The Baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:21-22)

The baptism of Jesus is described as an occasion when each person of the Trinity was involved. We can see that Jesus went to be baptised, that the Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the Father spoke from heaven. In this sermon we can spend a little time considering the contribution of each. Intention

The involvement of Jesus

Baptism for whoever receives it is a form of public declaration. Those whom John normally baptised were stating two things: the first was that they were sinful and the second was that they wanted to prepare for the imminent arrival of the Messiah. Although John baptised Jesus, he was not baptised for those reasons. First, he was sinless and, second, he was not preparing for the coming for the Messiah because he was the Messiah. So we need to find other reasons why Jesus was baptised, and here are two of them.

First, his baptism was a moment of dedication for Jesus to do the Father’s will. Of course, he had been doing the will of God since he was born, but we could describe that period of obedience as private. Now he was going to engage in a more public commitment to God’s will. I wonder if this was the occasion mentioned by Paul in Philippians 2 when he says that having become a man the Son of God humbled himself for the death of the cross. His baptism was the commencement of a stage in his life that would climax at Calvary.

Second, his baptism was a moment of identification with those whom John had baptised. We have already mentioned that Jesus was sinless, which means that he was very different from everyone else that John had baptised. Still he identified himself with them when he underwent the baptism of John. In some way, he was connected to them because of his baptism.

I would suggest that we get a clue regarding this dedication and identification when we notice the title that John uses of Jesus after he has been baptised. The apostle John, in his gospel, does not describe the actual baptism, but in a chronological way he speaks about Jesus as the Lamb of God after the baptism. He was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, and in that twofold title we see his dedication to be the Lamb and we see his identification with sinners because he was going to take their sins away.

Both these aspects – his dedication and his identification – were expressions of his love both to God and to man. It was his love for God that had caused him to come into the world as the Saviour, and it was his love for God and man that led him to identify himself with the sinners who were the objects of the love of the persons of the Trinity. His baptism was a moment of blissful harmony as Jesus prepared himself to step out on his divine mission of dealing with sin on behalf of sinners.

Another detail about the baptism from the involvement of Jesus that Luke mentions is that Jesus was praying. It is impossible for us to know what he was praying about, although many suggestions have been made, such as for a sign from heaven that he was approved, with the signs being the dove and the voice from heaven. Of course, that suggestion may be true; nevertheless, what we are being asked to notice by Luke is that Jesus engaged in his act of dedication and identification prayerfully. Here is a reminder that the perfect man prayed when important things involving himself took place.

The involvement of the Spirit

Luke informs us that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove. It is important to remember that this was not the first time that Jesus received the Spirit. The Saviour, because he was sinless, had the Holy Spirit at work in his human heart and mind from his birth. Throughout his life so far, the fruit of the Spirit had been produced in his life perfect in content and perfect in balance.

The coming of the Spirit to rest on Jesus indicates contentment. And we should not be surprised at this because Jesus was totally holy. In fact, he was the first and only earthly servant of God who could be described in this way. When the Spirit came upon any other servants of God, he knew that he would have to convict them of their sins. He did not come upon Jesus to convict, but he came upon him to confirm the promises made in the Old Testament that the Spirit would come upon the Messiah.

The coming of the Spirit on Jesus as a dove also indicates the intention within the purposes of God regarding what Jesus, having received the Spirit for his mission, would achieve. The dove speaks of peace, and here in a sense is the public anointing of the Prince of Peace. God had told John the Baptist that this would a sign that Jesus was the Messiah. And we discover here the thrust of the mission of the God of peace. Jesus had come to announce peace and to make peace between God and sinners, and the Holy Spirit would equip and enable him to accomplish this amazing purpose.

The involvement of the Father

Luke tells us that Jesus saw the heavens were opened with the outcome that the Spirit descended from there and the Father spoke from there. Whatever else this opening tells us, it tells us that heaven is very near. It is similar to the Ascension of Jesus when his followers saw Jesus enter heaven, and here Jesus sees the Spirit descending from heaven and hears the Father speak from heaven.

The words of the Father are full of affection for his dear Son. We are told elsewhere in the New Testament that God is love. What is love in its fullness? The answer is God. All of us have tasted love to some extent, but here we are considering a love that is very different. What can we say about the love of the Father for his Son? Here are some aspects of it.

First, we know that the love of the Father is eternal in that it never had a beginning. Before there was anything created, the Father loved his Son. Second, the love of the Father for his Son was extensive in the sense that it could not increase. His love was always fully there for his Son. Third, the love of the Father for his Son was energetic in that it was conveyed to him with divine power – maybe that is the point of the heavens being torn open. Fourth, the love of the Father for his Son is connected to the engagement that they had agreed concerning us. Jesus said in John 10:17: ‘For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.’ So we should not be surprised at what the Father expresses for his Son. Yet there is more.

Second, the words of the Father are full of admiration of his dear Son. We can see how they are a divine affirmation of the so-called ‘thirty silent years’ when Jesus was living in Nazareth, where he worked as a carpenter, where he participated in the synagogue, where he lived with his parents and brothers and sisters. Those years were years of perfect obedience, and that obedience brought great pleasure to the Father as Jesus fulfilled the law and made it honourable. Of course, the obedience was also performed on behalf of his people in order that it could be imputed to them.

Of course, the obedience while perfect so far had not yet been completed. And the Father’s admiration would have been connected to what lay ahead as well as to what had passed. Facing Jesus were three years of further obedience to the Father’s will, and towards the close he would endure the cross. We should not be surprised at how God the Father spoke at the baptism of his Son.

What was the baptism like for John the Baptist? At first, he had been reluctant to baptise his relative because he knew that Jesus was very different from all the others who came for baptism. John discovered that participating in the baptism was getting involved in what Jesus called ‘all righteousness’ – perhaps he was encouraging John not to think that it was inappropriate for Jesus to be baptised. Then John recognised the sign that he had been told about – the Spirit descending on Jesus. The Forerunner also realised that his relative was the One who would baptise others with the Holy Spirit. So we can assume also that John was rejoicing at the fact that Jesus was baptised.

That order of the awareness that Jesus is very different, the willingness to engage in righteousness because Jesus tells us to do so, the incredible recognition that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the wonderful realisation of what Jesus would do in baptising with the Spirit, and rejoicing over his activities should be our response as well.

We cannot help noticing that Jesus honoured an ordinance of God that the best of men would have been willing for him not to undergo. Of course, we know that John was not encouraging disobedience when he expressed surprise, but he would have been if he had persisted in doing so. Jesus here is our example not to let great men and leaders prevent us from being obedient.

Two more thoughts arising from ways that Jesus can be imitated. He was given a great blessing at his baptism because he was obedient. There was a change of circumstances in that he was no longer the village carpenter or the one responsible for the daily needs of the family in Nazareth. His circumstances had been marked by total obedience, and now he received the Spirit in a specific way to guide him as he fulfilled his calling to be the Messiah. The obedient Son faced his future enjoying the blessing of his Father.

Further, we can also see that his baptism led him to focus on heaven’s future. David McIntyre opines that Jesus at his baptism was ‘fitted for the work of saving a world of sin-sick souls, of building on earth the City of God, and of bringing the maze of time’s discords into an eternal harmony.’ At his baptism, we see his public dedication to a work he is still engaged in as he gathers in his people and leads them to heaven.

Preached on 24/7/2016