The Beloved Son Who Saves The Unrighteous

Beginnings mean a lot.

In fact, they can set up your entire ending.

I’m not an expert by any means, but I do like a good game of chess. And I am of the belief that a strong beginning sets up the entire game for a favorable ending. The first few moves of a chess game can be some of the most important moves you make. In those moves, you establish your early plans and fight for your place on the board. The important thing to focus on is a good opening principle like controlling the center of the board and developing your pieces around that. One great opening is called “The Italian Game”.

The Italian game begins with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. The point is to control the center quickly with your pawn and knight and then put your bishop on it’s most dangerous square. You are also preparing to castle to safety. This is a great beginner because you are working at taking control of where your opponent must defend. In essence, you set the tone for the opening.

Of course, any good player will immediately be able to identify this type of opener and slide into what is called ‘The French Defense’ or something more advanced. Again, I’m not an advanced player, but I do like to read about chess and play when the opportunity presents itself.

But, what does this have to do with the scripture for today? Well, let’s take a look.

Read Luke 3:21-22

Beginning - Jesus and His Baptism

Many sermons over this particular pericope deal with the baptism of Jesus. That’s not a bad thing. There is tremendous value in understanding the baptism of Jesus. After all, it is the beginning of His earthly ministry. Remember… a good beginning sets up for a grand finale.

On a plaque marking Abraham Lincoln's birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky, is recorded this scrap of conversation: "Any news down 't the village, Ezry?" "Well, Squire McLain's gone t' Washington t' see Madison swore in, and ol' Spellman tells me this Bonaparte fella has captured most o' Spain. What's new out here, neighbor?" "Nuthin' nuthin' a'tall, 'cept fer a new baby born t' Tom Lincoln's. Nothin' ever happens out here." Some events, whether birthdays in Hodgenville (or Bethlehem) or spiritual rebirth in a person's life, may not create much earthly splash, but those of lasting importance will eventually get the notice they deserve.

The Gospel of Luke, like Matthew and Mark give some detail as to this particular event in the life of Jesus. However, Luke differs in the respect that his emphasis is not on the baptism per say, but the the descent of the Spirit from heaven and the voice declaring Jesus to be the Son of God. That we are going to get to in just a second, but...

The baptism of Jesus; it was a necessary action to not only fulfill prophecy, but to establish a solid beginning.

Before going further we need to make a clarification. Jesus was not baptised by John because He needed to repent of his sins. Remember, John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The obvious question to this is, “Did Jesus need to repent? But, I thought he was sinless?”

Matthew actually answers that for us, in a way, by being the only gospel writer that tells us that John tried to deter Jesus from being baptized. Matthew 3:14 tells us;

English Standard Version Chapter 3

John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

After this though, Jesus declares of John in Matthew 3:15

Matthew 3:15 ESV

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Knowing the declaration of the Word of God through the prophets, Jesus is saying this needs to be done to fulfill all righteousness. Not that he needed forgiveness, but that there was something else going on here. The Christ will have been filling the place of a man among sinful men throughout the days of his incarnation, and at no point more explicitly than when he accepts baptism along with them.

Yet the very fact that he is willing to number himself among transgressors emphasizes the difference between himself and us. When he chooses, freely, to be reckoned among sinners, he shows that he is not a sinner himself. Listen to Hebrews 10:5-7

Hebrews 10:5–7 ESV

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”

He might truly have claimed that ‘a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ (3:3) was for him unnecessary and inappropriate; but his readiness to undergo it just the same, if that is his Father’s will, is the mark of a man unique among men in his total obedience to God. By this consideration he sets aside John’s scruples about the propriety of the baptism, as we learn from Matthew’s account.’ Luke is setting forth the grand paradox that Jesus in his baptism declared both his solidarity with, and his distinction from, the rest of humanity.

In other words… a rather grand beginning.

Beginning - The Declaration of a Beloved Son

All the Gospels place the reception of the Spirit by Jesus after his actual baptism with water. But this event is not the baptism with the Spirit prophesied by John, since the act is carried out on the stronger One and not by him, the symbolism of fire is replaced by that of the dove, and the gift is accompanied by a heavenly declaration; none of these features characterizes Christian baptism. This event is different; it is the anointing of Jesus with the Spirit ( Acts 4:27; 10:38), the attestation of his Sonship, and in effect his call to begin his ministry.

Later Scripture attests to this. For example, In chapter 4, verse 18 Jesus stands up in the synagogue and reads the scroll from Isaiah

Luke 4:18 ESV

“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,

We also see in Acts 10:38

Acts 10:38 ESV

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

This is the main event for Luke. Yes, the two other synoptic gospel writers each declare the voice of God, but for Luke it holds a major significance. It is almost like, for Luke, there is something even more important than the baptism. When Jesus had been baptized—it is remarkable that this, which seems to us to be the main fact, should be expressed thus incidentally by a participle—when Jesus had been baptized, … a voice came from heaven.

That is the main verb, and the main event. What the voice of God had to say about Jesus was in vivid contrast to what John had had to say to the misguided sons of Abraham. After the people had been baptized—in their case an admission that in spite of their Jewish birth they were out of relationship with God and unacceptable to him—there came God’s own declaration concerning Jesus: ‘Now this one is my beloved Son; with him I am well pleased.’ Jesus, unlike the rest, is acceptable to God. Like no other, he is from the start in a true relationship to God. He is, in a distinctive sense, the Son of God. God says so.

