Mysterious Immersion

Isaiah 52:13 (Opening) 13  Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. Introduction I’ve always liked learning and figuring things out. I was that weird kid that wanted to go to school. And during summer vacation, when I wasn’t outside, I was reading the encyclopedia. I love puzzles. Not jigsaw puzzles; I find those somewhat frustrating. I like puzzles like sudoku, those grid number puzzles. And word search puzzles. But I don’t like crossword puzzles because they take too much spelling skill, and I’m really not good at that. I used to take things apart when I was a kid. If something stopped working and my dad couldn’t fix it, I asked if I could take it apart. I rarely fixed anything, but I figured out how things went together, and how things worked. When I hear about something new, I need to check it out. I guess that’s the curiosity in me. I know, curiosity killed the cat and all, but so far, I’m still alive, so I guess that’s OK. Maybe that’s why I end up going down so many rabbit holes when I’m studying to write my sermons. Puzzles and researching are kind of like little mysteries for me to solve. A mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand. Mysteries are everywhere. Mysteries and puzzles force us to think beyond what we’re used to doing. Paul called Messianic prophecies in Scripture mysteries. There’s no real way to figure out prophecy until after the fact, because it is generally expressed in a way that is obscure, intentionally. God told His people, the Israelites, about His Chosen One, the Messiah, in prophecy, but didn’t give enough details for anyone, human or otherwise, to know who He was or when He would come, until He did. Identification Matthew chapter 3 introduces John the baptizer. Matthew quotes from Isaiah 40 as prophecy about John and his ministry of confession, repentance, and baptism, preparing people for the one who was to come after him. John even confronted some Pharisees and Sadducees who had come on the pretense of being baptized by him. All four of the Gospels talk about Jesus’ baptism. Not all the accounts are the same, and they emphasize different parts of the event. But I guess the big question is, why did Jesus have to be baptized? According to Mark, Mark 1:4 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was without sin, so He had nothing to repent of, and nothing to be forgiven. So why did Jesus seek out John to be baptized by him? And Jesus did seek out John to baptize Him. That’s what Matthew tells us in Matthew 3:13. Matthew 3:13 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. Jesus had a purpose for finding John and being baptized by him. But what was that purpose? We know that John and Jesus were related somehow. Luke tells us that Elizabeth, John’s mother, was a relative to Mary, Jesus’ mother. Luke doesn’t go into any details about how they were related. Of course, there are traditions that say their mothers were sisters, or that Mary’s mother was Elizabeth’s sister, but those are just traditions; we don’t have any evidence in the Bible except that Luke says they were related. Since they were related, it’s likely that Jesus and John knew each other. It’s possible they spent time during their childhoods together, but again, that’s just speculation. But if they knew each other, how do we reconcile that with what John the Baptist said. John 1:31 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” How could John say he didn’t know Jesus, if they were related, and possibly spent time together as children? The problem is the word “know”. It’s likely that John did “know” Jesus as a person, but he didn’t know His secret. Kind of like knowing Clark Kent, but not realizing he really was Superman. John knew he was sent as a messenger to prepare the way for the Messiah, but he didn’t know who that Messiah was until a particular event happened. That event was when John baptized Jesus. Matthew 3:16-17 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.” Jesus was revealed to John, and probably everyone else there when He was baptized, as the Son of God, the phrase used to identify the Messiah. Let’s take a look at what the voice from heaven, obviously the voice of God, said about Jesus. The Ancient Greek could be translated a few ways, because of the sentence structure. The obvious way is the way most of us have in our Bibles, “This is my beloved Son, with whom or in whom I am well pleased.” Another way to translate it is “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I delight.” The Beloved of God, another way of saying the Chosen One of God, or Messiah. Actually, all three phrases in what God says about Jesus point to Him being the Messiah. John now knows who Jesus really is. Also, there are two Messianic prophecies that have similar phrases in them, that Matthew could be pointing to here, to identify Jesus as the Messiah. The first is in Psalms. There is no introduction to Psalm 2 to say who wrote it, but Paul and Peter both attribute it to David. And Paul refers to it as a Messianic prophecy. Psalm 2:7-9 7  I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Specifically verse 7, but the next two verses continue the idea of what Messiah would do: gather the Gentiles to God, and then eventually punish the wicked. The other place that reads similar to God’s words about His Son at Jesus’ baptism is from Isaiah. Isaiah 42:1 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. God says He delights in Jesus. John saw the Spirit of God descend on Jesus the way a dove would, so God put His Spirit on Him. And Jesus brings justice to the Gentiles. The Hebrew word translated as “nations” here in Isaiah 42 is goyim, which is the word used for Gentiles. One day, every knee will bow to Jesus. Obedience Another reason why Jesus was baptized was to show His obedience to God. Jesus didn’t need to have any sins forgiven. We know He was sinless. God identified Jesus as His Son. But everyone who has kids knows not every son is obedient. Matthew is the only Gospel writer who tells us about the conversation between Jesus and John at Jesus’ baptism. Matthew 3:13-15 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. John may not have completely known who Jesus was, but he knew that Jesus was a righteous man, and he knew his own life. John knew he needed to confess and repent of sin, and we know that because John was just a man, like anyone else. John had some kind of sin in his life. We all do. When Jesus came to him to be baptized, John initially said, “No. I think you’ve got that backward. You’re going to baptize me, right? I’m the sinful one here.” He knew enough of who Jesus was to understand what his place was in this equation. John knew he was preparing people for the Messiah, but he didn’t know for sure who that man was until God pointed him out. John 1:30 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ John knew that Messiah was more than just a man who was the Son of God. John knew that Messiah was eternal and had existed since the beginning of time. And John knew that once Messiah was identified, he would become less important, because his mission would be completed. When Jesus came to be