John’s Baptism of Jesus

Transcript

GR653
12/3/1983
John’s Baptism of Jesus
Matthew 3:13-17
Gil Rugh

Matthew 3 is a crucial section of the New Testament, not only for what it reveals about the ministry of John the Baptist and the beginning ministry of Jesus Christ, but also because it discusses a matter which comes up repeatedly in the New Testament - baptism. In this study the focus will first be baptism in general, then the baptism of Jesus Christ in the concluding verses of chapter 3.

In Matthew 3:11 and 12, John drew a contrast between his ministry and the ministry of the coming Messiah. "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" (Matt 3:11). In this verse, three baptisms are mentioned: John’s baptism with water, and the Messiah's baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Remember that the baptism with fire is a baptism of judgment which Matthew elaborates on in verse 12. After the Messiah has executed His judgment, there will be no unbelievers alive on the face of the earth. The kingdom will be set up then with only believers.

The word "baptism" appears 120 times in the New Testament and would be an interesting word to study. Let me suggest a good exercise for you which will familiarize you with baptism. Look up the word in a concordance and categorize all its references to baptism. You will have to determine the type of baptism to which the word is referring from the context in which it is found. Two broad distinctions are baptism by water and baptism by the Spirit. Baptism does not always refer to water because 1 Corinthians 12:13 speaks of baptism by the Spirit: "For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body." Matthew 3:11 speaks of baptism by fire. In both of these baptisms, the element is not water; it is the Spirit in one and fire in the other. So you must be careful in your study to determine if the reference to baptism is baptism by water, by the Spirit or by fire.

John's baptism was a baptism for repentance. Those who were baptized by John were testifying to the fact that they had repented -- that they had changed their minds about their sin. That is clear in the context because John refused to baptize those who had not demonstrated repentance, particularly Sadducees and Pharisees. John's baptism testifies to a true and genuine repentance.
The key element of all kinds of baptism in the Scriptures is identification. The one being baptized is identifying himself with someone or something. Those baptized by John the Baptist were identifying themselves with his ministry and message. They were agreeing with John that they needed to repent. They were indicating that they had changed their minds about their sin and had placed their faith in the coming Messiah as their Savior. They testified through their baptism that they were a people getting ready for the kingdom John was preaching about.
John said the Messiah would have a greater baptism than John. Obviously, there are baptisms in the Scriptures that supersede John's baptism. In Acts 19 Paul rebaptized the converts of John the Baptist when he found them in Ephesus. He told them that John had baptized them with the baptism unto repentance saying that they should believe on Him who was to come. Paul then told these believers that the Messiah had come, and that since they had believed in Him, they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ as an identification with Him. Therefore, John's baptism was not an end in itself. It identified the people with John and his message until the Messiah would come. So in Acts 19 He rebaptized in water with Christian baptism those who had been followers of John the Baptist. That action indicates that there are at least two kinds of water baptism. There is John's baptism and there is Christian baptism. They are obviously different because Paul rebaptized the disciples of John.

Spirit baptism is mentioned in Matthew 3:11. This baptism with the Holy Spirit was promised to be done by the Messiah, but it is interesting that during His entire earthly ministry, Jesus Christ did not baptize anyone with the Holy Spirit. This baptism is something He promised to do as the Messiah, but because of the unbelief of the nation Israel, the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit did not occur during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is described more in the Book of Acts. By the first chapter of that book, Jesus Christ has been crucified, buried and raised from the dead. Since His resurrection He has been ministering to His disciples and in this chapter He is preparing for His final ascension to the Father. After Acts 1 Jesus Christ will not appear again on earth until He returns in Revelation 19 to set up His earthly Messianic kingdom. Note what He told the disciples in Acts 1:4,5: "Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, 'Which,' He said, 'you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" Here Jesus was with the disciples, those who had been His closest followers. Even up to this point, He told them that the promise of their being baptized by the Holy Spirit had not yet been fulfilled. But they were to wait at Jerusalem where they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit "not many days from now."

That event occurs in Acts 2 when the Spirit of God comes upon them in a special and unique way. We know that prophecy was fulfilled because it is specifically referred to in Acts 11. Acts 10 gives the background for the statements of the following chapter. Peter was sent to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. He preached the gospel -- the death, burial and resurrection of Christ -to Cornelius, his family and his friends. They believed the gospel and were immediately baptized with the Holy Spirit. The testimony to their baptism by the Holy Spirit was that they spoke with other tongues.

After the events of chapter 10, Peter proceeded to Jerusalem where he recounted to Jewish believers there what had happened to the Gentiles he had ministered to. Acts 11:15-17 says:
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"

Peter was saying that what happened to Cornelius was the same thing that happened to the Jews. If you read the accounts in Acts 2 and 10, you will see the similarities of events. Peter said that was the fulfillment of the promise, “but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). So the baptism with the Holy Spirit, characteristic of the Messiah's ministry, did not occur until Acts 2 because of the unbelief of the nation Israel.

