Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus comes to the Jordon with a Purpose
1. Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan
• The Jordan River it is the site where John baptized Jesus
• History records the Jordan as a place of pilgrimage
• The sick and disabled came to the Jordan for healing, as Jacinthus the Presbyter related in the late 11th century: “On the feast of the Epiphany cripples and sick people come and, using the rope to steady themselves, go down to dip themselves in the water: women who are barren also come here.”l
• The Russian Princess Euphrosine of Polatsk, who had come to Jerusalem to die in the 12th century, was unable to travel to the Jordan but was given a bottle of holy water by an acquaintance, “which she received with joy and gratitude, drinking it and spreading it over her body to wash away the sins of the past.”
• By the late Middle Ages, the Jordan was venerated almost exclusively as a relic of Jesus Christ, possessing powerful spiritual forces.
• In the late-13th-century guidebook gave just one reason for immersion in the river: “these are the waters which came into contact with the body of Christ, our Redeemer.”
• Writing in 1483, Felix Faber described how several knights of his party had jumped into the Jordan fully clothed, convinced that their clothes would become impenetrable to enemy weapons. Others dipped bells in the river and believed that ringing them would stave off lightning and thunder.
2. Jesus comes to the Jordan for a purpose
• Jesus’s Purpose was to fulfill all righteousness
• 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.
3. Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness and another purpose was to be an example
• Some theologians believe “Jesus doesn’t need to be baptized, but he lets his cousin push him down under the muddy water purely for our sake.” An example we should follow
• What an example to follow Jesus, we are asked by our Lord to repent and be baptized
• They came from many places and repented and were baptized
• Note when Jesus was baptized God expressed his pleasure. Jesus pleased him. So how can we please God?
4. His purpose was to fulfill all righteousness, to be the example, and his purpose was to be identified
• The baptized children are identified as children of God
• 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.” Jesus was identified as Son of God.
• We are identified as Jesus’s disciples after Baptism
• Baptism is a sign of death to our old lives and resurrection into new lives in Christ
5. His purpose was to fulfill all righteousness, to be the example, to be identified, and to please God
• God said, “ with Him or Jesus I am well pleased “.
• Pleased means “to take pleasure in,” “to think well of,” “to judge favorably.” God is well pleased with Jesus because Jesus seeks to please God —
• Remember John Wesley’s covenant Prayer I belong to God I am no longer my own but yours
• I belong to right living, I belong to faith, I belong to righteousness, I belong to being the example, I belong to God, I belong to His identity. And I belong to live for and please God !
