Jesus’ Baptism
Passage Matthew 3:13–17
Speaker Hugh Bourne
Service Morning
Series New Year New You
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13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’
15 Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This transcript has been automatically generated, and therefore may not be 100% accurate.
Well, please do keep your bibles open in Matthew, chapter three. As we look at that together this morning, I wonder, is there anyone who can fix our broken world?
So often when we pray, we remind ourselves of just how broken the world is. This year we've regularly been praying for peace. In Ukraine, in Yemen, in Gaza. The world seems to be a very broken place. And even in our own country, which has been blessed with so much peace, we're often praying about division, scandal, society, in the world, just not working.
We wonder, is there anyone who can fix our broken world? And perhaps, as we dig a little bit deeper, we wonder, is there anyone who can fix a broken me? We know the problem is not just out there in the world, but in my own heart. As we're weighed by guilt from our mistakes, broken relationships, shame from the past, things in our life that just don't seem to work. We begin New Year with so much hope and expectation that things will be better.
But we know deep down, my own life is not as it should be. Well, hopefully, as we look at this passage this morning, we're going to see that Jesus is the joyful answer to both those questions. Jesus is able to fix a broken world and a broken knee. And we're going to explore our passage this morning through three questions. Why does Jesus get baptised?
What happens when heaven is opened? And how does the father think about the son? Well, let's look at that first question. Why does Jesus get baptised? And that's exactly the question that John had.
Jesus, why are you getting baptised? In fact, we're told he tried to stop him. We read just earlier on verse eleven, John has been going around baptising people. And this baptism, we're told, is a baptism of repentance, this symbol of going down into the river Jordan and coming back up again. A symbol of people coming to say sorry and returning to God.
I think, well, Jesus, he's done nothing wrong. He's blameless, he's sinless. Indeed he is God. He's got nothing to repent of, nothing to return to. And indeed, John turned it back on Jesus in verse 14.
John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptised by you. And do you come to me now? John's already alluded to this just before, in verse eleven, he said to the crowd after me comes someone who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So why does Jesus get baptised?
We know it's not for repentance, not for saying sorry. In fact, it's a really easy question to answer, because Jesus tells us at verse 15, here's why Jesus get baptised. Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness. That's why Jesus get baptised, to fulfil all righteousness. Fantastic.
That's cleared that up. Then on to the next question. But you might be thinking, well, what does that mean? What does Jesus mean when he says, well, let's do this to fulfil all righteousness? Well, when Matthew uses these words, fulfilment and righteousness, he's often talking about very specific things.
So when Matthew speaks about fulfilment, he's almost always speaking about specific fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, things that were written down in the Old Testament, prophesying the future that have now come to pass. And when he speaks about righteousness, he's not simply talking about doing the right thing, but he's talking about being in agreement and right relationship with God. Indeed, when a few chapters time in Matthew, chapter five, when Jesus says in the sermon on the mount to hunger and thirst for righteousness, he's not simply talking about a desire to be good, but a desire for God, a desire to know him and love him and be in right relationship with him. Now, these events of the baptism of Jesus, I think, are most clearly bound up in a particular prophecy in the Old Testament. And if you've got a Bible, perhaps you turn with me there.
Now, it's in Isaiah, chapter 42, and that's on page 728. If you've got a church bible there, Isaiah 42. Let me read those first few verses for us. Isaiah 42, verses one to four. Behold my servant, whom I uphold my chosen in whom my soul delights.
I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands. Wait for his Lord. Well, in a moment we'll see more clearly how that passage is fulfilled. But let me move on to the next question. What happens when heaven is opened?
As Jesus is baptised, something amazing happens. We're told the heavens were open to him. And that doesn't mean it rained really heavily. Rather, it means God was revealing himself.
And he reveals himself in two ways. There's a vision and a voice, something he saw and something he heard. Firstly, here's what he saw. It's then verse 16. And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water and behold, look, the heavens were open to him.
And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. The Holy Spirit here appears in physical form, the form of a dove. And he does that so that you might see, that all might see. God's prophecy is coming true. What did Isaiah prophesy?
Chapter 42, verse one. I have put my spirit upon him. Here, in the form of love. The Holy Spirit comes to rest on him. And we know God is fulfilling his promise.
But just as an aside, there's some even grander imagery going on here. As the dove hovers above the water, that language might be familiar to you. It comes from the book of Genesis. In fact, the second verse of the Bible. We're told the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And then, even more clearly, in chapter eight of Genesis, the account of Noah and the flood. How does the flood end? The waters stop. They're looking for dry land. And what does Noah do?
He sends out a dove across the waters to see if there is dry land. To see if the waters had subsided. The spirit of God hovers, flies over the water here, pictured as a dove. And what happens next? Well, both in Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter eight, what we see next is creation.
And then in chapter eight, recreation. The world made, the world remade. Matthew here is alerting us to something amazing that is about to happen in Jesus. We are about to see the world remade again and renewed as he brings God's kingdom to earth. Amazing things.
And Matthew is saying, look at what's happening here. Now, Isaiah prophesies about this spirit filled servant. And this is the same servant that, as we read on in Isaiah's prophecy, would be known as the suffering servant. But here in Isaiah 42, we're told what this servant will do. And there's a particular, repeated theme.
Perhaps you noticed it as I read the first time. Verse one, he will bring forth justice. Verse three, he will faithfully bring forth justice. Verse four, he will not grow faint or be discouraged until he has established justice in the earth. This spirit filled servant will bring God's justice to the world.
