Matthew 3.13-17

Let's read the passage to start today:

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
 ¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

So why did Jesus get baptized?


What a hard question, just think about this for a little while. Why did Jesus get baptized? What was the purpose of his baptism?


Some have said that it was to set an example for us to follow. Is that it? Is that the only reason he was baptized? The text says that he was baptized, "to fulfill all righteousness." What does he mean by that?


This was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, yet Jesus hadn't done anything wrong.  He didn't need to repent, he didn't need to be baptized for his sins, he didn't have any. So was it all just for show? Was he just baptized by John as an act just to set an example for all of us, or is there something more going on here? 


We have a hard time understanding this passage because we are westerners, and as westerners we approach everything very individualistically. Whereas the Jews, which are easterners, would have understood what was going on. For Easterners, the leader of the people can repent on behalf of his people as a whole. He is their leader and so he represents them. So just as Jesus died on the cross for everyone's sins, he also repented and was baptized on behalf of his people that had drifted away. A number of the leaders of the Jews repented on their behalf, Daniel, Nehemiah, Moses and even Jeremiah. This was common. These leaders would take on the responsibility of the people's sins. This is what Jesus is doing. He is repenting on behalf of his people, and as their leader, this is what would be expected of him. 


This is why Jesus got baptized, but what did this baptism accomplish? What was the result of the baptism? 


This baptism is the beginning of Jesus' public ministry as Messiah, and as you know, the Jews were anxiously waiting for the Messiah to come. There were certain signs that the Jews were looking for to show them who the Messiah was, certain prophecies, and three of those signs are found here in Jesus' baptism. 


The Jews were looking for:

1. The heavens to be opened
2. For some kind of glory or spirit to be poured out on him
3. This blessing came from the Father, maybe even from his voice

And as you can see, all three signs were present at Jesus' baptism. The heavens were torn open, the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven spoke saying, "This is my son whom I love, with him I am well pleased."

Jesus' baptism was a very clear sign to all who were there that this was the Messiah, the new leader of the Jews, and he had just repented on their behalf. 

This serves as a transition from John to Jesus. John was just a voice preparing the way for Jesus, but now that Jesus has come and received John's baptism of repentance, and the three signs have pointed everyone to Jesus saying, "Here is the Messiah!!!", John now moves to the background and Jesus is now at center stage. And the first thing that he does is he repents for the sins of his people. He stands in as the representative for them, and all the way at the beginning, we begin to see a little foreshadowing as to what Jesus is going to do. He is going to take the punishment for everyone's sins on the cross, and he is going to bless the nations. 

And this is what Israel was supposed to do. Not necessarily go to the cross, but they were supposed to bless the nations. And did you notice where Jesus was baptized? In the Jordan River. The same place that nation of Israel crossed thousands of years before to enter the promised land and to bless all the nations. And they didn't do it. Now Jesus is acting as the new Israel, how the people of God were supposed to act originally, and he is going to bless all the nations through his work on the cross. 

And this is how we are to act, this is what we are called to do. To bless all the nations. And the tool that we use is a cross. We are to live self-sacrificial lives whose focus is on service and loving people who are hard to love, no matter what it means for us. We are the people of God, and we are called to bless the nations. 

Bless somebody today.