(upbeat music) - We close out the week with a question from Bob, a podcast listener who writes in to ask a simple question, but a very good question as well. Simply put, why did Jesus insist on being baptized by John the Baptist? Pastor John, what would you say? - The fullest description of the baptism of Jesus is given in Matthew's Gospel, chapter three.

So let's let Matthew guide us in answering the question, why did Jesus insist on being baptized by John? There are at least two things that Matthew makes plain about John's baptism, which are relevant for why Jesus would insist on submitting to this baptism. First, Matthew says in verse six, chapter three, that people were coming to be baptized, confessing their sins.

And then he quotes John in verse 11, "I baptize you with water for repentance." So Matthew was making plain that the purpose of John's baptism was to provide an occasion for Jewish people to confess their sins and repent and get right with God. That's the first thing. Second, John makes clear that his baptism of repentance is bringing into being a people of God for the coming Messiah, and that he's bringing this people into being with an identity that is not identical with their Jewishness, but with their repentance.

We see it in verse nine. He says to the Pharisees who had come out to the river, "And do not presume to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father. "For I tell you, God is able from these stones "to raise up children to Abraham." What does that mean?

It means there is no salvation and no security in claiming your lineage from Abraham. God is free in choosing who will be in his people. He could make saints of his own out of rocks if he wanted to. So the new people of God that are being gathered by this baptism, being prepared for the coming Messiah, Jesus, are marked by repentance and the fruit that comes from repentance.

And they are not like the Pharisees, depending on their ethnicity or their religious pedigree by saying, "We have Abraham as our father." Now, Jesus comes into that situation, and John says to him, "Whoa, I need to be baptized by you. "And do you come to me to be baptized?" In other words, he makes crystal clear that Jesus does not need this baptism.

He does not need to repent. He does not need to confess any sins. So why are you here? And Jesus gives one sentence in answer, and it is massively important. He says, "Let it now be so, "for thus it is fitting for us "to fulfill all righteousness." It is fitting.

That's why he's doing it. It's fitting. Well, what is fitting? Fulfilling all righteousness is fitting. Evidently, Jesus saw his life as the fulfillment of all righteousness. And the fact that participating in a baptism of repentance, even though he had no sins to repent of, is part of that, shows that the righteousness he wanted to fulfill was the righteousness required not of himself, but of every sinful man.

Jesus had read Isaiah 53. Indeed, Isaiah 53 was his life mission. And here's what he read in verse 11. "By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, "make many to be accounted righteous." So the righteous one will cause many to be counted righteous. So my answer to the question why Jesus insisted on being baptized is that this new people who were being gathered by John the Baptist on the basis of repentance and faith, not on the basis of Jewishness, would need to be justified.

They would need to be counted righteous, 'cause they weren't righteous. They would need to have a righteousness not their own, as Paul said in Philippians 3, 8. And that righteousness included the fulfillment of all righteousness in life, the life of Jesus. - Amen. - All the righteousness that would be required of men before the court of God, Jesus performed.

And so he joined fallen humanity for whom he was providing righteousness in sharing their baptism. - That is profound. Thank you, Pastor John. And thank you, Bob, for sending in this very simple but profound question as well. We are gonna break for the weekend now, and Monday we will talk about free will and how is God sovereign over my free choices?

How does that work? It's an important question. We get that question a lot. And that will be on the table on Monday. For more information about the podcast or to search our archive of questions or to send us a concise question of your own or to download the apps or to find our most recent or our most popular episodes, you can find all of that at our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

I'm your host, Tony Rehnke. Have a great weekend, and we will see you back here on Monday. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)