January 13, 2008  •  Pastor Randy Smith

I love my daughters. They may disappoint me at times, but my love for them is unconditional. Regardless of what they do, I will always be there for them and desire their very best. At times that calls for corrective words and firm discipline, but even these acts, that often hurt me even more, are only evidence of a genuine love that seeks to change a self-destructive behavior. Beyond that, my love is also demonstrated by listening to every story they wish to share, teaching at every opportunity the Lord provides, encouraging even the slightest efforts that will help them succeed in life and modeling the Christian life before their very eyes.

As a parent it is my responsibility to have their best interests in mind. And on that issue, God’s heart and my heart are in complete agreement. Specifically, more than anything, I pray by God’s grace that they will come to love the Lord Jesus and be productive citizens in His Kingdom. It certainly isn’t easy and oftentimes I fail, but everything I do as a parent attempts to have that end in sight.

With that said, you can imagine my joy when I read my 5th grade daughter’s notes from last Sunday’s sermon.

A nice review from last week!

All of us love our children and desire to see the best that God has for them in Christ. God also loves His children very much too! Don’t forget that Grace Tabernacle! If you are in Christ this morning, you are loved by God! God…loves…you! Yet most of all God loves His greatest Son, Jesus Christ. At the Mount of Transfiguration the Holy Father said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him! (Mt. 17:5). We must understand the affections of God. This mighty King we have been reading about is not a distant monarch – He is a beloved Son of a loving Father.

We have learned that the Father arranged the events in such a way to bring His Son into the world. We learned that the Father protected His Son from danger. And when it came time for His Son to begin His ministry, we learned the Father sent one ahead of Him to prepare the way for His arrival. We learned his name was John the Baptist.

This morning as we look forward to one baptism the first service and two baptisms the second service, we will first conclude the ministry of John the Baptist. Then for the second point, we will begin the ministry of Jesus Christ.

The long-awaited King had finally arrived and the King was none other than a beloved Son.

1. THE CONCLUSION OF JOHN’S MINISTRY

Let’s begin with the conclusion of John’s ministry, the first point.

For the past few weeks we have been focused on the ministry of the Baptist. He was a forerunner, sent by God to prepare the way for King Jesus. His message was one of simplicity: Matthew 3:2, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Those who repented by acknowledging their sinfulness and submitting to God’s will, publicly confessed their sins (verse 6) and then entered the waters of baptism.

We get the impression that John baptized hundreds of people. However, as I said last week, John refused to baptize two very different parties that approached him for baptism. Imagine that – coming to John for baptism and the one known as “The Baptist,” refusing to perform the service! We must ask who were these parties and why did John refuse to baptize them?

Well, one party as we learned last week was the religious leaders – the Pharisees and Sadducees. Though more “religious” than any in the land, these men were rejected by John because they did not (verse 8), “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

You see, like so many today, they thought they could tack baptism on to their list of spiritual achievements. On the contrary, baptism represents acknowledging the achievement of Jesus Christ and receiving that gift of salvation through faith and repentance. Baptism does not bolster faith in our own merit as if we were placing another notch on our belt of “spiritual works” to gain favor with God. Baptism symbolizes that we are dead to that way of thinking. Baptism symbolizes faith in the finished work of Christ and trust in His merit that is received by dying to self and living for Christ, also known as, repentance.

Since the religious leaders did not confess their own spiritual unworthiness, since they did not repent of their own self-sufficiency, since they did not trust entirely in God to work salvation on their behalf, John refused to baptize them. Had John given in, he would have misused the symbol of baptism and only reinforced their erroneous and legalistic belief of salvation.

For example, I love visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame. This past week concluded the annual voting to induct new members. Members are selected based upon being legendary ball players. Though many desire to be enshrined, very few will ever enter the prestigious fraternity. It doesn’t matter how many balls and bats you own. It doesn’t matter how hard you tried in Little League. It doesn’t matter if you’ve lived in Cooperstown all your life. It doesn’t even matter if Goose Gossage is your father. All that matters is your performance between the lines on the professional field.

