Have you ever wondered why Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist? Why would the sinless Son
of God go into the desert to be baptized by the one who was baptizing people for the forgiveness of
their sins? We want to examine that subject based on our text, Matthew 3:13-17.
Historical Context
In Matthew 3:1 we read, "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Desert of Judea,
declaring, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'" After four hundred years without prophetic
ministry to his people, God broke his silence and raised up a prophet, John the Baptist. Once again
the words of a prophet were heard in the land of Israel.
Many people from Judea and Jerusalem came out to the desert to hear John and be baptized by
him. Now we must realize that not everyone who came to hear John received his ministry. In Luke
7:29-30 we read, "All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words,
acknowledged that God's way was right because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees
and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized
by John."
You see, the sophisticated, the people of power, the Pharisees and the experts in the law
deliberately rejected God's purpose. They refused to repent and be baptized by John. They did not
recognize that God himself had called John to his ministry of preaching, baptizing and preparing the
way for the Lord.
It is the same today. There are some who will accept God's purpose, listen to the words of God,
and trust in Jesus Christ. But others will reject God's purpose. So I urge you at the beginning of this
study to pay careful attention to the exposition of the word so that you may recognize and accept
God's purpose just as those who repented and were baptized by John purposed to live reformed
and righteous lives.
Jesus Comes to John
In verse 13 we are told that there came to John his cousin Jesus, a lone person from Nazareth in the
north. Jesus traveled all the way from Nazareth in Galilee to the desert of Judea so that he could be
baptized by John.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus came? The Bible clearly says that the baptism of John was for
sinners who wanted to repent and receive forgiveness of sins. We know that John had been
commissioned by God to prepare the way for the Lord by preparing human hearts. No doubt John's
parents told him of the superiority of the person and the ministry of his cousin Jesus. No doubt Mary
told Jesus of his unique person, that the Scriptures call him the Son of God, the son of David, the
King of Israel and the Holy One. Why, then, would Jesus, like a sinner, come to John to be
baptized?
In John 1:31 we read that John himself did not recognize Jesus when he came to him. That sounds
strange but perhaps John had not seen his cousin for many years. But John knew that one of the
reasons that he came baptizing with water was to reveal the Messiah to Israel. God revealed to John
that he would be able to recognize and identify the Messiah when he came. How? John would see a
sign--the invisible Holy Spirit resting upon the Messiah in the visible form of a dove.
Did Jesus Need Cleansing?
We must ask again, why did Jesus have to be baptized by John? Baptism stands for cleansing, and
the baptism of John was for sinners. But the Scriptures clearly declare that Jesus was without sin.
In 1 John 3:5 we read about Jesus Christ, "But you know that he appeared so that he might take
away our sins" and then there is a profound statement about the person of Jesus "and in him is no
sin." In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul wrote, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus himself in John 8:46 gave the challenge,
"Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" The writer to the Hebrews says this in Hebrews 4:15, "We
have [a high priest] who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin," and in
Hebrews 7:26, "Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, set apart from
sinners, exalted above the heavens. . . .he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his
own sins. . ." Isaiah calls him the Righteous Servant, who was crushed for our iniquities and bore the
sins of many (Isaiah 53), and the angel Gabriel called him the Holy One, the Son of God (Luke 1).
Why, then, did this sinless Jesus, the Son of God, come to be baptized? All others who came to
John to be baptized confessed their sins, repented and were baptized. But Jesus had nothing to
confess and repent of. Yet he traveled all the way from Nazareth to Judea when he was about thirty
years of age for the express purpose of being baptized by John.
A Perfect Life
In Galatians 4:4 Paul tells us that Jesus was born of a woman, but then he says, "born under law,"
meaning born to fulfill all the laws of God. We know that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day.