Today there is much misunderstanding about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament clarifies this teaching. Each time a new group of people was evangelized in the Book of Acts, it was characteristic of them to speak with other languages when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. This occurred four times in the Book of Acts -- in chapter 2 with the Jews, in chapter 8 with the Samaritans, in chapter 10 with the Gentiles and in chapter 19 with the disciples of John. Such a demonstration gave cohesiveness to the Church of Jesus Christ, which was beginning in Acts 2. Thus the Church was solidified under the ministry of the apostles. In each of these four cases, the baptism of the spirit comes in connection with an apostolic ministry.

The baptism of the Spirit continues on throughout the New Testament. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." The verb in that phrase is in the aorist tense, indicating action that happened at a point in time. The baptism of the Spirit took those who believed and identified them with Jesus Christ, making them part of His Body, the Church. This concept is developed more fully in passages like Ephesians 2 and 3 where God created a new entity, the Church of Jesus Christ, comprised of Jews and Gentiles alike. The moment a person believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior, he is baptized by the Spirit of God.

Baptism of the Spirit is also developed in more detail in Romans 6. This passage also indicates that it is the work of the Spirit of God that identifies a believer with Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. The moment you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, God identifies you spiritually by the ministry of the Holy Spirit with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. That is the basis upon which God forgives your sins. He views you as having died with Jesus, as having been buried with Him and as having been raised with Christ to newness of life. That is the ministry of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, carried out through the Holy Spirit beginning in Acts 2 and continuing down to today. It is a fulfillment of New Covenant promises from the Book of Jeremiah where it is promised that the Spirit would come upon the people.

Every person today who believes in Jesus Christ is baptized with the Holy Spirit. Such individuals do not necessarily speak with other languages today as they did in the New Testament because those individuals are not new groups. The new groups have already been identified. The Church has been solidified under the apostolic ministry. The baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit is associated with the ministry of the Messiah. The reason for the baptizing ministry of the Spirit today is that the Messiah has come and has secured redemption. He is now carrying out that ministry which identifies all those who believe, with Him and His Body, the Church.

There are various kinds of water baptism. There is a water baptism in Scripture that is referred to as Jewish baptism. Hebrews 6:2 speaks about various kinds of washings. The word "washings" in that verse is the word for baptism. This is referring to baptism in the Jewish context, the ceremonial cleansing that the Jews observed.

Another kind of water baptism is John's baptism discussed earlier. Then there is also Jesus' baptism, which will be examined in more detail shortly. Later on in the New Testament is Christian baptism. Thus there are at least four kinds of water baptism in the New Testament.

Additionally, there is a special kind of baptism which is figurative in 1 Corinthians 10:2 where it says that the children of Israel "all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

All of these types of baptism stress the fact that we must be careful students of Scripture. When we see the word "baptism", we need to determine what kind of baptism it is referring to.

There are at least four kinds of water baptism in the New Testament, but there is only one Spirit baptism. That is what Ephesians 4:5 is referring to when it speaks of "one baptism." Spirit baptism is obviously the reference because all of the other things mentioned in that passage are spiritual realities. It is, therefore, referring to the one Spirit baptism that every believer has experienced.

Now let's look in more detail at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3. Almost thirty years have transpired since the events of Matthew 2. Only a few isolated incidents in His life from these years are referred to in a few other passages in Scripture.

Luke 2:21 says that Jesus underwent the Jewish rite of circumcision on the eighth day. The next verse indicates that He was presented at the temple in the Jewish rite of the presentation of the first-born. This presentation when He was forty days old was obligatory for the Jews as a reminder that God had spared the first-born in Israel when He destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians. As the first-born male of Mary and Joseph, Jesus is presented at the temple on this occasion.

Luke 2:41-51 records the incident of Jesus at the temple at the age of twelve. After leaving the temple and starting the journey home, Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus was not with the group and returned to the temple to find Him instructing the leaders. When His parents asked Him why He had not returned with them He responded, "Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?" (v.49). Then verse 52 gives a bird's-eye view of His development through the years: "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."

These isolated events are about all Scripture records about the early years of Jesus' life. At the closing events of Matthew 3, the writers of the other Gospels inform us that Jesus was thirty years of age. The fact that the other Gospel writers identify him as being thirty years of age may have some significance. Numbers 4:30 indicates that a Jewish man could not begin to function as a priest until he was thirty years of age. In previous studies we have seen that Jesus Christ had everything else which qualified Him for a priestly ministry. Now we see that He also was qualified in age to assume that responsibility. In Matthew 12 Jesus is identified as prophet, priest and king. At this point He is about to begin His public Messianic ministry.

When Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized by John, John resisted His request for baptism initially. "But John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?'" (Matt. 3:14). John recognized the superiority of Jesus Christ. At this point, according to John 1, John was not sure that Jesus was the Messiah. He would not know that for sure until after the baptism. But evidently because of the work of the Spirit in John's life, he recognized something of the person of Christ and His superiority. In Luke 1 it says that John had the Spirit from his mother's womb. As Jesus approached him for baptism, John realized that he ought to be identified with Jesus Christ, but he did not feel that Jesus Christ needed to be identified with him and his ministry.

The response of Jesus is interesting: "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"
(v.15).

Keep in mind that the baptism of John signified repentance from sin. This obviously would not apply to Jesus Christ because He was without sin. John himself identified Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So when Jesus came to be baptized by John, it was not a testimony that He was repenting of sin, but rather it was a positive identification with Israel and the believing remnant among the Jews. In other words, John's ministry was intimately related to the ministry of Jesus Christ, his Messiah. His baptism identified Him in a public way with John's ministry and message and with the believers of the nation who were associating themselves with John the Baptist. In a public way for the entire nation, Jesus was identified with John and his ministry.

Jesus' statement that "it is fitting" evidently meant that this was the right thing to do at the time.
The Law did not demand baptism, but God had given to John a ministry of baptism. Therefore, it was fitting and right for Jesus to submit Himself to that as He carried out His Father's will in every area. That was part of what God wanted to do in presenting Jesus in a public way to the nation. This was the public presentation, the inauguration if you will, of the Messiah to His Messianic office. It was a very important event because it was a turning point or dividing line in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Some apocryphal gospels were written at a later time which are not part of Scripture. These writings include fairy tales about Jesus making clay animals and birds then giving them life so they could walk off or fly away. We know that did not happen because we saw earlier in Luke 2 that "Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). He did not begin His Messianic ministry that was validated by miracles until after He was baptized by John. At this turning point in His life, He began to function as the Messiah. He offered Himself to the nation as its Messiah and offered proofs of being the Messiah through miracles, signs and wonders.

After Jesus was baptized, there was an immediate response from heaven in verses 16 and 17:
"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, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, said 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well- pleased." The Spirit descending as a dove is the anointing of Jesus Christ to His Messianic office. The Spirit comes in the form of a dove because if the Spirit is to be seen, He must take some kind of visible form. This is a testimony to John that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
The dove was chosen perhaps for several reasons, the most obvious being that the dove was the bird of sacrifice in the Old Testament. This ties to the ministry that Christ will have as the sacrificial lamb of the nation. God speaks of this in Isaiah 42:1: "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations." When God says, "I have put my Spirit upon Him," it does not mean that Jesus did not have the Spirit. John the Baptist had the Spirit from his mother's womb, so there is no problem with Jesus having the Spirit as well. But this statement is in line with other Old Testament experiences where the Spirit of God came upon an individual for a particular function to enable him to carry out a particular office.

The same thing happened when David was anointed as King of Israel. The Spirit of God came upon him when he was anointed as king to enable him to carry out the responsibilities of the office. At the baptism of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God anointed Him as the Messiah; now He could be presented to the nation as the Messiah and could offer the kingdom to the nation Israel.

What was Christ doing when He was twenty-eight years of age? He was functioning as a carpenter in His father's carpentry shop, growing and maturing in wisdom. But there came a turning point in His ministry at the age of thirty. He was anointed by the Spirit of God and His public ministry began.

Isaiah 61 is a Messianic passage which applies to this time in the life of Jesus Christ: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord" (vs.1, 2). The coming of the Spirit on Jesus Christ is His anointing for the office of Messiah.

Jesus applies this passage from Isaiah 61 to Himself in Luke 4. On this occasion He came to Nazareth and entered the synagogue on the Sabbath Day taking the scroll and reading from the prophet Isaiah. Luke 4:18-19 records what Jesus read when He opened the scroll to Isaiah 61:
"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 downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." This portion of Isaiah 61 applies to the first coming of Jesus Christ and to His ministry at that time. The anointing with the Spirit is His inauguration into His office as Messiah.

The Spirit of God descending as a dove in Matthew 3:16 is a crucial factor in the public testimony of who Jesus Christ really is. On this occasion the Messiah is being inaugurated into His office as the Messiah. This does not mean that He now becomes the Son of God or becomes something different in His person. It is similar to the election and inauguration of the President of the United States. The people may have elected a President, but it is not until his inauguration that he begins to function in the office. So it is with Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God and was born to be the Messiah of Israel. From His birth He was worshipped as such as shown in the opening chapters of Matthew, but He did not begin to carry out that office of Messiah until He was thirty years of age.