So if I wrote to the commissioner and asked to be included in the next induction ceremony, I shouldn’t be surprised if he first laughed and then refused to grant my request. You see, the ceremony is only symbolic, but it acknowledges those who have achieved the status to be admitted into the Hall. Without having the merit necessary, any symbolic actions are only puzzling and wrong.

In a completely different way, God’s plan is that we enter heaven based solely on the merit of Jesus Christ. We renounce our own selfish desires in repentance and depend entirely on His atonement at Calvary. But in the same way as the Hall of Fame, the symbolic act of baptism is puzzling and wrong if we refuse to first bring forth the fruit of repentance necessary to enter the Hall of Heaven. This is where John found himself, and this is why John refused to baptize the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Yet another party came to John completely on the other end of the spectrum. John introduces Him to us in verse 11. “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Scholar Leon Morris said, “Dealing with the sandals was the menial task of a slave. Teachers in Palestine at that time were not paid, but it was usual for disciples to help their rabbi in whatever way they could. There is a rabbinic saying, ‘Every service which a slave performs for his master shall a disciple do for his teacher except the loosing of his sandal-thong’ (SBk, I, p. 121). It is a mark of John’s humility that he says he is not worthy of the service that no one but a slave would perform” (Matthew, p. 61).

Obviously John has high regard for this Mighty One. As a matter of fact his regard is so high that John is forced to refuse His baptism as well. Since baptism is a symbolic picture of our repentance, the religious leaders were not baptized because they did not repent. Yet here, this Man is refused baptism because He did not need to repent. So again in John’s mind, a baptism for repentance for a sinless man (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:14; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 Jn. 3:5) is not only puzzling, but also it is wrong!

For the first time in the Gospel of Matthew, the man, the hero of the story, enters the stage of world history and begins His ministry.

Verse 13, “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.”

What do we know so far? Jesus came from His hometown, Galilee (specifically, Nazareth – Mk. 1:9). It appears He came alone (Jn. 1:29). And he came for the specific and intended purpose to be baptized by John.

John is really in a dilemma. Think about it! Does he disobey the words of Jesus (where in the Bible are we ever permitted to do that?) or does He baptize a sinless One who needs no repentance?

In verse 14 it seems as if he attempted to take the middle ground. “But John tried to prevent Him.” That is in the imperfect tense denoting a continuous action – a repeated attempt as if to say, “Lord, am I hearing You correctly, because if so, this isn’t right!” With emphasis on the personal pronouns, John continued, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” John, in his notable humility not only recognized the error to identify Jesus with the need for repentance but also the dishonor for the lesser to bless the greater, for the sinner to baptize the sinless. In other words, “Lord, don’t we have this backwards?”

Verse 15 records our Savior’s first words. “But Jesus answering said to him, ‘Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he permitted Him.”

Much ink has been spilt over the centuries in attempting to interpret Jesus’ words to John. “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” What exactly does that mean? Because our time is limited, I will only present what I believe is the correct interpretation.

Jesus Christ came to earth to identify with sinners. Since we could not remove our own sins, we needed someone to take our place, in effect be our substitute. Since the substitute had to be sinless, only God Himself could assume that position. So God the Father sent God the Son who retained His deity, but also became human when placed in the womb of Mary. So being fully divine, He could be the perfect sacrifice, and being fully human, He could perfectly represent the humanity He came to save.

But to represent humanity, Jesus not only had to live a sinless life, He also had to live a perfect life by fulfilling all the righteous acts God expects of us. If just a sinless sacrifice were required, Jesus could have come and immediately went to the cross to make atonement. But as verse 15 says, “(Jesus had) to fulfill all righteousness.”

The word “righteousness” as it is repeatedly used in Matthew carries the connotation of doing the will of God. Jesus, to be our substitute, had to perfectly fulfill the will of God. He had to do what we cannot. One sin of commission, one sin of omission and He would have been disqualified. He had to fulfill all righteousness! So as our representative, He needed to be obedient to all that God expects from us. Therefore among the other acts of obedience required for us, Jesus needed to be baptized (Mt. 28:18-20). Almost as if Jesus said, “John you are right. I know this is crazy, but in this case we need to permit this baptism to happen.”

