The Baptism Of Jesus Series

But there are other things that God requires of us that we either can’t figure out or we don’t agree with, but that doesn’t negate the fact that is what God, creator of the universe requires of us. And the fact that we don’t understand it or the fact that we don’t agree with it or that the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled for or against it doesn’t change one iota what God has required of us.

Do you seriously think that God’s will is dependent on what nine judges in Ottawa think? The Trinity is sitting around and the Father says “After the last decision from the Canadian Supreme Court we going to have to do some editing in the Bible”

And what happened when Jesus did what the Father required? Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Why did the Son bring the Father great joy? Because he was obedient. Which is why we are told in 1 John 5:3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

You might have all kinds of reasons why you think you don’t need to be baptized but here is the bottom line, God requires it. When he set down the mission of the church he told the disciples in Matthew 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

When you become a disciple or follower of Jesus you are to be baptized. It was Saint Basil who wrote “All of us who desire the kingdom of God are, by the Lord's decree, under an equal and rigorous necessity of seeking after the grace of Baptism.” And if Saint Basil isn’t good enough for you then you need to understand that Jesus considered it a deal breaker, listen to his words in Mark 16:16 Jesus said “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” Did you catch that? He didn’t say “Anyone who believes will be saved.” What he said was “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved.” I don’t want to get into an entire discussion of the saving merits of Baptism, but it is a matter of obedience and you can’t call yourself a Christ follower if you don’t follow Christ and following Christ means being obedient to Christ.

The third reason I think Jesus wanted to be baptized was 3) It Set an Example I’m sure that Jesus knew human nature enough to know that if he wasn’t baptized that there would always be a group who insisted that they didn’t have to be baptized because Jesus wasn’t baptized. And so even though he didn’t need to be baptized as a sign of repentance, remember he had nothing to repent from he was without sin, he chose to be baptized so he would be an example to us and not an excuse for us.

You may have come up with a dozen good reason, in your mind anyway, for why you don’t need to be baptized. But none of them would come close to why Jesus didn’t have to be baptized, and yet he was.