The Baptism of Jesus - Matthew 3:13-16
The Baptism of Jesus
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 alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
As Jesus moves into the call of the Father on his life, today's episode confirms two things in our Lord's character. For one, we see his humility is submitting to the baptism of John, which we know was a baptism of repentance. Of course, Jesus didn't need to repent of anything, but this is more of an identification with the sins of man, just like on the cross he will die for all the sin of mankind. John the Baptist recognizes the irony that the Son of God would come to him to be baptized and is overwhelmed by the thought. Yet undeterred Jesus in humility says, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Once again we see Jesus, who was with God in Creation, calling Creation to be; stooping down into our world to show us God's will for our lives.
This reminds us a scene where Jesus went to wash the disciple's feet, and Peter objected. But Jesus persisted teaching Peter that leadership begins with a towel. Throughout Jesus' life he modeled the truth that He came not to be served but to give His life as a ransom for many.
Second, we see Jesus' absolute obedience and dependence on the Father for all things, which will characterize His ministry going forward. One of the reasons we can model our lives after the way Jesus lived it, is that in his humanity he experienced everything we do, yet was obedient to the Father. I love those words, "Let it be so now!" We see a surrender to the Father, a giving up of self, and then the immediacy of faith into action! Jesus didn't wait to obey when it felt good, he did it "now"!
If we wait to feel like we want to obey it will never happen. Obedience happens in the moment we hear God's voice through His Word and it calls us to action, not tomorrow or the next day, but now!
Finally, we see the Father's great delight in the Son! At the moment (the kairos time) this was happening, a voice said, "This is my Son, whom I love with him I am well pleased!" This is also the moment the Spirit descended on him and "alighted on him". So again, as we do in many times in Scripture, we see the three persons of the Trinity acting in concert as God's kingdom is about to come into the world in a mighty way.
The question I have for you and me today is where is God calling you to humble yourself, obey, and say with Jesus, "Let is be so now!"
Jesus, thank you for showing us the way to the Father, through your complete trust in His voice and your willingness to let it be so according to the Father's will through the power of the Spirit. Help us to surrender our lives and allow you Spirit to empower all we do for your glory! When you call us to do something let us not tarry, but do it NOW! Amen.
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 alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
As Jesus moves into the call of the Father on his life, today's episode confirms two things in our Lord's character. For one, we see his humility is submitting to the baptism of John, which we know was a baptism of repentance. Of course, Jesus didn't need to repent of anything, but this is more of an identification with the sins of man, just like on the cross he will die for all the sin of mankind. John the Baptist recognizes the irony that the Son of God would come to him to be baptized and is overwhelmed by the thought. Yet undeterred Jesus in humility says, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Once again we see Jesus, who was with God in Creation, calling Creation to be; stooping down into our world to show us God's will for our lives.
This reminds us a scene where Jesus went to wash the disciple's feet, and Peter objected. But Jesus persisted teaching Peter that leadership begins with a towel. Throughout Jesus' life he modeled the truth that He came not to be served but to give His life as a ransom for many.
Second, we see Jesus' absolute obedience and dependence on the Father for all things, which will characterize His ministry going forward. One of the reasons we can model our lives after the way Jesus lived it, is that in his humanity he experienced everything we do, yet was obedient to the Father. I love those words, "Let it be so now!" We see a surrender to the Father, a giving up of self, and then the immediacy of faith into action! Jesus didn't wait to obey when it felt good, he did it "now"!
If we wait to feel like we want to obey it will never happen. Obedience happens in the moment we hear God's voice through His Word and it calls us to action, not tomorrow or the next day, but now!
Finally, we see the Father's great delight in the Son! At the moment (the kairos time) this was happening, a voice said, "This is my Son, whom I love with him I am well pleased!" This is also the moment the Spirit descended on him and "alighted on him". So again, as we do in many times in Scripture, we see the three persons of the Trinity acting in concert as God's kingdom is about to come into the world in a mighty way.
The question I have for you and me today is where is God calling you to humble yourself, obey, and say with Jesus, "Let is be so now!"
Jesus, thank you for showing us the way to the Father, through your complete trust in His voice and your willingness to let it be so according to the Father's will through the power of the Spirit. Help us to surrender our lives and allow you Spirit to empower all we do for your glory! When you call us to do something let us not tarry, but do it NOW! Amen.
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