A couple of thoughts to consider…

First, what a beautiful example of Christ’s obedience to God! The Son’s first action recorded in Scripture was to obey the Father. Immediate obedience, joyful obedience, complete obedience and even obedience at the expense of His own reputation with the onlookers. To be obedient to the Father, the sinless Son of God submitted to a baptism of repentance performed by a man contaminated with sin. No wonder Jesus is our role model and example. May we always look to Him and want to be like Him in obedience (Heb. 12:2-3).

Second, what a beautiful picture of how Jesus identified Himself with sinners. The One who had no sin took His place among those who had no righteousness. The One whom John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29) was not ashamed to walk among sinners, submit to a baptism for sinners and soon receive the sin of sinners upon Himself at the cross as He will “bear their iniquities…and (be) numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:11-12). The Bible says, “He is not ashamed to call (us) brethren” (Heb. 2:11). Praise the Lord that Jesus is a “friend of… sinners” (Mt. 11:19)!

2. THE BEGINNING OF JESUS’ MINISTRY

As we move to the second point, in John 3:20, John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Now that Jesus was on the scene, John rightly knew that his ministry had come to an end. As John begins to fade away, like the bright Morning Star once the Sun appears in greater brightness, Jesus now eclipses John in the redemptive plan of God. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist (Mt. 11:11). Yet when John saw Jesus, John basically said, “Someone much greater than me has just come, and I need to fade into the distance.”

Verse 16, “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him.”

I do not think it is important to debate what it means that the “heavens were opened” or if the Holy Spirit came down in the shape of a dove or fluttering like a dove or even the symbolism intended between connecting the Holy Spirit with a dove. We will probably never have dogmatic answers to these questions.

What is important is to see that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus. Prophesized hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah 42:1 we read, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him.” In fulfillment of that verse, Jesus received the Holy Spirit. Of course Jesus was fully divine, but the Spirit empowered His humanity and anointed Him for the public ministry He would now begin.

Luke in his gospel records an event that occurred soon after Jesus’ baptism. “(While in the synagogue) the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to (Jesus). And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Lk. 4:17-21; cf. Isa. 61:1-2).

Back to our account in Matthew: God the Son was baptized, God the Spirit had arrived and now it was time for God the Father to speak a word of confirmation. At the beginning of Creation the Triune God said, “Let Us make man” (Gen. 1:26). And now at the beginning of Christ’s ministry it is almost as if they said, “Let Us save man.” While all three members of the Trinity were present and active in verse 17 we read, “And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’”

Jesus later will say, “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (Jn. 8:29). Jesus loved the Father (Jn. 14:31). Jesus knew that the true mark of love is obedience (Jn. 14:15). Jesus was pleasing to the Father because He was an obedient Son. The Old Testament sacrifices of bulls and goats were not ultimately pleasing to the Father. But Jesus Christ lived a life of perfect obedience. He willingly went to the cross so that God’s will and not His will would be done (Mt. 26:39; Jn. 4:34). Through it all, He brought the Father good pleasure.

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Pleasing to God the Father! Think about that – could we desire anything greater? But did you know that if you are in Christ Jesus this morning, the same pleasure that God the Father has for God the Son is the same pleasure that God the Father has for you! As your baptism symbolized, you are dead to self and alive in Christ (Rom. 6:3-5). Because of your complete identification with the perfect obedience of the Son, the sons and daughters of God are pleasing in the Father’s sight as well. Because of our union with Christ, when God sees us, He sees His Son. And when God sees His Son, He says, “I am pleased!”

As I mentioned in the introduction, I love my children. In a much greater way and more perfect way God loves His children. He accepts them and therefore He disciplines them and teaches them and forgives them and forebears with them and encourages them and listens to them and provides for them.

Has it hit you yet? Coming full circle, why does God grant His children the gift of repentance (Ac. 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25)? Because like me with my children, nothing brings Him greater pleasure than to see them by grace become more and more like His Son, Jesus Christ which shows their love for Christ, their gratitude to be delivered from sin and their willingness to be productive citizens in His kingdom.