But… again, there is another… action going on here. The heavens opened… and the Spirit descended upon him in bodily form. This opening of the heavens to announce the coming of Christ, reflects a fulfilment of a prophetic hope that Isaiah had uttered many centuries before.

Isaiah 64:1 ESV

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—

God came down, and here the heavens are opened to bear witness to that, and the Holy Spirit is visible to Christ and to John. You have the blessed Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit displayed before the world to see.

Beginnings - The Beloved Son Who Saves the Unrighteous

The words from the Father to the Beloved Son is where we find a great comfort today. “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”

For you and I, this is the pinnacle moment in this opening of the ministry of the Savior. This is where there is no suitable defense that can stop it. There is no force in this world, in Hell itself, that can stop the work of God through the Son He is most pleased in.

Notice the wording: “with you I am well pleased.” It was the very person of the Son that pleased the Father. He was pleasing to the Father just because he was the Son. But the Father was also pleased with the Son’s obedience. By submitting to baptism, Jesus was choosing to take the part of sinful humanity. He was agreeing to carry out the great task that the Father had given him: to suffer and to die for sinners. And so the Father blessed him.

The smile of fatherly approval rested on Jesus all the days of his life. As the Son did the work of our salvation, the Father was pleased with everything he did. He was pleased with his obedience to his parents. He was pleased with his resistance to temptation. He was pleased with his teaching and his miraculous deeds of mercy. He was pleased with his life of prayer. He was pleased most of all with the sinless sacrifice that he offered on the cross. We know this because he raised Jesus from the dead, which was the ultimate proof of his approval. The Father was pleased with all of it. He was pleased with what Jesus had done, what Jesus was doing, and what Jesus would do. He took pleasure in the person and work of his Son.

The good news of the gospel is that if you believe in Jesus Christ for your salvation, then God is just as pleased with you. The Father’s words of affection and approval are for his Son and for everyone who has faith in his Son. Jesus came to bring us into the Father’s love. The things that we do are not pleasing to God. If we had to stand before God the Father on our own merit, we would never gain his approval, and we would never deserve his affection. But we do not stand before him on our own merit. As soon as we trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we stand before the Father on the merit of his Son. Now God the Father looks on us with the same affection and approval that he has for Jesus Christ, his worthy Son.

This is our hope when we are lonely, or needy, or fearful, or anxious, or burdened by the great weight of our sin. It is our joy when we feel that no one has ever really loved us the way that we long to be loved. No matter who we are or what we have done, God is not unloving or disapproving, but says to every one of his children, “You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

This Beginning Leads to a Spectacular Finale

The hope of all of us today is found in the pleasure of God with His only begotten Son. The one who was sent to this world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. The Son who is obedient… even to the point of death upon the cross. This start of Jesus’ ministry… is already pointing us to the cross.

As the heavens open up, and prophecy is being fulfilled, and the Trinity is in full display, and the voice of God cuts through the air, it is echoing the death of Christ on the cross through prophecy being fulfilled, the Trinity on full display and the crying out of God through Jesus crying out Elohim, Elohim lama sabachthini, and the curtain in the temple being torn in two. Yes… the beloved son… the Son of God… the one who pleased God… who begins his ministry through being obedient… finishes spectacularly in saving the unrighteous.

So that we can now be pleasing to God.

Philippians 2:13 ESV

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

May it be that our beginning in Christ… the new birth in Jesus… as the Holy Spirit takes up residence within… may it be that it is pleasing to God in heaven. May we present ourselves pleasing to God every day, every minute, in every situation, in every circumstance, in every trial, in every sorrow, in every decision, in every prayer. For there is no better work.

"There is no work better than to please God; to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a cobbler, or an apostle, all are one; to wash dishes and to preach are all one, as touching the deed, to please God."

Tyndale, William

Your beginning is just that… a beginning. But, there will always be that adversary that wants to tear you away from your obedience. Satan wants nothing more than to see you fearful, miserable, doubtful, angry and unable to lift your eyes onto your Savior. But, Jesus… He knows your name. He knows your troubles. He knows your path. He knows your pains. He can sympathize with you. He is like you. But… he is the Son who pleases the Father in such a way that His obedience is sufficient to present you as pleasing before God.

Christian… finish in spectacular fashion. Don’t allow Satan to trip you up, slow you down, or keep you from pleasing God. It is the greatest of works.

"The ultimate choice of the Christian life is always the choice between pleasing self and pleasing God." Martin Lloyd Jones

How can I do that pastor? How can I please God?

Romans 12:1 tells us

Romans 12:1 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

David Brainerd was an American colonial missionary to the Indians who died at the age of twenty-nine. His diary reveals a young man intensely committed to God. Brainerd once said to Jonathan Edwards: “I do not go to heaven to be advanced but to give honor to God. It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high seat or a low seat there...My heaven is to please God and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory.”

In this display at Jesus’ baptism, we see the Glory of God. Does the world see the Glory of God through you?