Why Was Jesus Baptized?

00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)

00:00:02.580 | - We close out the week with a question from Bob,

00:00:07.300 | a podcast listener who writes in to ask a simple question,

00:00:10.380 | but a very good question as well.

00:00:12.580 | Simply put, why did Jesus insist

00:00:15.420 | on being baptized by John the Baptist?

00:00:18.420 | Pastor John, what would you say?

00:00:20.460 | - The fullest description of the baptism of Jesus

00:00:23.600 | is given in Matthew's Gospel, chapter three.

00:00:27.580 | So let's let Matthew guide us in answering the question,

00:00:32.580 | why did Jesus insist on being baptized by John?

00:00:37.780 | There are at least two things that Matthew makes plain

00:00:43.740 | about John's baptism, which are relevant

00:00:47.500 | for why Jesus would insist on submitting to this baptism.

00:00:53.900 | First, Matthew says in verse six, chapter three,

00:00:58.700 | that people were coming to be baptized,

00:01:01.500 | confessing their sins.

00:01:04.300 | And then he quotes John in verse 11,

00:01:08.020 | "I baptize you with water for repentance."

00:01:12.340 | So Matthew was making plain that the purpose

00:01:16.440 | of John's baptism was to provide an occasion

00:01:19.260 | for Jewish people to confess their sins

00:01:22.860 | and repent and get right with God.

00:01:25.700 | That's the first thing.

00:01:26.540 | Second, John makes clear that his baptism of repentance

00:01:31.540 | is bringing into being a people of God

00:01:37.420 | for the coming Messiah,

00:01:40.100 | and that he's bringing this people into being

00:01:44.380 | with an identity that is not identical

00:01:48.380 | with their Jewishness, but with their repentance.

00:01:52.760 | We see it in verse nine.

00:01:54.020 | He says to the Pharisees who had come out to the river,

00:01:57.560 | "And do not presume to say to yourselves,

00:02:00.740 | "We have Abraham as our father.

00:02:03.600 | "For I tell you, God is able from these stones

00:02:05.900 | "to raise up children to Abraham."

00:02:07.940 | What does that mean?

00:02:08.940 | It means there is no salvation and no security

00:02:14.260 | in claiming your lineage from Abraham.

00:02:17.660 | God is free in choosing who will be in his people.

00:02:21.420 | He could make saints of his own out of rocks

00:02:25.240 | if he wanted to.

00:02:26.780 | So the new people of God that are being gathered

00:02:30.520 | by this baptism, being prepared for the coming Messiah,

00:02:33.880 | Jesus, are marked by repentance

00:02:37.460 | and the fruit that comes from repentance.

00:02:39.640 | And they are not like the Pharisees,

00:02:41.960 | depending on their ethnicity or their religious pedigree

00:02:45.540 | by saying, "We have Abraham as our father."

00:02:47.560 | Now, Jesus comes into that situation,

00:02:50.960 | and John says to him, "Whoa, I need to be baptized by you.

00:02:55.960 | "And do you come to me to be baptized?"

00:03:00.040 | In other words, he makes crystal clear

00:03:02.840 | that Jesus does not need this baptism.

00:03:07.000 | He does not need to repent.

00:03:09.880 | He does not need to confess any sins.

00:03:12.920 | So why are you here?

00:03:15.520 | And Jesus gives one sentence in answer,

00:03:20.640 | and it is massively important.

00:03:23.160 | He says, "Let it now be so,

00:03:28.080 | "for thus it is fitting for us

00:03:32.780 | "to fulfill all righteousness."

00:03:37.280 | It is fitting.

00:03:38.480 | That's why he's doing it.

00:03:39.440 | It's fitting.

00:03:40.600 | Well, what is fitting?

00:03:42.680 | Fulfilling all righteousness is fitting.

00:03:47.640 | Evidently, Jesus saw his life

00:03:51.920 | as the fulfillment of all righteousness.

00:03:55.120 | And the fact that participating in a baptism of repentance,

00:04:00.120 | even though he had no sins to repent of,

00:04:03.340 | is part of that, shows that the righteousness

00:04:07.020 | he wanted to fulfill was the righteousness required

00:04:11.080 | not of himself, but of every sinful man.

00:04:17.240 | Jesus had read Isaiah 53.

00:04:20.100 | Indeed, Isaiah 53 was his life mission.

00:04:26.040 | And here's what he read in verse 11.

00:04:29.940 | "By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

00:04:36.320 | "make many to be accounted righteous."

00:04:41.620 | So the righteous one will cause many

00:04:45.360 | to be counted righteous.

00:04:48.560 | So my answer to the question why Jesus insisted

00:04:52.560 | on being baptized is that this new people

00:04:57.040 | who were being gathered by John the Baptist

00:04:59.880 | on the basis of repentance and faith,

00:05:01.680 | not on the basis of Jewishness,

00:05:04.920 | would need to be justified.

00:05:08.140 | They would need to be counted righteous,

00:05:11.580 | 'cause they weren't righteous.

00:05:13.160 | They would need to have a righteousness

00:05:15.100 | not their own, as Paul said in Philippians 3, 8.

00:05:20.100 | And that righteousness included the fulfillment

00:05:23.880 | of all righteousness in life, the life of Jesus.

00:05:28.880 | - Amen.

00:05:30.560 | - All the righteousness that would be required of men

00:05:34.000 | before the court of God, Jesus performed.

00:05:38.720 | And so he joined fallen humanity

00:05:42.440 | for whom he was providing righteousness

00:05:45.600 | in sharing their baptism.

00:05:47.380 | - That is profound.

00:05:49.240 | Thank you, Pastor John.

00:05:50.320 | And thank you, Bob, for sending in this very simple

00:05:53.000 | but profound question as well.

00:05:56.040 | We are gonna break for the weekend now,

00:05:58.200 | and Monday we will talk about free will

00:06:00.560 | and how is God sovereign over my free choices?

00:06:04.280 | How does that work?

00:06:05.360 | It's an important question.

00:06:07.280 | We get that question a lot.

00:06:09.160 | And that will be on the table on Monday.

00:06:11.440 | For more information about the podcast

00:06:13.000 | or to search our archive of questions

00:06:15.160 | or to send us a concise question of your own

00:06:17.360 | or to download the apps or to find our most recent

00:06:20.520 | or our most popular episodes,

00:06:22.300 | you can find all of that at our online home

00:06:24.440 | at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

00:06:28.600 | I'm your host, Tony Rehnke.

00:06:29.600 | Have a great weekend,

00:06:30.680 | and we will see you back here on Monday.

00:06:32.640 | (upbeat music)

00:06:35.220 | (upbeat music)

00:06:37.800 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

Why Was Jesus Baptized?

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