Matthew 3:17 records one of three times in Jesus' earthly life that the Father spoke from heaven concerning Him, "and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." This statement was made on the occasion of His baptism. At the event of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17, we will see the second occasion when the Father spoke from heaven. The third is in John 12 just prior to the crucifixion. On those three occasions the Father spoke audibly from heaven as a testimony to the identity of His Son. Some say that this statement of the Father is like the coronation formula for Jesus Christ, a public declaration and announcement of His ministry. It puts God's seal on the first thirty years of Jesus' life. We do not know all that went on during those thirty years, but God has added His stamp of approval with these comments.

The statement about Jesus Christ being the beloved Son of God also goes back to the Old Testament. This statement from heaven by the Father is a combination of Isaiah 42:1, "My chosen One in whom My soul delights," and Psalm 2:7, "Thou art My Son." God the Father joins the two statements together and gives a public declaration from heaven that this is the Messiah. For John the Baptist or for any Jew familiar with the Old Testament, these passages simply leap out and clarify without doubt that this is indeed the Messiah of Israel. It is a testimony that Christ is the One that God has provided to be their king and Savior.

As we consider the baptism of Jesus Christ, we understand that it accomplished basically two things. First, it fulfills all righteousness in that it accomplishes and carries out the plan of God.
It identifies Jesus Christ with the ministry of John the Baptist and the declaration of the coming kingdom; it identifies Him with the faithful-believing remnant of the nation Israel. In effect, it puts a seal of approval on the ministry of John the Baptist. Secondly, it is the inauguration of Jesus Christ into His Messianic office.

The baptism of Jesus was unique from other baptisms John was performing because John was initially unwilling to do it. He recognized the baptism of Jesus to be of a different kind and type than any other baptism he would perform. God Himself testified from heaven concerning His Son on this occasion. So for those reasons we must consider the baptism of Jesus Christ as a unique baptism in and of itself. It was not part and parcel of the baptism of John the Baptist.
John recognized that; God testified to that from heaven. Thus we must also make a distinction. Therefore, we have John's baptism in water, Jesus' baptism in water and Christian baptism in water.

A few comments are in order about Christian baptism. What we refer to as Christian baptism has nothing directly to do with the baptism of Jesus Christ. We sometimes indicate that people desire to follow Jesus Christ in baptism. However, we are not baptized because Jesus Christ was baptized. We are not fulfilling all righteousness or being identified with John's ministry and message when we are baptized in Christian baptism. Our baptism is totally different from the baptism of John the Baptist. We are certainly not being inaugurated into a messianic office or being presented in a public way as the Messiah or anything similar. In Christian baptism, we are not identifying with John's baptism in any way.

Some people say they are getting baptized because Jesus was baptized. That is not theologically correct. Jesus was baptized as part of the special plan God had for Him, and His baptism was unique and special. It presents Him as the Messiah of Israel and inaugurates Him into that office. From this point on in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is the focal point. He will be tempted by Satan in chapter 4. Later He will choose His disciples and move into His ministry. He will offer the kingdom to the nation Israel and present Himself as their Messiah.

If Christian baptism is not related in any way to John's baptism or to the baptism of Jesus, what is the purpose of Christian baptism? It is a public declaration that an individual has believed in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for his salvation. That is the testimony of Christian baptism. The one being baptized is identifying himself with Christ in a public way. Therefore, Christian baptism is unique and special. It is different from Jewish baptism where Gentile converts to Judaism were baptized. It is different from John's baptism which identified individuals as turning from their sins and getting ready for the coming kingdom. It is different from Jesus' baptism which identified Him with John and his ministry and message and inaugurated Him into His Messianic office. Christian baptism is our public identification with Jesus Christ as the One who died for us. It tells others that we are placing our faith in Him for our salvation.

It is interesting that Jesus began His public ministry with the declaration from heaven concerning His person and character. He is the well-loved Son of God, the One in whom God is well- pleased. He is the One whom God has offered and provided to be the King of Israel and the Savior of all mankind. The rest of the Book of Matthew will be a testimony to the person and work of Jesus Christ as He carries on His public ministry. As John introduced Him to the nation he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

For the past two thousand years Jesus Christ has been presented in a public way as God's Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our responsibility today is to respond to Him. Have you recognized Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? Have you trusted Him alone as your Savior? The issue is not how religious you are. It is not whether or not you have been baptized. Neither is it your church affiliation. The issue is your relationship to the One with whom God is well-pleased. Christianity is an exciting, personal relationship between you as a person and Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Have you believed in Him as the One who died for you?