Introduction:
A. We’ve come this morning to celebrate who God is and what He is doing in our lives.
1. Hopefully, as we have been meeting the Lord in praise and prayer and in communion, we continue to experience His transforming presence and power in our lives.
2. And now as we turn our attention to His Word - May God feed us and touch us.
B. Some of the most memorable and meaningful events that happen here at Wetzel Road are baptisms.
1. And even though I’ve been privileged to participate in hundreds of them, the wonder of the moment never is lost.
2. How wonderful to see a person, young or old, stand before others and say that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God!
3. How wonderful to see that person buried with Christ in baptism. They go into the watery grave and rise out of it to walk in newness of life.
4. Just as we rejoice when a mother gives birth to a new baby, we do so even more when we witness a person being born again!
5. So many powerful, spiritual things happen during baptism – faith, confession and repentance are expressed, sins are washed away, and the Holy Spirit is given as a deposit.
C. Jay Utley, an acquaintance of mine from many years ago, told the story of the first baptism he conducted as a young minister.
1. He, himself, had been baptized as a young man, but it had been a number of years since his baptism.
2. He wondered how different it would feel to be the one doing the baptism rather than the one being baptized.
3. He nervously said the appropriate words, and lowered the person into the water.
4. When the person reached the deepest point, he felt the person’s body jolt and tighten.
5. Jay thought to himself, “Wow, so that’s how it feels when the person’s sins are forgiven and they receive the Holy Spirit.”
6. So he asked the person, “Did you feel the jolt when the Spirit came into you?”
7. “No,” the person said, “but I did feel it when you hit my head on the baptistery step!”
D. Today we are going to take a look at the baptism of Jesus.
1. As we continue our series about Jesus, we seek to develop a greater devotion to Him.
2. So far we have learned something of the eternal nature of Jesus.
3. We have examined the wonder of his birth, and the unusual silence surrounding his childhood and young adulthood.
4. So now we are ready for this important event – the baptism of Jesus.
I. Jesus’ Baptism
A. The three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), all tell the story of Jesus’ baptism.
1. The Gospel of John does not tell the story, but simply alludes to it having taken place.
B. The four gospels all tell the story of a man name John who was raised up by God to prepare the way for the Messiah.
1. He happened to be Jesus’ cousin.
2. He was a powerful speaker, filled with the Spirit of God.
3. He was an unusual man – living in the wilderness, wearing primitive clothing and being sustained by a primitive diet.
4. He called people to repent and be baptized for the kingdom of heaven is near..
5. The religious leaders didn’t know what to do with him. Mostly, they just stood back and kept a watchful eye on him.
6. The common people of the day responded to his message.
7. Those who chose to turn from their sinful ways and follow God’s direction for their lives were immersed by him in the Jordon River.
8. That’s how John got the nickname, John the Baptizer or John the Baptist.
C. Matthew wrote, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordon to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’” (Mt. 3:13-14)
1. I think we can all relate to John’s feelings at this point.
2. I often feel unworthy to do the things God is asking me to do. How about you?
3. John knows himself, he is a sinner.
4. John also has an idea of who this is – he is more than just his cousin – He is the Messiah.
5. Rather than being thrilled to be the one to baptize the Messiah, he humbly recognized that it would be more appropriate for the Messiah to baptize him.
D. Matthew continued, “Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” (Mt. 3:15)
1. Jesus’ response convinced John, so he baptized Jesus.
2. The Bible says, “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. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” (Mt. 3:16-17)
3. These are two short verses that are so filled with wonder.
4. Heaven opened and the Spirit of God descended like a dove and landed on him.
5. The voice of the Father spoke from heaven, “You are my Son…”
6. This is referred to as a Trinitarian passage, because we see the activity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all together simultaneously.
7. I frankly admit that we cannot explain God, nor how He exists or acts as three separate persons.
8. All we can do is stand back and marvel at the reality of it.
9. There stands Jesus, the Son of God, with the Spirit of God descending on Him, and the Voice of the Father from heaven speaking.
10. Our God is an Awesome God!
E. Notice with me what God the Father said to Jesus at His baptism – “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
1. God will give the same confirmation one other time during Jesus’ ministry, do you remember when it is?
2. At Jesus’ transfiguration, God declared, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Mt. 17:5)
3. Who do you think the words at Jesus’ baptism were meant for?
4. Did Jesus need to hear those words?
5. Did John and the others witnessing the baptism need to hear those words?
6. The apostle John recorded these words of John the Baptist, “Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.’” (John 1:32-34)
7. From those verses we know that it was important for John the Baptist to see the Spirit descend and to hear the words spoken from heaven that John might become a witness.
F. But I also believe it was important for Jesus to hear them.
1. He was about to embark on a terribly difficult mission that would end in a total self-sacrifice.
2. He had had an eternity before His physical birth to think about it, and now he had had 30 years of earthly life to think about it.
3. So did He need to know that it was time and that he was on track? Absolutely.
4. The sentence that God spoke is comprised of two quotations from the Old Testament that would have been familiar to every Jew.
5. Both quotations are from verses describing the Messiah and his work.
6. “This is my beloved Son” is a quotation of Psalm 2:7.
7. “With whom I am well pleased” is a quotation from Isaiah 42:1.
G. The question that we often wrestle with as we look at the baptism of Jesus is the question – “Why was Jesus baptized?”
