
We see that WITHIN this message -
we see the BAD NEWS… (sin and judgment, and God’s wrath)
But we also see the GOOD NEWS! (forgiveness of sins and SALVATION)
John speaks of this Salvation in Luke 3:6
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
John here speaking - regarding the coming MESSIAH!
BUT - if SIN is on the table as having SEPARATED mankind from God...
And we know what the Bible says about how God handles sin…and how throughout ALL of the OT - atonement for sin was made...
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
And so we know that without the shedding of blood - there is NO forgiveness of sins...
Every animal sacrifice in the OT - pointed to the ULTIMATE sacrifice that was to come in Jesus Christ...
And when we go back to the first Passover, what was the first requirement of the LAMB…the sacrifice…?
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
Without Blemish...
What did this mean?
The passover Lamb was a foreshadow of what we end up hearing John speak of at the Baptism of Jesus Christ!!
SLIDE: The Baptism of Jesus Christ: To Reveal the Lamb of God
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST
On the day that Jesus was baptized - He comes walking toward John...
…and when John sees Him, he addresses Jesus a certain way...
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Now - it wasn’t coincidence that John calls Jesus - The Lamb of God...
John had been preaching a message of SIN...
AND - of the Forgiveness of Sins...
And he no doubt knew what was required for the Forgiveness of Sins...
we talked about it before - Forgiveness of sins only comes by way of the Shedding of Blood...
And so John knows this - he knows that Christ will take upon Himself the iniquities of His people...
That Christ is - the LAMB to be SLAUGHTERED…!
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
We see here in this verse - the RIGHTEOUS one - shall MAKE MANY to BE righteous...
HOW?
He shall BEAR their iniquities!
ONLY - Righteousness can permanently atone for SIN...
19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats.
20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you.
21 And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.
And so IN CHRIST - as we know - we have - PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS...
And so Christ is the ONLY - Hope to rescue mankind...…by WAY of righteousness,
BUT that’s only part of the story...
There MUST ALSO be the shedding of blood.
And it’s THIS act that we see FORESHADOWED in the Jordan River with the baptism of Jesus Christ...
When Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan River...
…He DID so - NOT LIKE ANYONE ELSE!
See...
John’s baptism was called a “Baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins”...
John’s baptism was for - SINNERS!
When people came to John to be baptized, they came confessing their sins.
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.
And so we see that this baptism was a baptism for SINNERS...
But when Christ entered the water....
He didn’t do so CONFESSING Sins...
He did so - confessing something else!
He entered the water -
NOT under the penalty of SIN...
But as - THE RIGHTEOUS ONE…unblemished BY SIN!
NOT seeking HOPE in salvation...
BUT as - THE ONLY HOPE - for His people - who believe
NOT wondering what was going to happen in His ministry...
BUT instead SHOWCASING for the world, a foreshadowing of HOW He would rescue His people from the clutches of SIN...
And it’s Christ - KNOWING what He was about to do, that we come to our next point...
SLIDE: The Baptism of Jesus Christ: To Fulfill All Righteousness
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST
Now we have to go to Matthew to see this...
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.
And so we see here, we can HEAR John’s hesitancy in this idea of - Baptizing Jesus...
We can see here how John KNEW that the baptism that he was performing was FOR SINNERS...
And so it caused JOHN to - pause, and think - WAIT A SECOND!!
…why would I - baptize - YOU?
John - is thinking - I’m the SINNER here!
“And Jesus - You’re NOT a sinner”
“You should be baptizing me!”
But what does Christ say?
v15 (read it)
NOW - this act that is about to take place - John baptizing Jesus...
It was the plan of God - told TO John...
It’s the reason that John came - baptizing with water
And now Jesus says - Let’s DO THIS JOHN....”for in this way, it is fitting for US to fulfill all righteousness”
NOW - we can try to figure out all day long what Jesus meant by “US” in this verse…
(did He mean - John and Himself)...
or did He mean - US as in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) - which we’re going to see in the next verse...
But what we do know is that He said - to Fulfill all righteousness...
Let’s do this now, for in this way - it is fitting for us to COMPLETE the WHOLE of Righteousness...
Now - did Jesus fulfill ALL righteousness AT THAT MOMENT of getting baptized?
Was ALL righteousness fulfilled when He came up out of the water?
I don’t think so...
He would still be tempted...
He would still raise the dead...
He would still heal the lame...
He would still go to the cross...
still die on the cross...
be buried...
still rise again...
