As we come to think about the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, we mustn’t make the mistake of forgetting what comes before it. Matthew has just finished describing John’s ministry of preparation for the coming of the Messiah. His message has been one of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He’s been warning people to flee from the wrath that’s coming as God’s Messiah bursts on the scene. And in the final words we have recorded from John’s lips, he tells people that he baptises with water for repentance but one is coming who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus’ coming will bring the breath of life and the fire of cleansing.
Into that scenario comes Jesus; not to take over from John as you might expect, but to be baptised by him. This is not something we see very often in our world, is it? What usually happens when one person takes over from another is that they distance themselves from their predecessor. They don’t want to have to compete with the reputation or relationships that their predecessor had built up. You even see it in the church. I’ve heard of a number of occasions where a vicar has died and his widow has been encouraged to leave the parish for the sake of the incoming incumbent. If a vicar retires it’s assumed that they’ll move to a different parish to give the new incumbent the freedom to do things differently. But here we find Jesus coming on the scene, and immediately he submits himself to the ministry of John, his predecessor, the one who acts primarily as his herald.
So why does he do it? Does he need to do it? And what difference does it make to us?
Why he didn’t need to be baptised.
Well, John was in no doubt about what should and shouldn’t be happening. v14: John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" There was no sense of rivalry as far as John was concerned. He understood exactly where he stood in relation to Jesus Christ. He was the forerunner, sent to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. And Jesus was that Messiah.
But let me ask you: why didn’t Jesus need to be baptised?
First he was so much greater than John. He was the Messiah, whose sandals John wasn’t even worthy to carry.
Second, baptism was the sign of repentance from sin. Jesus was without sin so he had no need for baptism.
In fact John understood that Jesus was the reason people needed to be baptised. They needed to be purified so they’d be ready for his arrival. So when Jesus came and stood before John, John realised that he too needed to be baptised, not by himself, but by Jesus. He needed that baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, to cleanse him completely.
Why he needed to be baptised.
But Jesus says "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." There is a sense in which Jesus did need to be baptised. There were good reasons for this action of Jesus. Can you see what they might have been?
To fulfill the law- all righteousness. A couple of chapters later in Matthew, in the sermon on the mount we have these words of Jesus recorded for us: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." Jesus’ whole life was intended to fulfill the law and its requirements. His baptism by John isn’t a sign that he needed to repent. Rather it’s a sign that he identifies with all those who live under the law and that he himself submits to that law. His life from start to finish was lived under the law of God, the law of righteousness. His submitting to baptism says that John’s message is right. That people do need to submit to God’s law if they’re to be ready for the coming of the King.
Hebrews 4 speaks of the comfort we can derive from knowing that Jesus understands what our life is like. (Heb 4:14-16 NRSV) "Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." One of the reasons for Jesus being baptised by John was to identify with us in our weakness. Not that he needed to repent, but that he understands what we go through.
Baptism is also a means of identifying himself with Israel. Baptism was one of the rituals that was used when a person became an Israelite. It signified purification from every impurity that might hold them back in their worship of the true and living God. You may remember the story of Naaman, the Assyrian, who was told to dip himself in the Jordan River 7 times if he wanted to be healed of his leprosy. In a similar way Jesus lowers himself into the river to identify himself as a true Israelite,
But also his baptism by John is a sign of his humility. One of the reasons human beings seem to want to distance themselves from their predecessors is because they don’t want to be compared with them, in case they suffer by comparison. I remember someone once saying, "You know, you’re the worst vicar we’ve ever had. But don’t feel bad about it. It’s just that you could never be as good as the one you’ve replaced, and he could never have been as good as the one before him and so on." Well, that’s how life is sometimes, and so we avoid comparisons with our predecessors. But not so Jesus. It’s a sign of his humility that he comes to John, he lowers himself into the muddy waters of the Jordan River and submits to the ministry of his predecessor.
And notice that in so doing he symbolically takes on himself the sins of the world. Those waters that have washed away the sins of the people now cover Jesus as he lowers himself into them.
What difference does this make for us?
Well, finally, what difference does it make for us that Jesus began his ministry with this act of being baptised?
I guess the first thing to say is that Jesus submission to Baptism is a commendation to us of the value of Baptism for us. If he who knew no sin chose to begin his public ministry in the act of baptism, then we should be encouraged to see baptism as an important act of initiation for all who are followers of him.
But that’s not the main issue is it? A much more important issue for us is the fact that by this act, Jesus identifies with us. Sometimes we wonder whether God really understands what we’re going through. Particularly when things are tough, we wonder whether he really appreciates how hard it is to live in this broken world. But here we see Jesus, identifying with us in this practical way of submitting to John’s baptism, to remind us that yes, he does understand what it’s like to live in a fallen world, where things don’t always go right, where people hate you and persecute you for doing good, where people break God’s laws and need to repent, and where people suffer through no real fault of their own.
When we come to God in repentance, asking him to forgive us, we can have confidence that he knows how hard it is to resist temptation. We’ll think about that some more next week. Jesus even knows how hard it is to lower ourselves to admit our failure. Have you noticed how the hardest part of repentance is often that it requires us revising our view of ourselves as being beyond reproach? We build up this self image that says that we’re not to blame. If things go wrong it’s always the other persons fault. It’s hard to submit ourselves to a baptism of repentance if we take it seriously. We don’t like to admit that we’re less than perfect. Well, Jesus has been there. He’s lowered himself to the level of us humans, he’s gone down into the waters of the Jordan as a sign of human imperfection, even though he suffered no imperfection in his obedience to God. If we meditate on that fact it might make it easier for us to face up to our own limitations, our own imperfections as far as our obedience to God is concerned.
Another lesson we learn from Jesus’ baptism is that the law is still relevant to us even though we live by grace through faith. This is a tension that we’ve talked about in the past and that we’ll talk about again. The law has no hold over us if we’re followers of Christ. Our obedience to the law won’t make us acceptable to God. But nevertheless, the law still expresses God’s desire for how every man and woman should live in this world. So it’s as important that we submit to that law today as it was in Jesus’ day, even though we understand that it’s not there to bring us to salvation.
But, finally, there’s another important element in this story for us today. It appears as Jesus is coming up out of the water. "Suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, ’This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’" Here, right at the outset, we see Jesus’ glory manifest. Even at the moment when he’s lowered himself as far as he can go, God speaks and attests to his real glory, that of the only begotten Son of the Father.
It’s as though Matthew wants to remind us from the outset, that this Jesus isn’t just a great teacher and healer. He isn’t just the greatest of the prophets. No, he’s the beloved Son of God, with whom God is well pleased.
This Jesus, who lowers himself to the depth of us failed human beings, is the Beloved Son of the Living God. His baptism, unnecessary as it was in terms of repentance from sin, nevertheless shows us the importance of submitting to God’s law, God’s will for human life. It encourages us that Jesus was truly human, that he understood what it means to be a human being. And it assures us that John’s offer of forgiveness indeed came from God. Let’s spend some time meditating on the fact that Jesus lowered himself to submit to John’s baptism even though he was the beloved Son of God.
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