His parents consecrated him to the Lord, offering a sacrifice of pigeons and doves. When he was
twelve years old he came to the temple to assume the burden of the Law--his bar mitzvah--and
become a son of the commandment. In Luke 2 we see Jesus asking his parents, "Didn't you know I
had to be in my Father's house?" meaning, I was listening to my Father, delighting in my Father, and
purposing to do the will of my Father? Didn't you know that? Here a twelve-year-old boy was
beginning to understand the vision that God had given him.
After that Jesus went home to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents. He grew, we are told, "in
wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52). And for another eighteen years
Jesus worked hard as the village carpenter, supporting himself, his mother, and others.
The Father's Business
When Jesus was thirty years of age, suddenly he felt a prompting from God in the depth of his being.
The Father was calling him to enter into the mission of redemption, the work of the Messiah. It was
time to attend to the Father's business.
You see, unlike Moses, Jesus had waited patiently for thirty years to begin the ministry he was born
for. He always knew that he came for a purpose more than that of being a carpenter. The singular
purpose of Jesus' coming was not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. He needed to know and fulfill the work of the Messiah, as was prophesied concerning
him in the psalms, especially in Psalm 40:8, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within
my heart." This, then, was the Father's business.
The truth is, no one before Jesus ever kept God's law. All of Adam's children became rebels and
failed to fulfill righteousness and their duty to God. But then Jesus came. He was the last Adam who
would fulfill all the righteous requirements of God his Father. So he quit his carpentry job, said
goodbye to his family and left Nazareth. The days of submitting to his mother were over and he must
now respond to his heavenly Father's mission and call.
Jesus traveled south to the desert of Judea to be baptized by John. Theologian David Strauss said
that Jesus went to be baptized by John because Jesus was a sinner. Others have said Jesus went to
John for baptism because of the possibility that he would sin in the future. Others have said that
Jesus went all the way to the south to be baptized by John because his mother told him to do so.
Such conjectures are absolutely false.
John Refuses to Baptize Jesus
When Jesus requested baptism, how did John respond? He refused to baptize Jesus, as we read in
Matthew's gospel. Again and again John tried to dissuade Jesus from being baptized by him. John
realized that somehow Jesus was superior to him and in Matthew 3:14 John says to Jesus, "I need
to be baptized by you," meaning "I myself am a sinner. You do not need my ministry, Jesus, but I
need yours. I need to be baptized by you in the Holy Spirit and fire. Your ministry is to bring sinners
like us into vital contact with God. I need your ministry. You don't need mine."
Yes, we agree with John that all have sinned and the only one who can baptize us and bring us into
relationship with God is Jesus. Jesus himself agreed with John. That is the meaning of the text. "Jesus
replied, 'Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness'" (Matt. 3:15). In
other words, Jesus was saying, "You are right, John, in your understanding that I am superior to
you, and that you need to be baptized by me. But you must agree to my demand to be baptized by
you. It is the purpose and will of God that you, my messenger, a sinful man, baptize me, the sinless
Son of God and Son of Man. Let it be so now," he says, "at this present time in which God is
working out his plan of salvation. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness."
The Fulfillment of God's Righteous Requirements
Why, then, did Jesus come to be baptized by John? To fulfill God's righteous requirements. Jesus
was the true Israelite who would obey God over against the disobedience of Adam and all the
peoples of the world. Finally there had come one whose passion it was to obey God. As Paul said
in Romans 5:19, "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of one man the many will be made righteous." All have sinned and
have come short of the glory of God, but here came one man, the true Israelite, who would fulfill all
righteousness, all the righteous requirements of God, and who would, without fail, obey all God's
laws perfectly.
In other words, as Jesus was being baptized by John, he was identifying with the elect sinners. There
was no sin in him, but there was sin on him. The sinless one bore our sins. In this baptism Jesus
publicly assumed the work of the Messiah, his God-given responsibility of taking away the sin of the
world. As I said before, one purpose of John's baptism was that the Messiah be revealed to Israel.
This baptism of Jesus announced to the world that he, Jesus, one day was going to be baptized with
fire, meaning suffering, on behalf of his people.
