JOHN THE BAPTIZER
1. Matthew tells us nothing about the childhood of Jesus. Instead, he offers us chapter 3 as a transition between Jesus as a young child (Matthew 2) and the adult Jesus being tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4).
2. Matthew 3 emphasizes the work of John the Baptizer. John began his ministry in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar [Luke 3:1]. Tiberius became emperor of Rome in the year A. D.14. However, he had served about two years as co-regent with his stepfather, Augustus, prior to Augustus’ death. This would date the beginning of John’s ministry somewhere between 26 and 29. Since Luke 3:23 says Jesus was "about thirty years of age" when He began His ministry, this favors the earlier date. (4 B. C. --Jesus was born before the death of Herod in that year -- + 30 = A. D. 26).
3. Let us read Matthew 3:1-6 (NKJV) In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ’Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’" 4 And John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
I. THE GREATNESS OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER
A. Jesus gave this estimation of John’s greatness in Matthew 11:11 (NKJV), "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
1. Jesus isn’t contradicting Himself or speaking in enigmas.
2. The obvious meaning of this passage is that as great as John was -- and he was a great man -- he was not in the kingdom for the kingdom had not been established when John died. Sometime after John was put to death, Jesus promised to build His church in the future [Matthew 16:18 (NKJV) "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."] John was never a member of the church for the very simple reason that it did not exist during his lifetime.
B. John realized that he filled an important but secondary role in God’s plans
1. He was the friend of the bridegroom [John 3:29-30 (NKJV) "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 "He must increase, but I must decrease.]
a. John was not the groom; he was the "best man." It is not the role of the best man to be the "star" of the wedding.
b. The friends of the bride and groom should be rejoicing at the happiness of the couple getting married. John compared his situation to that and declared that his joy was fulfilled in Christ.
c. John did not have the kind of ego which caused him to crave the limelight. He had his "fifteen minutes of fame" as his preaching drew tremendous crowds. Jerusalem, all Judea, and the region around the Jordan River went out into the wilderness to the place where John was. They heard his preaching and were baptized by him. In this history of great and effective preachers, no one has a better record than John. However, John understood that he was the understudy. His function was to point the way for Jesus. As John stated, "He must increase, but I must decrease."
2. John was a preacher of Christ. His task was to "prepare the way of the Lord." It was his job to "make His paths straight."
a. He was a herald -- crying out the news of God’s demands upon a sinful world. He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" [Isaiah 40:3].
b. He was the messenger sent by the Lord to proclaim a message the whole nation needed to hear. [Mark 1:2] John’s message demanded repentance and announced that the kingdom was near [Matthew 3:1-2 (NKJV) In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"]
3. John was both a prophet and the fulfillment of prophecy.
a. John was a prophet because his message was the word of the Lord [Luke 3:2-3 (NKJV) while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,]. This sounds very much like the introductory statements to the work of Old Testament prophets. There are well over 100 times when the same formula is used in the OT to introduce a prophetic message from God. Israel had gone about 400 years since Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet. Now the voice of prophecy was heard agan in Israel in the preaching of John the Baptizer.
b. An interesting conversation is recorded in John 1:19-23 between John and a group of priests and Levites who had been sent from Jerusalem to ask John point blank, "Who are you?" He denied being the Christ, or Elijah, or "the Prophet." So they asked, in effect, "Well, who are you?" What do you have to say about yourself? John answered, "I am ’The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD," ’ as the prophet Isaiah said." [John 1:23 (NKJV)]
4. John was a baptizer . . . he baptized (immersed) people who repented "for the remission of their sins" [Luke 3:3 (NKJV) And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,]
a. John’s baptism was effective -- it resulted in people having their sins taken away. They went down into the water with their sins and came up out of the water with their sins washed away.
b. John’s baptism was conditional -- it was first necessary that people repent. This was no magic water dipping which brought about salvation without requiring a life change on the part of those being baptized. John demanded that people "bear fruits worthy of repentance" [Matthew 3:8].
