ONE ENTERS, ONE EXITS: Jesus’ ministry starts as John the Baptist concludes.
- Luke 3:19-20.
- Our primary subject this evening is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and some of the signs we are given at this start to give us confidence in Him.
- We noted last week at the end of the sermon that this passage points us to the conclusion of John the Baptist’s ministry. Now, this is not a situation where John baptizes Jesus and gets arrested the next day. There is some overlap. But we know from John’s famous statement that “He must increase and I must decrease” that John knows his place.
- So vv. 19-20 give us that clue: we are seeing a transition. John has fulfilled his role and is now largely stepping offstage.
- Where that leaves us is our main subject for tonight: if this passage represents the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, what do we learn about Him and His ministry from this introduction? Four things in particular.
FOUR CONFRIMATIONS ABOUT JESUS AT THE START OF HIS MINISTRY:
1. Jesus’ baptism tells us His mission was about righteousness.
- Luke 3:21a.
- Matthew 3:15.
- Why was Jesus baptized?
- For most coming to be baptized, it was a baptism of repentance. They were repenting of their sins and being forgiven. Of course, that would be problematic if it were true of Jesus because we teach that Jesus was sinless.
- So then, why was Jesus baptized?
- We are told in Matthew 3:15.
- John the Baptist objects when Jesus comes to be baptized. He knows He is not worthy (v. 14). Jesus, though, tells him why: “to fulfill all righteousness” (v. 15).
- That phrase is not unpacked here or fully explained. Our best clue has to do with the word used there: “righteousness.”
- We know that Jesus came to become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The end result of that process is for us to become righteous like Him. I think Jesus is baptized as a representation of what His ministry is going to be: He has come to become sin for us so that we can be righteous like Him. Baptism doesn’t save you but it is a representation of what God has done for us: we are buried with Christ and raised to newness of life in Him. We are made righteous.
- Jesus was baptized as a representation of the ministry He was going to pursue.
2. The dove and the voice tell us that this mission will involve all the other Trinity.
- Luke 3:21b-22.
- The text is clear that the dove is representative of the Holy Spirit. The voice from heaven is the Father, speaking His praise and approval of Jesus.
- Why is this important? Because Jesus would rely on the Spirit and the Father throughout His ministry.
- [Pull notes on how Jesus was dependent on the Spirit and the Father during His earthly life.]
3. Jesus’ age tells us He was fully human.
- Luke 3:23a.
- Jesus did not just come walking over the horizon one day, with no one having any idea where He came from. That’s a common motif in Westerns but it’s not what we see here.
- No, Jesus had lived for 30 years in Nazareth and Egypt.
- It’s a curious question: why did His ministry start at the age of 30? We can speculate but the ultimate answer is that we don’t know.
- For our purposes this evening, that’s not the most important point here. That point is simply that Jesus’ 30 years of life definitively establish His humanity.
- He was born, He was a child, He was a teen, and now He was an adult. He ate, He slept, He walked, He was a real human.
- Now this was an issue of enormous and lasting debate in the first few centuries of the church. There had never been anyone like Jesus before because of His unique place is salvation history. What was He exactly? Who was He exactly?
- Some argued that He was fully divine but only appeared to be human.
- Others argued that He was fully human but could not have been fully divine.
- The church, listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit on this challenging and important issue, came firmly to the conclusion that Jesus was fully God and fully human. It was that unique position that allowed Him to be the sacrifice for us.
4. Jesus’ genealogy tells us His mission was planned from before history.
- Luke 3:23b-38.
- Note: most scholars think this is a genealogy of Mary and Matthew shares the genealogy of Joseph.
- There are innumerable details we could chase rabbit trails down when it comes to the genealogy. Instead, let’s stick to a few names: David (v. 31), Abraham (v. 34), and Noah (v. 36) are all in there. That, of course, is important in the flow of salvation history. Jesus “checks all the boxes.”
- This isn’t a back-up plan. This was planned before the foundation of the world.
- This should give us enormous comfort. God has this under control.
- A plan like that will be brought to fruition. Prophecy will be fulfilled.