Baptism of Water and Fire
This water baptism of Jesus foreshadowed another baptism. In Luke 12:49 Jesus exclaimed, "I have
come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" Notice, Jesus was saying
he came to judge the earth. People don't read this passage, but we must realize that he came to
judge. He came to send fire on the earth.
Then Jesus said in verse 50, "But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is
completed!" Before he could send fire on the earth, he had another baptism to undergo--the baptism
of his own suffering. He had to experience this before he could send fire on earth. By receiving
John's baptism, Jesus was announcing that the Messiah will soon be baptized with the baptism of
suffering, which, in turn, will take away the sin of the world.
Jesus' baptism by John was pointing to the cross. Why? That was the unique work of the Messiah.
Jesus knew all along that he came to die. This one without sin identified with sinners and became our
substitute as he was baptized by John. He became our representative, the new head of a new
humanity, unlike Adam.
Jesus' baptism by John was pointing to the baptism of his violent death that would cleanse us from
all our sins. By his baptism Jesus was announcing to God and to the world that he was submitting
completely to the will of God. What was that will? To take away the sin of the world by his perfect
active and passive obedience. So as we see Jesus coming from Nazareth, a lone person coming to
be baptized by John, we can rejoice. Why? He will fulfill all righteousness in behalf of us and for our
sakes.
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
John dutifully baptized Jesus. What happened next? The Holy Spirit came down. After his baptism,
Jesus was praying. Why? This was an important occasion. It was the beginning of his Messianic
journey to the cross where he would die for the sins of the world. To perform this difficult task Jesus
needed the Holy Spirit. Now we must realize that, certainly, Jesus did not need the Holy Spirit to
strengthen and encourage him as the eternal Son of God. But he needed the Holy Spirit to
strengthen, encourage, and guide him in his human nature that he may fully complete the task the
Father had given him.
As Jesus prayed and came out of the water, heaven opened and he saw the Holy Spirit. God the
Holy Spirit is invisible but here the Holy Spirit assumed the form of a dove, which Jesus saw
descending and lighting upon him. (PGM) Can you imagine the joy, the encouragement and the
strength Jesus Christ received at that moment? I am sure that he said to himself at that point that
everything was going to be all right, because the Spirit of God had come upon him without measure.
Jesus knew instantly that he was being anointed for the ministry of the Messiah. Later on in the
synagogue of Nazareth, he read the scripture about his anointing by the Spirit of God and said,
"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
As the eternal Son, Jesus cannot be strengthened or guided, but in his human nature he needed
strengthening. So the Spirit of God came upon him without measure. Jesus was thoroughly
equipped, strengthened, and guided by the third Person of the Trinity for his messianic work of
dying on the cross. What comfort, encouragement, and consolation from the Holy Spirit!
The Father's Benediction
Then Jesus received further consolation and comfort from the first Person of the Trinity, God the
Father. After the descent of the Holy Spirit, the voice of the Father came from heaven, saying, "You
are my Son whom I love." God was telling all those who were present that this Jesus--the one who
by baptism had announced to the world that he was submitting fully to God's will that he die on the
cross for the salvation of God's elect--this Jesus is God's Son.
In Psalm 2:7 we read, "He said to me, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of
me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule
them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.'" When God said, "You are my
Son" he meant not only that Jesus was virgin-born, but also that he was his Son in the sense of being
the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of eternal generation, the divine Son who is the heir of all
things.
Jesus is the Son that we read about in Hebrews 1:1-3: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us
by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son
is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his
powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven."
God's Suffering Servant
As Son in the context of Psalm 2 , Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He rules with an
iron scepter. But then we are told that because he was God's Son, he was also God's servant, the
one who did God's bidding.
The voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." This
referred back to Isaiah 42:1: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations." As the Spirit of God descended
upon Jesus, Isaiah 42:1 was being fulfilled. The Father was saying, in other words, that this one,
Jesus, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, was not only his Son, but also the one who was
assuming the responsibility of suffering servant.