But when the Old Testament prophets speak about justice, so often they speak about something else at the same time. Righteousness. Justice and righteousness, like two sides of a coin. If righteousness is about living in agreement and relationship with God and his ways, then justice is about sharing that way of life with others, with the world around us. Here's another example from another prophet.
Jeremiah, chapter 22. He puts these two ideas very closely together. Thus says the Lord, do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed and do no wrong or violence, the resident alien, the fatherless and the widow. Nor shed blood, innocent blood in this place.
God's spirit filled servant will bring his justice. His righteousness was at the cinema yesterday. I took the boys to see a newish film. It's called Wonka. You might have heard about it.
It's about Willy Wonka. It's a prequel to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series. And there's a repeated line in the film, the greedy beat the needy, and that's the way of the world. The film is said, in this town, which is really under oppression. It's under oppression from a chocolate cartel who rule the town.
They steal the profits from the chocolate, they hate the poor, they keep everyone else down. They're greedy, they miswave the chocolate, they mistreat the widows and the orphans. It's all themes straight out of the prophets. And Willy Wonka comes in and the lines repeated again, one of the character system, the greedy beat the needy, and that's just the way of the world. And Wonka comes into the story and says, let's change the world.
Let's change the world. That's not the way of the world anymore. So when Jesus comes and says, let me be baptised to fulfil righteousness, it's more than him just saying, I'm going to be good, I'm going to be obedient, I'm going to get baptised, rather. It's a signal to the whole world to say, I'm the one who's going to bring justice. I'm the one who's going to bring righteousness.
I'm the one who's going to change the world by bringing God's rule, his perfect justice, to everyone.
What an amazing thing. This isn't just Jesus getting wet, this is Jesus announcing God's justice is coming. Here's the final question. How does the Father think about the son? Well, we've seen the vision, haven't we?
We've seen the vision of the dove. Now we hear the voice, verse 17. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. What does the father think about the son? He loves him.
He's pleased with him. And again he's echoing words from Isaiah's prophecy. How did Isaiah's prophecy begin? Chapter 42, verse one. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.
He delights in this servant. He loves him, his beloved son. And here Jesus' identity is confirmed as the son of God and the father rejoices in that great truth. So it's striking, then that the next events, Matthew, chapter four, are Jesus journey into the wilderness and his temptation by Satan. Remember how Satan's accusations begin.
If you are the son of God, if that's who you are. There's no if. The Father's already told him and confirmed it. The whole world needs to know. This is my son.
I love him. Satan, you can't take that away, Satan. You can't cast any doubts on that. This is who he is. The father has spoken.
Now, as Jesus stands in the water of the river Jordan, two amazing and seemingly paradoxical truths are being proclaimed. We've already seen something of the first tree. This is God's son. This is the one the father loves, his chosen servant. This is the one, Jesus, who will bring God's righteousness and justice.
This is the one who will change the world. An amazing announcement.
And yet, at the same time, an equally amazing truth is being proclaimed.
Jesus is one of us.
He's being baptised with us. He's joining the queue to meet John in the river. He's standing among the people along with the remnant of Israel. They're turning back to God. He's there shoulder to shoulder with them.
He's there as a friend and a brother. You see, Isaiah 42 goes on to say, verse six says, I am the Lord. I've called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.
Jesus came this servant of justice to restore God's people and to be a light to gather all peoples in friends. That's you and me. We're the nations. We're the ones that he's called in to be his people. And here again, this is the language of new creation.
As the dove hovers over the waters, so Jesus is bringing a new covenant, a new promise from God to build a new people, his church.
You see, christian people are the people which the father gives as a gift to the son. We're his prize. We're the nations coming in. We're the people for which he makes a covenant.
You see, in his baptism, as he stands shoulder to shoulder on the banks of the Jordan, what's being showed is we are a people together. He joins us into his family. He welcomes us in as our brother so that we might call out to our shared heavenly Father. And as we christian people share a father, we share too, in his verdict. We share too, in his love.
The verdict of the Father's love for the Son is the father's love for all christian people. You are my beloved child. With you, I'm well pleased.
That's the wonder and the joy of being a Christian, of being united to Jesus. We share that wonderful father's voice that he speaks over his people. Now, as for Jesus, so for us, life will sometimes lead us into the wilderness, into times of trial and temptation. We know of ourselves, we're prone to wander, easily distracted, often seduced by the world.
And so, like Jesus, in the face of temptation, to sin and to doubt, we must remind ourselves of who we are. Listen again to the Father's voice of affirmation. You are my child whom I love. With you, I'm well pleased. That's the great verdict for all who would come and be united to the Lord Jesus.
So can anyone fix our broken world? Well, Matthew says, look what's going on here. Look at Jesus. He's God's son. He's come to bring righteousness and justice.
He's truly the saviour of the world, the one who will make all things new, the one who will change the world forever. Can anyone fix a broken world? Yes, he can. That's why he's come.
Can anyone fix a broken me?
For all my faults and failures, Jesus is in the business of making things new, united with him, Jesus, our brother. I'm no longer bound. I'm no longer kept trodden down by guilt, shame, or sin. But I'm loved. A precious child whom the father loves.
Let's pray.
A voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. Our father, we thank you that you sent your only son, Jesus, to be the bringer of righteousness, the bringer of justice to a broken world. And we thank you that in him we find true life, our true identity and the deep love of you, our father. In his name we pray. Amen.