1. John the Baptist certainly didn’t think that Jesus needed to be baptized.
2. Jesus’ answer for the “why?” of his baptism was – “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Mt. 3:15)
3. Jesus is the only person without sin, yet he still needed to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Why?
H. There are at least 4 things that were accomplished at Jesus’ baptism.
1. First, Jesus’ identity was revealed to John at His baptism.
a. After Jesus’ baptism, John continued to point people to the Lamb of God.
b. And when some of John’s disciples pointed out that many of his follower were leaving him and following Jesus, John said, “He must become greater, I must become less.” (Jn. 3:30)
c. Therefore, one reason Jesus was baptized was to reveal His identity to John.
2. Second, Jesus identified himself with us sinners in His baptism.
a. Although Jesus was never guilty of sin, He submitted himself to baptism as a means of recognizing the fact that He was fully human.
b. In God’s plan, Jesus was to participate fully in the human experience.
c. Jesus didn’t come to the earth to be above us, but to be “God with us.”
d. In Luke’s version of the baptism of Jesus, He wrote, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.” (Lk. 3:21)
e. Isn’t it wonderful to know that we have a God who has identified himself with us?
3. Third, Jesus was baptized to give us an example to follow.
a. Jesus’ invitation was often, “Follow me,” and “follow my example.”
b. Jesus always led by example. He never asked us to do anything He was not willing to do.
c. Jesus exemplified a life of obedience to God.
d. It was proper for Jesus to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness, so He obeyed, no questions asked.
4. Finally, Jesus was baptized to be consecrated and anointed for ministry.
a. Jesus’ baptism marked an important transition in His life – from a life of hidden preparation, to a life of public proclamation.
b. As Jesus made that public proclamation, God put His stamp of approval on Jesus’ decision and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.
c. From that point forward, power from heaven would carry Him through His ministry of redemption.
d. The righteousness that Jesus fulfilled in His baptism was not on His own behalf, but on our behalf.
e. In 2 Cor. 5:21, Paul wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
II. Our Baptism
A. Although our baptism might look like Jesus’ baptism, the two are not the same.
1. The mode is certainly the same, but the purpose is different.
2. Jesus was not baptized so that He could be saved, We, however, were and are.
B. Jesus gave us these commands:
1. Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
2. Mark 16:15-16, “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’”
3. John 3:3, 5, “Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’…’I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’”
4. What do we learn from these teachings of Jesus? We learn that…
a. Baptism is a new birth of water and the Spirit.
b. Baptism is something done in the making of disciples of all nations.
c. Baptism must be accompanied by faith. The order is not baptism then faith, but faith first and then baptism.
C. Because of what Jesus taught about baptism, the apostles went forth and obeyed Jesus in their teaching and practice.
1. On the first day that the Gospel was proclaimed by Peter, after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, the crowd was convicted and wanted to respond to the message.
2. Because they were expressing their faith, Peter instructed them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
3. And so they did and three thousand were baptized that day.
D. As the New Testament writers continued their ministries and recorded God’s instructions, these are some of the things they convey about the wonder and beauty of baptism.
1. We come to understand that in the waters of baptism, all our sins are washed away.
a. In Acts 22:16, the disciple named Ananias told Saul of Tarsus, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
2. We understand that in the waters of baptism, we enter into the death of Jesus and are raised up to a new life.
a. Romans 6:3-4, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
3. We understand that in the waters of baptism, God removes our old self and clothes us with Christ.
a. Gal. 3:26-27, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
4. We understand that in the waters of baptism, we make a pledge and an appeal to God for a clean conscience and He saves us.
a. 1 Peter 3:21, “…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”
5. We understand that in the waters of baptism, we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
a. Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
6. Finally, we understand that in the waters of baptism, we experience the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
a. Titus 3:4-6, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior…”
7. How wonderful is all of that! Our baptism is so full of meaning and power!
E. But please understand me, I’m not trying to say that baptism has saving power in and of itself.
1. The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by grace through faith. (Eph. 2:8)
2. The Bible clearly teaches that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:21)
3. So we are saved by Christ’s work and God’s grace – it is a gift.
4. But we must accept this free gift of God.
5. As we have seen today, this free gift is accepted through expressing our faith, repentance and being baptized.
6. This is God’s beautiful and wonderful way of being saved.
7. Our job is to simply and faithfully teach the plan of salvation as God has revealed it, so that people can respond to it.
Conclusion:
A. If you haven’t already, are you ready to express your faith, to repent and to be baptized?
1. God is asking for each of us to give our lives to Him, but the promise He gives it that when we give up our lives to Him, he gives us eternal and abundant life in return.
2. What God calls us to give up can in no way be compared with what we receive.
B. For those of us who have already been baptized, there are several other lessons we can learn from the baptism of Jesus. From his baptism…
1. We learn something of the need for obedience.
a. Whatever God requires we will do. That’s what obedience is.
b. We must follow Jesus’ example and humbly obey God in everything.
2. We learn something of the need for the Holy Spirit.
a. We cannot walk in Christ’s steps or minister in His name without the Holy Spirit.
b. We must do our best not to quench the Spirit, but must let the Spirit work in us.
3. We learn something of the need for assurance from our heavenly Father.
a. God wants us to know that we are his beloved children. He loves us deeply.
b. And God wants us to know that when we obey Him, He is pleased with us.
c. Someday when our lives our over, and we stand before God, we want to hear from Him these words of praise, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, come and enjoy eternity”
b. Pleasing God is the only thing that matters.
c. God continues to offer assurance and the help of the Spirit. Our task is to continue to walk in obedience.