Isaiah 42:1 introduces us to God's servant and if you keep on reading in Isaiah, you will come to
chapter 53, where you see the suffering of this servant. This idea is taught again in the New
Testament in Philippians 2:5-8. There we read that Jesus was God, yet he became man, a suffering
servant.
God 's Search
In the fifty-third psalm we read that God was looking down from heaven on the sons of men. What
was he looking for? Verse 2 tells us, "to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God."
God was looking for at least one human being in whom he could delight, concerning whom he could
say, "This is my Son, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." But what did he find?
"Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good,
not even one" (Ps. 53:3).
In the fullness of time, God looked down one more time. On the shore of the Jordan River, near the
Judean hills, there was one person in whom God could delight, one person who loved God, one
person whose passion it was to fulfill all righteousness. And so God said of that person, "This is my
Son in whom I am well pleased."
Jesus was God's Son whom he loved with intelligent, purposeful, and eternal love. But he was also
his servant who understood and sought God and never turned away from the path of righteousness.
So God gave his heavenly benediction at just the right moment, at the moment of Jesus's baptism.
Why did he do so? He wanted to encourage Jesus because he knew that Jesus the Messiah was
beginning his journey to the cross.
Heavenly Encouragement
Jesus experienced God's heavenly benediction at other times throughout his earthly ministry. On the
Mount of Transfiguration Jesus was discussing his death with Moses and Elijah. In the midst of this
discussion of his baptism by fire, heaven opened again and God the Father said, "This is my Son,
whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Matt. 17:1-5) Can you imagine the
encouragement that came to the Son through that?
In John 12 we read that a few days prior to Christ's death the voice came from heaven again. As
before, this voice from the Father was designed to encourage and strengthen Jesus. Why? Jesus
was God's servant. God loved him, and he loved God and kept his commandments.
God's Plan for Our Salvation
Jesus was God's Son in whom his purposes would be fulfilled. What was God's purpose? Our
salvation. Oh, praise God that there was one in whom God's good pleasure rests! Praise God that,
after looking from heaven the first time and finding no one to do his will, he looked again and there
was one--one who was able to take away the sin of the world, one who would fulfill all
righteousness, one in whom God's plan of salvation would be fulfilled.
Jesus was the one in whom God's good pleasure rests and that is why the heavenly angelic choir
sang, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests," at his birth.
Who are the men and women on whom his favor rests? We are! God's favor rested uniquely on his
Son, his servant, and therefore his favor rests on us in him. We are accepted in the Beloved. God is
pleased with the one who identified with us sinners in baptism and who obeyed God as our
representative, and, therefore, he is pleased with all of us also who are in Christ.
The baptism of Jesus tells us that salvation is the work of the Trinity. All three Persons of the
Godhead are involved in our salvation. There was the Son being baptized, assuming the role of a
suffering servant. Within three years he would say on the cross, "It is finished," indicating that the
work of the Messiah was done. There was the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Jesus and rested
upon him, strengthening him and guiding him for his mission. Then there was the Father giving his
audible approval to his Son, his servant, the one in whom his plan for our salvation would prosper.
God Gives A Sign
John had been looking for the Messiah although he did not know who he would be. But God gave
John a sign to watch for: The person upon whom the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove would
come down and rest would be the one who would baptize in the Spirit and in fire. He would be the
person who could bring sinners into vital contact with God. He would be the person who alone is
able to save sinners. He would be the Messiah.
And so as John was baptizing many people, Jesus came and was also baptized. As he came up out
of the water, he looked and saw heaven open and the Spirit of God in the form of a dove came
upon him. When he saw this, John realized that Jesus was the Messiah and began to proclaim,
"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) John understood that
the Messiah would be the one who would take away the sin of the world by his death and baptize
his people in the Holy Spirit. He realized that Jesus was the Son of God, as we read in the first
chapter of the gospel of John.
