You can imagine the excitement that must have been in the
air in Israel during this time. God has been silent for four-hundred years
after speaking to the nation and rebuking them through Malachi the prophet. Sure,
they were back in the Promise Land but they were under the thumb of the Romans.
The promise of a Messiah only seemed to be a dream. But then Herod the Great rebuilt
the temple in Jerusalem and once again the observance of the sacrifices and feast
days like Passover were allowed to be observed. Stories of a special baby being
born in Bethlehem with wise men from the east visiting Him, had circulated throughout
the land. And now a colorful prophet shows up with a powerful message that “the
kingdom of heaven is at hand”. God appears to be speaking to His people
once again and they respond by the thousands coming to the Jordan River to be
baptized by this prophet, John the Baptist!
John was faithful in his ministry by first preparing the
hearts of the people for the coming Messiah. He clearly preached and proclaimed
that Jesus was "the Lord" (Luke 3:4) and the “Son of God”
(John 1:34). John begins his message by exposing the hypocrisy of the religious
leaders. Next, he addressed the people and the soldiers and gave them specific
instructions on what it meant to repent and the terrible consequences if they refused.
And now in our verses today, because John rebuked Herod Antipas for his
adulterous marriage to Herodias and other evils that he had done, he was
imprisoned by the king and eventually beheaded some ten months later. However, John
had faithfully finished his God-given assignment and prepared the people to
meet the Messiah, the Son of God.
Luke now tells us that one day, after all the others had
been baptized, Jesus presented Himself for baptism at the Jordan by John.
Matthew’s Gospel informs us that at first John refused to comply (Matt.
3:13-15). He knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the perfect Son of God who had no
need to repent of sin. Jesus responded, "Permit it to be so now, for
thus it is fitting for Us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15).
Then John baptized Him. Why then was the sinless Son of God baptized?
To begin with, in His baptism Jesus identified with the
sinners that He came to save. Also, His baptism was the official start of His
ministry (Acts 1:21-22; 10:37-38), and Luke states that He was "about
thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23). It is also interesting to note that Joseph
was thirty when Pharaoh elevated him to the seat of power in Egypt.
But our Lord's words tell us the main reason for His
baptism: "for in this way it is fitting for Us to fulfill all
righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). In what way? In the way pictured by His
baptism in the Jordan. Many Bible scholars agree that New Testament baptism was
by immersion, which is a picture of death, burial, and resurrection. Our Lords
baptism in water was a picture of His work of redemption (Matt. 20:22; Luke
12:50). It was through His baptism of suffering on the cross that God "fulfilled
all righteousness." (The "Us" in Matthew 3:15 does
not mean John and Jesus. It means the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.)
When our Lord came up from the water, the Father spoke from
heaven and identified Him as the beloved Son of God, and the Spirit visibly
came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Those who deny the Trinity have a
difficult time explaining this event. This is the first of three recorded
occasions when the Father spoke from heaven. The second was when Jesus was
transfigured (Luke 9:28-36), and the third was during His last week before the
cross (John 12:28).
Only Luke mentions that Jesus was praying at His baptism,
and this was only one of many occasions (Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28-29; 11:1;
23:34, 46). As the perfect Son of man, Jesus depended on His Father to meet His
needs, and that was why He prayed.
Are you praying and depending upon our Father in heaven to
meet your needs today?
God bless!
