Part 16, Jesus' Baptism

…eternal truth and goes all the way back to last year and we’ve looked at all of the great Old Testament stories and and then at Christmas we transferred over from the Old Testament into the New Testament and we picked up with the life of Christ and and we’re looking now at the great stories and the eternal truths of the life of Christ and the New Testament.

And this morning we’re going to be in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter number three. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter number three and verse number 13.

If you’re using the Pew Bible, as I am, it’ll be page 857. And I’m going to ask that when you find that passage of scripture, if you’re able, if you will stand with us as we honor God and the reading of his word.

Matthew’s Gospel chapter 3 and verse 13.

This is an event that is recorded in all the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We’ll just be reading from Matthew this morning. Little bit different take, different perspective in the different four gospels. Matthew’s gospel chapter 3:13.

Now hear the word of the Lord.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you.” And yet you come to me.

Jesus answered him, “Allow it now because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Then John allowed him to be baptized. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, the heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.”

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading, the preaching, and now your hearing to understand his holy word. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever be praised. And all of God’s people say, “Amen.”

You may be seated.

All of us can remember certain moments that stand out in our lives. And I want you to do that this morning. Moments that mark a change, moments that were maybe a big turning point in your life, moments that were before and after.

Some examples you can remember maybe the first time you held a driver’s license in your hand.

Freedom, right?

Freedom suddenly felt real.

Or maybe you remember your graduation day, your name being called, walking across that stage, cap and gown in hand, the sense that one chapter of your life was closing and another one was beginning.

Many of you remember a wedding day, standing before God and a preacher and gathered witnesses and making a public commitment that changed everything for the rest of your life.

Those moments mattered because they meant something. They identified who you were becoming.

Whether you were becoming a driver or becoming a graduate or becoming a husband or wife, they identified who you were becoming. They set a direction for the rest of your lives.

And for many, for believers, there’s another moment like that. Maybe maybe more quiet or maybe louder depending on your circumstances.

Maybe this is a moment that still when you go back to it brings tears to your eyes.

Your baptism.

Go back there if you would think about it. Go back to that moment.

For some, it was during vacation Bible school, standing in the front of a small church, your heart pounding, not fully understanding everything, but knowing that Jesus loved you. Amen. And that you wanted to follow him.

For others, it was at youth camp after a long altar call, a late night conversation or a conviction that would not let you go.

For some, it came later in life, much later maybe, after years and years of resistance, brokenness, [clears throat] searching, and when the water felt like relief, surrender, and a new life all at once.

You may remember who baptized you. You may remember the song that was sung when you came forward. You may remember the joy, the peace. You may remember the weight that was lifted when you came up out of the water.

Today’s great story takes us back before any of our baptisms to the day Jesus himself stepped into the water.

And as we look at the baptism of Jesus, we we’ll see this moment. This moment that wasn’t just about him. It wasn’t just Jesus and John in that water. We were there. It was about us as well.

His baptism connects our baptism to the life of Jesus, to the ministry of Jesus, to the mission of Jesus.

His baptism shows us what obedience to the father looks like. It shows us what identification with the Savior means. It shows us why baptism matters.

More than that, it reminds us that baptism identifies us with the salvation, with the forgiveness of sins, with the eternal life that only Jesus provides.

When we go into water, we’re saying something powerful. When we step into those waters of baptism, we say, “My life is now connected to his. My life is now connected to his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his mission, his promise, and one day his return.

This morning, let’s look at this great story, not just to remember what happened there at the Jordan River, but to remember what happened and what should still be happening in us today.

As in all of these sermons, we have the same three points. They work, so let’s not change it.

Number one is a retelling of the story.

Settle in for a moment, okay? Go back 2,000 years.

Something big was happening down there at the riverbank. Crowds were coming from all over Jerusalem, all over Judea, all over the countryside, and beyond the Jordan.

Listen, people were leaving their homes and and leaving their routines. They were leaving their excuses. They were leaving their excuses and they were coming down into the dust and from the dust into the water because something was happening.

There was urgency in the air. There was expectation in the air. There was a sense that God was doing something new.

And there was a man there, John. Rough guy, rough clothes, eight crickets dipped in honey for his meal. Weathered phase, but a voice that cut through the noise like a trumpet.

And he was preaching repentance.

Repentance not just as an idea, but repentance as a decision.

And people listened. They stepped down to the Jordan confessing their sins, turning their hearts, going under the water as a sign that they wanted a new beginning in life.

And then suddenly, as the crowds were all gathering there, Jesus came, not riding in with ceremony, not announced by angels this time like at the nativity.

No, he came quietly from Galilee, stepping into the same muddy river where sinners stood.

In the Gospel of Mark—and I’ve tried to bring all four of the Gospels together in this story—Mark’s Gospel loves the word immediately. He uses that again and again. Everything moves quickly. Everything moves decisively.

And here it fits very well.

Immediately when Jesus steps onto the scene, the focus shifts and heaven’s—all of heaven’s attention—is focused on one man. And all of the crowd gathered at the Jordan River were focused on one man.

John saw Jesus coming.

And remember, they’re cousins.

John saw him and froze.

This is backwards.

John said, “I need to be baptized by you and you’re coming to me.”

You see, John knew who Jesus was. Remember back John knew who Jesus was going back to when he was still in the womb. Do you remember? He leapt. He rejoiced in the womb when his mother Elizabeth saw Mary.

This wasn’t just another person in line to get dunked. This was the one John had been preparing the way for.

So Jesus insisted, “Let it be so.” Now, he said, “To fulfill all righteousness.”

And with that, Jesus stepped into the water.

Now, pause here for a moment because the story is about to shout some truths to you. Okay, think about this.

When Jesus steps into the water, the sinless son of God was standing where sinners stood. The one with nothing to confess, identified himself with those who had everything to confess.

He didn’t need cleansing, but he chose obedience.

He didn’t need repentance, but he embraced humility and he stood there with us.

And he stood there at the Jordan for us.

And then it happened.

As Jesus is baptized and he comes up out of the water, again, Mark says immediately that the heavens were torn open. Same word for the veil in the temple being torn when Jesus rose from the dead.

The heavens were torn open.

It’s a word style is what it’s called. Y’all not interested. I’m not going to do the the linguistic stuff. Bore you.

They were not gently parted.

They were torn.

As if God himself, God himself on the throne could not stay silent.

The spirit of God descended not as fire this time but as a dove settling, resting, remaining on him. John goes on later to say that I saw the spirit descending and remaining on him.

This is the one.

A voice then, not thunder, not a rumor, a voice from heaven, clear, unmistakable, and personal.