John began to preach with great passion to Andrew and John. I am sure he said something like this,
"Behold, the Lamb of God! He is the one! I knew there was something different about him when I
first saw him. I told him I did not want to baptize him but that he must baptize me. But then my
doubts disappeared. I baptized him and then I saw the Spirit of God coming down without measure,
lighting upon him and staying with him. This Jesus, then, must be the Messiah. All along I said it was
not me. He must increase and I must decrease. Andrew, John, you must believe in him and trust in
him because he alone is the Savior."
The Messiah Has Come!
Why was Jesus baptized by John? So that the Messiah might be revealed to Israel. At the right time
Jesus quit his job, said goodbye to mother, and traveled all the way from Nazareth to Judea to be
baptized.
He came with unflagging determination to fulfill all God's requirements. Aren't you glad that he came
with such passion to be the Lamb of God provided for us to take away the sin of the world? He
came as our substitute, our representative, the last Adam. He came as the eternal beloved Son of
God. He came as the suffering servant. And in his baptism he was telling those who believe that he
would do the work and save them. Praise God, salvation is by grace through faith on the basis of
what he did!
Jesus was baptized and the Spirit came upon him visibly in the form of a dove. The Father gave his
benediction and John the Baptist with certainty began to preach, "Behold, the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!" The Messiah had come! The Savior of sinners, the Son of God,
the one who would solve our problem of lack of righteousness, had come!
The Fulfillment of All Righteousness
As our representative and substitute Jesus has truly fulfilled all righteousness. Why did he do so?
That we might become the righteousness of God and be justified freely by faith in him. Through the
obedience of this one man, many have been and will be made righteous. Therefore, I say to you,
"Rejoice, church of Jesus Christ! We are righteous and lack nothing. We are numbered in the many.
Everyone who trusts in this substitute, in this representative, in this Messiah, in this Lamb of God, in
this Jesus Christ, shall be made righteous."
Jesus was baptized by John so that he could identify with sinners and save them. And when we are
baptized, what are we doing? We are identifying with him in his death, burial, and resurrection. We
are affirming that when Christ died, we died with him to sin, to law and to the world. When Christ
was buried, we were buried with him. When Christ was raised--and he was raised!--we were
raised with him to live triumphantly in the newness of life.
Jesus Opened Heaven for Us
When Jesus was baptized, heaven opened. But let me tell you, it opened not only for Jesus, the Son
of God, but also for us. Through Christ's baptism of suffering, the veil of the temple was torn open.
The way to the Holy of Holies now remains open, and heaven is open for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus
came down from heaven and went back into heaven. We see him there in the seventh chapter of
Acts when Stephen was giving his testimony before the Sanhedrin. Acts 7:55-56 tells us, "But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing
at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the
right hand of God.'"
In Revelation 4:1 John says that the door of heaven was standing open and he heard a voice: "Come
up here!" Let me tell you, every one of us is receiving that call: Come up here! Heaven is opened for
you. Heaven was closed due to our sin and unrighteousness, but Jesus, through his baptism, opened
heaven for us. Why? In order to get into heaven, we have to have righteousness. Jesus fulfilled all
righteousness on our behalf, and thus heaven will receive us.
By faith, therefore, let us look unto the heavens. Like Stephen, we will also by faith see Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the Son of Man. Let me assure you, heaven is our home, and we will go there
because Christ was baptized, not only in water by John, but also in fire on the cross in behalf of us.
The Lamb was sacrificed and our sin has been taken away. Heaven is now open for those who trust
in Christ alone for their salvation. Through him alone our redemption was accomplished, our
righteousness fulfilled, and we have been justified.
Therefore, if you are Christians, rejoice and be glad! Let us sing with the angels, "Glory to God in
the highest and peace on earth to men on whom his favor rests." His favor is resting on us because
his favor rested on the Son. If you have not trusted in his Son, may God have mercy upon you and
grant you repentance and faith, that you may receive Christ and in him also receive all righteousness.