baptized, after John balked at doing it, Jesus explained why it needed to be done. “Thus, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” That’s a confusing phrase. What is Jesus saying here? What does He mean “to fulfill all righteousness”? During the Sermon on the Mount, just a few chapters from here in Matthew, Jesus says something that goes along with what He tells John. Matthew 5:17 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. This is another of Matthew’s “fulfillment” passages. What Jesus says to John in Matthew 3 is tied to what Jesus says to the crowd in Matthew 5. Jesus tells the crowd that He hasn’t come to abolish or cancel the Law and the Prophets. He said He came to fulfill or satisfy them. What could Jesus be talking about? And what about what He said to John, “fulfill all righteousness?” How are these connected? The Hebrew word that is generally translated as righteousness has a few meanings. One of them is upholding your responsibilities in a covenant agreement. God’s righteousness is Him upholding His end of His covenant with mankind. God made covenants with Noah, Abraham, and all of the people of Israel. Even though they didn’t always hold up their end of the agreement, God always held up His end. God has always and will always keep His promises. In Paul’s letter to the congregations in Rome, he writes: Romans 3:21 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— Paul is saying that Christ has fulfilled all righteousness, and that the Law and the Prophets point to Jesus as Messiah. God has held up His part of the covenant by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins. Jesus tells John that he must baptize Jesus in order to fulfill all righteousness. This baptism is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and the end of John’s. In a way, John is passing the baton to Jesus to finish what had been started. After His resurrection, Jesus explained to His disciples about His ministry, and to show them the fulfillment of prophecy. Luke 24:44 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Jesus had to be baptized to begin His ministry, which is what God sent Him to earth to do. He was sent to fulfill the requirement of the covenant. Jesus was the only righteous, sinless man. He had to be sinless for his sacrifice on the cross to be an acceptable sacrifice for our sins. He had to be sinless, and He had to be obedient to God. Parable But Jesus’ baptism was more than just Him being revealed to others as Messiah, and more than just an obedient act. Throughout His life, Jesus taught using parables. When we think of Jesus’ parables, we think of stories like the Prodigal Son, the Wheat and the Tares, the Sower and the Seed, and so many more. But Jesus also taught through visual parables; stories in His actions that taught important lessons about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ baptism is one of those visual parables. Let’s look again at Matthew 3:16-17. Matthew 3:16-17 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.” First, it’s probably good to be reminded that the Greek word Baptizo isn’t translated, it’s transliterated. It’s made into an English word without using the definition of the original word. The Greek word Baptizo means to dip or wash by immersing in water. Very simple definition, and it is used that way in other places in scripture. But because of the disagreement on the correct method of baptizing someone, sprinkling water on them, pouring water on them, or immersing them in water, many Bible translators stay out of the discussion by simply transliterating the word into English, and so we have the word baptize. Water can be a scary thing. Unlike animals, we humans aren’t born with the ability to swim. If we’re not taught, we end up with a fear of water, because, well, it’s really hard to breathe under water. When John baptized, or immersed, Jesus, Jesus wasn’t in control, He gave up His control and allowed John to immerse Him under the water. It’s that way when we’re immersed today. When I was immersed, I was put under water and pulled back up. I’m sure it was like that for most of you. Jesus’ immersion in the Jordan River was a visual parable, that showed something very important, but His disciples didn’t understand it at the time. Later they would understand. When Paul went to different locations, he made sure he taught the same thing, everywhere he went. That’s what he tells the congregation in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Paul says this is what he was taught. Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, just like was prophesied in the scriptures. Those three events are critical to Christianity. Jesus of course had to be sinless to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, conquering sin through His life and His sacrifice. But to be completely effective, Jesus had to be buried and raised, conquering death. To demonstrate to the world that there will be a resurrection, and that it has actually already begun, Jesus was raised from the dead. He became the firstborn of the resurrection. His death was nullified, demonstrating His power over death, just like our sins are nullified because of His death on the cross. For that to be effective for us, we need to join Him in those things. We need to become like Christ. Jesus demonstrated visually His upcoming death, burial, and resurrection by being immersed in the Jordan River by John. That visual parable is explained by Paul to the congregations in Rome. Romans 6:3-4 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. When we are immersed, the sinful person dies in the water, and is buried. We leave those sins in the water. Not that the water has any cleansing affect on us, but the act of being immersed into Christ’s death associates our lives with His. We also receive the Holy Spirit, just like the Spirit descended on Jesus when He came up out of the water. That Holy Spirit helps us as we continue our journey, helping us turn away from the sin that was in our life beforehand. Over time, the new person matures into a full-grown Christian. But that takes time. Jesus’ resurrection was the true change. When we join Him in the resurrection, we will receive a heavenly body, and will join Him in eternal life. Jesus’ immersion identified Him as the Son of God, demonstrated His obedience, and was a parable of His death, burial, and resurrection just like our immersion, and demonstrates our trust in Him as the Son of God. Jesus was sinless, but our sins are forgiven and washed away when we bury our sinful self and are raised as a new person out of the water. Conclusion Being immersed into Christ is no game, and it’s no puzzle. We’re told that to be saved, we need to do it. We’re told that our sins are washed away through being immersed, but not because of the water, because of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. If you want to know more about becoming a Christian by being immersed into Christ’s death, or if you need to talk to someone about a problem you’re having or something you need prayer for, now would be a good time. Hebrews 4:14-16 (Closing) 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.