Mark 1:9It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from[d] the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Matt 3:15 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[c] 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.”
Three reasons Jesus was baptized
1. It was to fulfill that which was spoken before
Jesus did not deny that He was spiritually superior to John or that He was sinless.
Permit it at this time was an idiom meaning that the act of His baptism, though not seemingly appropriate, was indeed appropriate for this special time.
Jesus understood John’s reluctance – here’s John baptizing Jesus? (not good enough to tie shoes) But Jesus was here to FULFILL that which was SPOKEN-
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.
He gave permission for John to do what, without divine instruction, he would never have been willing to do. (John walked out the obedience to what Jesus asked)
He assured the prophet that in this way it is fitting, and went on to explain to John that His baptism was important for both of their ministries, for us to fulfill all righteousness.
Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
For God’s plan to be perfectly fulfilled, it was necessary for Jesus to be baptized and to be baptized specifically by John. https://www.gty.org/resources/bible-qna/BQ090612/why-was-jesus-baptized
What does that mean to you
God is going to fulfill every last part of his word- all of the OT prophecies about Christ were fulfilled- all the promises of God are going to come to pass.
God keeps his promises- good or bad- They will come to fruition in due season-
We serve a Jesus that is the prophetic fulfillment of years of history and many prophets
The reality of the fulfillment of Jesus should give us hope of the fulfillment of things to come!
I get it- its hard- you’re holding on for God to bring your promises to pass- you’ve believed- you’ve waited- you wondered when it was going to be- I don’t know- but I know that HE WILL
Ancestry- Found a Preacher in the Revolutionary war- I don’t know any other pastors? Am I the fulfillment of his prayers? Is this the answer to what he hoped for? Maybe- in Gods eyes it is!
Hold on to the promises of God! Be like Abraham!
Romans 4:20He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God
2. To identify with Mans sin Jesus came to identify with men and their sin
He could not establish righteousness for man, if he did not identify with the sin of man
Jesus had no sin, yet he put himself among those who had no righteousness.
The sinless one submitted to a baptism for sinners.
In this act the Savior of the world took His place among the sinners of the world
Fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 (NKJV) 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Sinless God identifying with Sinful man that he intended to save (How beautiful!)
Jesus went to where the sinners where confessing their sins and said “Look- I’m here in the water with you- I’m going to submit myself to this act of repentence, even though I have no need of it”
Romans 8:3 (NKJV)3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
There was no other way for Jesus to fulfill the righteousness of men, without first identifying with their sinfulness- not COMMITTING sin- Identifying with it! (understanding
This was the first act of his ministry- a public declaration of his identification WITH man and his NEED to be cleansed from his SIN
What does that mean to you?
You serve a savior that knows the depths of your depravity and loves you anyway
He looks down and sees you as you go through your struggles and loves you through them
Jesus knows the struggle of Sin- He knows exactly what you’re going through
He knows your wandering heart, eyes and thoughts
He knows your anger with yourself after you’ve fallen into sin and your hatred of it
He knows and watches as the evil one tempts you and coerces you. When you willfully disobey
1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
But ALSO
Hebrews 2:18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Psalm 69:5 O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You.
Should you sin? Of course not! You’ve been set free from it! Don’t sin just so God can forgive you!
But REALIZE- You’re not serving a savior who doesn’t know- he totally knows your propensity for sin!
Its like with our kids- we should know what they are capable of- we all were kids!
To establish the priesthood
What does it take to establish a priest?
In Exodus 29- we see the process so the priests would be consecrated
Aaron the priest was to be washed with water, dressed with the robe of the ephod, tunic, breast piece, the sacred diadem fastened on the turban. Then, they would take the anointing oil and pour it on his head
To be consecrated as a priest, He had to be:
1. Washed with water
Exodus 29:1, 4, “This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect” . . . 4 “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water.”
Leviticus 8:6, “Then Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and washed them with water.”
Numbers 8:7, Matthew 3:16
2. Anointed with oil (represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit)
Exodus 29:7, “Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him.”
Leviticus 8:12 “Now the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.”
Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit: 1 John 2:20, 27“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth . . . As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him,”
The Holy Spirit descended from Heaven as a dove and rested upon Jesus (Matt. 3:16).
Both of these were bestowed upon Jesus at His baptism. Additionally, He would have needed to be 30 years old.
Numbers 4:1-3, says he would have needed to be 30 years old. fulfilled in Luke: Luke 3:21-23
3. Verbal Blessing was given.
Number 6:22-27, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ 27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”
Matthew 3:17, “and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’”
Jesus got baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Understand this- Jesus was a Jew- He believed the OT- and he had to fulfill everything that the OT required of Messiah- and his baptism was part of that requirement- his consecration as High Preist-
This requirement for there to be a “high preist” to go into the tabernacle and offer up the sacrifices for the sins of the nation of Israel is very important in understanding the atonement
in Lev 16 we see the standards for the priesthood- and how the priests would be required to go and sacrifice for the sins of the nation of Israel
Theres a few times in that chapter where the words “everlasting statute” are said
Leviticus 16:34This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as theLord commanded Moses.
God established the high priest as the one who would offer up the sacrifices of sin for Mankind FOREVER and established that it would be everlasting
So there was no other way for Jesus to be able to offer up the sacrifices of sin on our behalf unless he entered into this priesthood- it would go against God’s word had it not been fulfilled
Matt 31:3Then 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.
This is the picture of Jesus’ baptism- washed, anointed, and given a verbal blessing as priest
Jesus was baptized so He could enter into the Melchizedek priesthood–so He could be the High Priest and offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.
What does it mean to you?
Jesus is your high priest FOREVER
Hebrews 6:20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
As much as the high priest would go into the tabernacle to for the nation of Israel- Jesus is FOREVER your HIGH Priest taking care of your sins for YOU
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The Psalmist knew this!- Psalm 110:4 The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7: 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Romans 8:34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Your SIN- Your standing with God- is in the hands of the PRIEST JESUS- the one who intercedes on your behalf- ensuring your righteous standing before God!
You should REJOICE with knowing that you have him paying for your sin and granting you eternal life!