3. John was NOT a founder of a church. Some people are confused and think that a church with a similar name was established by John. However, that modern-day denomination did not come into existence until the early 17th century . . . hundreds of years after John’s death and the establishment of Christ’s church on the day of Pentecost.
II. JOHN BAPTIZES JESUS
For our purposes in this study, we will pass over the section where John confronts the Pharisees and Sadducees who came out into the wilderness to see him [Matthew 3:7-12] and move ahead to read about Jesus’ baptism [Matthew 3:13-17 (NKJV) Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. 16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."]
A. Timeliness of Jesus’ baptism: Jesus’ baptism marks the beginning of His public ministry. It is believed that Jesus lived about 33 years. The first 30 years were spent in seclusion in Nazareth. With His baptism, Jesus emerged on the public scene and made a tremendous impact in the space of three short years.
B. Importance of Jesus’ baptism:
1. Baptism was important to Jesus. Mark 1:9 (NKJV) tells us, "It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan." John 1:28 says John was baptizing at "Bethabara beyond the Jordan." It’s 60 miles as the crow flies from Nazareth to Bethabara. There was one simple way to get from Nazareth to Bethabara . . . walking! Jesus walked 60 miles so He could be baptized by John. If we assume Jesus’ stride averaged 24 inches as He walked that distance, we’re talking about 158,400 steps. Anything you’re willing to take 158,400 steps to obtain is important to you! It was very important to Jesus to be baptized.
2. Baptism was important to the Father. After Jesus was baptized and when He had come up from the water, the heavens were opened to Him. He saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove. Then He heard a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." God made His approval known. He was well-pleased that Jesus had been baptized.
C. Purpose of Jesus’ baptism:
1. Do you remember what we’ve studied about the purpose of John’s baptism? It was a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins [Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3]. One cannot repent when he has no sinful practices from which he needs to turn away. One cannot be baptized for the remissions of sins when he has not sins to be remitted.
a. Jesus was sinless [Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.] He "knew no sin" [2 Corinthians 5:21].
b. Therefore, Jesus could not have been baptized for the remission of sins. There had to be another reason which motivated Jesus to be baptized.
2. Look back at our text in Matthew 3:14. John tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized. He felt unworthy to baptize Jesus. He said that he needed to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. However, Jesus insisted saying "it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."
a. Jesus did not need baptism because of his own sinfulness, but we do. It cannot be said of us that we are "without sin." The baptism commanded after the cross . . . the baptism of the Great Commission . . . in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . . . is also for the remission of sins. We need baptism for a different reason than Jesus. We do have sins we need to have forgiven. Baptism is the way to wash away the guilt of our sins [Acts 22:16 (NKJV) ’And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’]
b. It was God’s will for Jesus to be baptized. Thus it was necessary for Him to obey in order to fulfill all righteousness.
c. Through His baptism, Jesus sets a necessary example for us so that we can "follow in His steps" and do what we need to do to have the forgiveness of sins [1 Peter 2:21 (NKJV) For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:].
CONCLUSION
1. The baptism of John was God’s will for his audience at the time he lived. However, John was put to death by Herod a short time after the events we’ve studied about today [Matthew 14:10]. Years later in Ephesus, Paul encountered a group of men who had been baptized with the baptism of John [Acts 19:3-5 (NKJV) And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John’s baptism." 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.] If I understood the context of this passage correctly, these men were baptized by Apollos a long time after the death of John the Baptizer. Yet at the time (before he was taught better by Aquila and Priscilla), this was the only baptism Apollos knew. At that time -- after the death of Christ and the establishment of the church -- baptism like that performed by John was not enough. It was not the right kind of baptism because it was not done in the name of the Lord Jesus. So those men were baptized properly.
2. Tonight we will continue this study with a closer look at "Perspectives on Biblical Baptism." However, it is not necessary to wait until tonight if there is anyone present today who needs to be baptized into Christ. If you have been thinking about the need to be baptized (or "rebaptized" if there is something wrong with the baptism you have experienced), you can resolve your concerns and make sure of your salvation by acting right now to obey the gospel and be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins.
3. Invitation
