A Conversation With A Cousin

Many times life becomes boring for some of us because day after day it is the same old stuff. But then some days we come to a place in life where things are not routine at all. We see such a situation in the Scripture passage we read a few minutes ago.

John lived like we all do. He preached day after day, and when folks got saved, he would take them down to the river and baptize them. This was his normal routine of doing things each day.

But then one day the Lord Jesus came to him, and requested him to baptize Him.

THIS WAS NO ORDINARY PERSON AND THIS WAS NO ORDINARY REQUEST!

We read about this request in Matt. 3:13-17, “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

When the Lord requested that John baptize Him, it caught John completely by surprise. Look at verse 14, “…I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?”

To John this would seem like:

• A doctor going to a patient and asked him to operate on him

• A teacher going to a student and asking the student to teach them

• A pilot going to one of the passengers and asking them to fly the airplane

When Jesus asked John to baptize Him, this seemed unusual to him to say the least. This request was not what he expected, this was out of the ordinary.

The reason we say this is not ordinary is because John the Baptist had baptized all kinds of people before, but when the Lord came to him and requested that he baptize Him, this was unusual.

This request for His baptism was such an outstanding thing in the life of John the Baptist, it is recorded in four places:

• Matthew 3

• Mark 1

• Luke 3

• John 1

The problem was, John was allowing his REASONING to come between him and what the Lord had requested that he do. John knew that his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, was the Son of God and he did not feel worthy to baptize Him.

• But the Lord simply told him, “Let it be so now!”

• He could have said, “Let it be so!”

• Because of John’s reluctance to obey Him He added this word, “Let it be so NOW!”

In other words; “John, Knock it off, stop your protesting and just do what I asked you to do!”

Jesus went on to give John an explanation for why he was to listen to Him.

Look at verse 14 again, “But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”

What does that mean? The Bible tells us, “For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”

This passage of Scripture is teaching us several things about why it was necessary for Christ to be baptized.

(1) IT SHOWS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BAPTISM

Some Christians today have never been baptized. To them it is not that important. But the Lord thought it was so important that He Himself wanted John to baptize Him.

(2) IT SHOWS THE METHOD OF BAPTISM

Look at verse 16, we read, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.”

The Lord’s baptism clearly shows us that His baptism was by immersion. Look at verse 16, we read, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water…”

Baptism by immersion is the perfect picture of our salvation, how that our sins have been buried with Christ, and our coming forth represents the new life in Christ.

(3) IT SHOWS THAT JESUS IS IDENTIFYING HIMSELF WITH SINFUL MAN

Look at Isa. 53:12, we read, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”