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.”
Baptism actually means identification. When believers submit to baptism, they are identifying themselves with Him.
• Our baptism reveals that we as sinners are identifying ourselves with Him.
• When Christ was baptized He was revealing His identification with sinful man.
But Christ knew no sin. That is absolutely true, He was sinless. Dr. J. Vernon McGee said “My sin was put on Him, not in Him.”
Look at 2 Cor. 5. 21, we read, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
John finally was willing to lay aside what he thought was the right thing to do, and do the thing that he felt Christ would have him to do.
Look at verse 15, we read, “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.”
The word “suffered” here is the Greek aphiemi, (pronounced as af-ee'-ay-me) which means to lay aside, put away his ideas.
But what does this conversation between these two cousins have to do with you and me today?
The lesson we learn from John the Baptist is:
• John knew Jesus was the Creator of all life
• John knew Jesus was the Savior of the world
Knowing this, WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS TO QUESTION THE LORD?
Christ is the third person of the Trinity. The Bible states He was to be called, “Immanuel”, God with us. When John the Baptist was questioning the Lord Jesus, he was questioning almighty God in the flesh.
But this is not the first time God has been questioned. Let's look at some of those times.
I. HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED
A. HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
(1) HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESITONED BY SATAN
Isa. 14:12 15 “. . . I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . .I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH."
As we read through the Old Testament, we see passage after passage of Scripture where God was questioned.
Satan’s fatal mistake was that he did not recognize the supreme authority of God. God’s authority is somewhat like the supreme court in this land.
Illus: You may have a legal problem, and go to court and feel that you did not get a fair deal. You can work your way up to the Supreme court. But once you get there, you have to recognize that there is no higher power in our judiciary system.
(2) HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED IN NOAH’S GENERATION
Gen. 6:5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
God saw the wickedness of mankind, and God sent Noah to warn his generation that He was preparing to send a flood to destroy them. THEY LAUGHED HIM TO SCORN.
WHY DID THEY DO THIS? Because as he declared to them the message of God’s judgment, they had no fear of God whatsoever.
In their minds they were going to do what they wanted to do, and God would have to put up with it because He did not have the authority to do anything about it.
(3) HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED BY PHARAOH IN EGYPT
Exo. 5:2 “And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.”
Pharaoh was the most powerful man on the face of the earth at that time. He felt he was so powerful that no one was more powerful than he was.
Look what he said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?” Then in his arrogance he said, “I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.”
In other words:
• I do not have to listen to him.
• I do not recognize His authority
• Neither will I obey Him
(4) HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED BY HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE
In 1 Sam. 8:7, “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
These are the people of God, and notice what God says about His people, “They have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
They lived like the heathen of that day, not recognizing the authority of God, and they were not going to allow Him to reign over them.
B. HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED IN THE N. T.
The very ones who should have recognized His authority, questioned it. He was God in the flesh, walking among them doing all kinds of miracles, but still they would not recognize His authority.
(1) WE SEE IT IN THEIR ASTONISHMENT
Look at Mark 1:26-27, we read, “And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.”
In other words, “WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, WHERE DID HE GET THIS AUTHORITY?”
If they had recognized Him for who He was, they would have known where He got His authority. The reason they were astonished was because they did not know where He got that authority.
(2) WE SEE IT IN THEIR ANIMOSITY
Look at Mark 3:6, we read, “And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”
If they had recognized His authority, they would not have plotted to destroy Him. They are like so many today who think they can do whatever they want to do TO HIM, HIS CHURCH, AND HIS WORD, and think they can get away with it. They are in for the surprise of their lives!
(3) WE SEE IT IN HIS ARREST
Look at Mark 14:43-46, we read, “And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely. And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, master; and kissed him. And they laid their hands on him, and took him.”
Judas organized one of the most evil plots that has ever been organized. He betrayed Christ with a kiss, for thirty pieces of silver. But he never would have done such a thing had he recognized the authority of the Son of God.
Through the ages of time, Satan and men have not recognized the authority of the Son of God, but one day they will!
Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, we see where HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED! But there is coming a day when-
II. HIS AUTHORITY WILL NOT BE QUESTIONED
God can speak today, and evil men will hear and walk away from Him as if they never heard Him speak. But when the Judgment occurs, you can mark it down, He will be heard.
Back in the days when it seemed like almost everybody had a CB in their car, many would buy the most powerful CB’S that were available. When you wanted to talk, you would say, “This is the Brown Bear, Break please!” Sometimes people would break and let you in, and sometimes they would just ignore you.
Illus: One man who lived in Columbia, South Carolina lived near Fort Jackson. The CB he had was so powerful that it was interfering with the communications at Fort Jackson. The authorities traced him down and told him that the system he was operating was not legal, and he had to do away with it. They asked him, “Why do you want such a powerful CB?” He said, “I wanted a powerful CB because before I would say “Break” and no one would break and let me talk. But now when I say “Break,” my system is so strong everybody has to break and let me talk.”
Listen, one of these days God is going to be heard. You can ask people to come to church today and they will come up with all kinds of excuses for why they can’t come and hear the teaching and the preaching of God’s Word.
But one of these days, they all are going to stand before Him, and they are going to have to give account of the way they lived their lives.
A. HIS AUTHORITY WILL NOT BE QUESTIONED AT THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
• Rom. 14:10, ". . .for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."
• Rom. 14:12, "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
B. HIS AUTHORITY WILL NOT BE QUESTIONED AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
• Rev. 20:11 15, we read, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Notice earth and heaven will flee from His presence but there will be no place to hide. All unbelievers of all time will be brought before Him.
The lesson from John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus is this, “WHO DID HE THINK HE WAS TO QUESTION HIS CREATOR?”
And the same thing applies to us. We know that He is the Son of God, “WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE TO QUESTION OUR CREATOR?”
Conclusion:
Everything that God created recognizes the authority of God.
• When He tells the sun to rise, it rises
• When He tells the sun to set, it sets
• When He tells the winds to blow, it blows
• When He tells the rain to fall, it falls
Everything God created obeys His every command.
It is only mortal man that has the audacity to question almighty God. But one day He will say to the ungodly, “depart from me into everlasting fire” and the ungodly can say all they want:
• I have company coming, I do not have time for that
• I going to a family reunion, I do not have time for that
• I going to the golf course, I do not have time for that
When that day comes - THEY WILL OBEY!
I. HIS AUTHORITY WAS QUESTIONED
A. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
B. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
II. HIS AUTHORITY WILL NOT BE QUESTIONED
A. AT THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
B. AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
