Series: Gospel of
Luke
Luke 3: 21-22 # 19
“The Baptism of
Jesus”
Jesus had
been anxiously waiting to be about the Father’s business since the human age of
12 years. Now, 18 years later, He begins His public ministry at His baptism by
John in the
John the
Baptist wanted to refuse Him when He came to be baptized [vs. 13-14].
John’s
baptism was for repentance and John saw no need for
spotless Lamb
of God to be baptized.
2 Cor.
no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him.” This made it possible for His perfect righteousness to be
imputed to the believing sinner.
1 John 3:5 And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.”
Forbad means to hinder, to get in the way.
John in all his good
intentions
misunderstood his mission for a minute. He was not
to be
baptized but do the baptizing.
It may be
that John felt such conviction in the presence of
Jesus. That’s
what happens when we see him in his holiness.
Don’t miss
the significance of baptism in the
We often sing
a song about crossing
the
So
crossing Jordan
really refers to the old man dying, and not physical death that is often
portrayed in the song.
Crossing
TT: I want to present 5 reasons Jesus was baptized.
1. To give a clear picture of the
Gospel- His coming death, burial, and resurrection.
The word
baptize is the Greek word Baptizo which means to
immerse, to
dip.
When Jesus
was baptized he went up immediately out of the water [v.16a].The Greek word for
sprinkle is Rhantizo.
Luke says he
went into the water praying. “Thy Kingdom come,” or “About My Father’s
business,” or “not my will but thy will be done.”
Luke
baptism to be baptized with; and how I am distressed till it be
accomplished.”
Why baptism
by immersion?
His baptism
by immersion typified his baptism in the waters of God’s judgment at
By his death,
burial, and resurrection he would satisfy the demands of divine justice and provide
a righteous basis by which sinners could be justified.
2. He had to publicly identify with
those whose sins He would bare.
If the
Messiah was to bring righteousness to sinners, He must first identify with
them. He did this in His first public act of obedience in his ministry.
Isaiah 53:11…”By his knowledge shall my righteous servant
justify many; for he shall bear their sins.”
1 Pet.
Matthew 3:14-15 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Jesus
fulfilled all the righteous requirements to be
3. He wanted to show the importance of
Christian baptism.
The baptism
of Jesus shows that the believers water baptism is not only a matter of obedience
but identification as well.
Baptism is
our first act of obedience as a Christian.
Baptism
pictures the gospel and what happened to us at salvation. The old man died and
was buried with Christ, now we can walk in a new life. Baptism does not forgive
you of your sins, it is something you do because your sins were forgiven.
4. The Trinity affirmed his
Messiah-ship publicly.
All three
persons of the Godhead were testifying at the baptism.
The Father
speaking, the Son being baptized, and the Spirit descending.
The Spirit
descending like a dove and lighting on Him- Gracefully and gently. John tells
us this was the message to John that he was the Messiah [John
This is why
we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All
three were involved in our salvation.
God the
Father thought us, God the Son bought us, and God the Spirit sought us. God who
selected us, the Son who saved us, and the Spirit who sealed us.
This passage
is also a key verse in refuting a heresy known as modalism and taught by
oneness Pentecostalism [T.D. Jakes and Phillips, Greg, and Dean].
The baptism
of Jesus is one of 3x when God spoke from heaven in connection with the
ministry of His own Son. God had watched His Son grow up in his humanity and
examined that he was faultless and flawless for 30 years.
He announced,
“This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Luke 9:33-35, “And
it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it
is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they
feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud,
saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.”
John 12:28-30, “Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying,
I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people
therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others
said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said,
This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.”
5. He was empowered for His ministry.
Jesus always
had the Spirit and was filled with the Spirit, but this was anointing for his
ministry. Messiah means “Anointed One.”
Isaiah 11:2, “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”
We have the
Holy Spirit of God indwelling you at salvation. But we need anointing for the
work and mission ahead.
Next time we
see the temptation of Jesus “showdown in the desert.”