Still ascend unto the Father...
All of these things, still not yet accomplished - in time...
And so - IT SEEMS - that when Jesus says - let’s do this for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness...
It seems that He is speaking - STANDING at the STARTING line of His ministry - Looking out at all that He will accomplish...
And saying - This is the plan as to HOW we will begin this entire process...
Now John seemed a bit hesitant - but he KNEW Jesus was the Messiah.
BUT what about the world?
WHAT ABOUT all those there - watching this?
HOW did THEY come to find out who Jesus was?
Well - Confirmation that Jesus IS “the Messiah come in the flesh”…becomes evident!
Next verse
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
And so - those witnessing this - See Jesus go into the water, and immediately as He comes up out of the water...
The Holy Spirit descends and rests on Him...
Why is this important?
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
Here we have a visual confirmation that Jesus Christ was indeed who John had said He was...
The Lamb of God...
And all those in attendance who knew their Scriptures, would have connected the prophecies of Isaiah with what they had just seen...
In the baptism of Christ we see the fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah…(READ BELOW)
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And 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 the fear of the Lord.
a shoot from Jesse - this is the father of David - out of David’s line...
a branch from his roots shall bear fruit - that’s speaking of the messiah coming through Jesse’s line…THRU David...
The Spirit shall REST UPON HIM...
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
And 700 years later - Jesus looks to John and says - John, I know this SEEMS odd...
BUT - let it BE SO for NOW...
For IN THIS WAY - it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness -
And this fulfilling of all righteousness WILL NOT happen apart from the Holy Spirit...
SLIDE: The Baptism of Jesus Christ: To Reveal the Power Upholding Christian Ministry
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST
At Christ’s baptism, we see the Holy Spirit come on the scene...
Not only did this act Reveal that Jesus was the one who would BAPTIZE with the Holy Spirit...
But it also revealed the Power behind the Christian Ministry...
And i think we’ve FORGOTTEN this!
I think we believe that the Holy Spirit is simply a SECOND RATE Jesus, who comes into our lives...
…and helps us live like Jesus...
Well - while PART of that is true...
I think we’ve forgotten the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus as well!
Listen to the ROLE of the Spirit in the life of Christ...
Birth
The Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit was involved in the conception of Jesus.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
The Holy Spirit, through the Virgin Mary, conceived the child Jesus.
Baptism - we just saw this today...
Temptation
Luke records that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Public Ministry
The public ministry of Jesus was performed through the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Jesus Himself testified that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him.
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Miracles
During His public ministry, Jesus performed miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
The signs He performed were done in obedience to the Father through the agency of the Holy Spirit.
The Resurrection
The Holy Spirit was also at work in the resurrection of Christ.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The Spirit of God brought Jesus back from the dead.
SLIDE: List
Birth
Baptism
Temptation
Public Ministry
Miracles
The Resurrection
And so as we just look through Scripture, we can see from Christ’s conception through His resurrection...
…it was by the Power of the Holy Spirit that Christ’s ministry - even happened!
And so KNOWING this - does it make sense then - that at the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, that the Holy Spirit came down VISIBLY and rested on Christ?
It makes complete sense!
Which makes me think - that when Jesus said - “Let it be so now, for thus (in this way) it is fitting for US to fulfill all righteousness”...
It makes me think that Christ was speaking about the TRIUNE God…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...
And just in case the Visible sign of the Holy Spirit descending on Christ wasn’t enough....We also get an audible sign that Jesus was in fact the Son of God...
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
We see here the TRIUNE God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...
AND HERE - An audible confirmation from God the Father - that Jesus Christ is in fact the Messiah...
The One who would come to save His people...
And He would do so - as foreshadowed in the Baptism of Jesus Christ...
By taking upon Himself - the iniquities of the world…the CONFESSED iniquities of His children...
And that He would rise again…triumphant over the grave...
Raised to NEW LIFE...
This was the Baptism of Jesus Christ
And it’s interesting that at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, he is water baptized...
And then at the end of His earthly ministry, He describes the crucifixion this way...
36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
38 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?”
39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,
Here we see Christ describe His suffering on the cross as a - Baptism..
And He lets James and John know that they will also TASTE the baptism of suffering...
But Christ ministry began with a baptism, and ended with a baptism, albeit another kind...
SUMMARY:
The Baptism of Jesus Christ:
To Reveal the Lamb of God
To Fulfill All Righteousness
To Reveal the Power Upholding Christian Ministry