Are You Sure?
"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 (NKJV)
Are you sure? This is a question that we often ask ourselves these days. What used to be called the "information age," is now probably better called, "the disinformation age." So much of what people claim to be true and reliable is actually wrong and destructive. When the internet was first introduced, people were amazed how quickly they could get information. Overnight we had no need of encyclopedias and no need of travelling to the library to dig up information. But it didn't take long for the fraudsters to mess everything up, and we began to guard against things like phishing and maleware. In this world the truth has always been undermined by lies. But amazingly the truth always stands in the end. Today we will see how God does this as we celebrate the baptism of Jesus.
In Jesus' baptism we are brought face to face with the true and only Son of God. It was the first of many events that would give people confidence that Jesus is their Savior and Lord. The Apostle Peter once preached to the disciples in the Book of Acts referring to all that Jesus did “beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us” (Acts 1.22). Jesus’ baptism was an important miracle that gave His mission a start. It is a miracle that still, when we encounter it in God’s word, encourages us and strengthens our faith.
False Confidence
Many people are confident about different things today. But not all that confidence is well placed. Make a note that the devil’s effort to undermine our confidence always works first to divert us from Jesus, all the while tempting us to think that we are connected to Jesus. In the first century all religions, philosophies, and worldviews mocked the Christian faith and derided it. They were very opposed to Christ. Today we see what appears to be the very opposite. Almost all religions, philosophies and worldviews claim to be compatible with the teachings of Jesus. But this is only so on the surface. When you dig deeper, you find that they are fraudsters. They don't believe in the Jesus who was born of the virgin Mary, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose again for our salvation. They follow an imaginary Jesus.
It is important that our confidence be placed on the right person. How does the baptism of Jesus create or strengthen our confidence in Jesus? It does so in three ways as we listen to the words of: John the Baptist, Jesus, and God the Father. As we look at what each person said, we will find the confidence that God wants us to have.
John Tried to Prevent Him
John was baptizing in the Jordan- a baptism of repentance. People were coming to him to confess their sins and to be baptized. This is similar to but not the same as the baptism that Jesus would later give us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That baptism is also for forgiveness of sins. But in this case it doesn’t make sense to John, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
John is puzzled because he knows that Jesus is the sinless Son of God. At the great Christmas miracle that we just celebrated recall that the angel Gabriel told Mary that this child she was to bear would be “the Holy One of God” (Luke 1.35). Jesus boldly challenged His enemies, “Which of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8.46). There are many other passages to affirm this truth (1 John 3.5; 1 Corinthians 5.21; Hebrews 4.15; 7:26).
Can you imagine what it would be like to meet someone who was truly holy? This person would tell us the truth in all things. He wouldn’t gloss over unpleasant realities about us. This is where our confidence building begins. It actually begins by tearing us down. It is healthy for us to think of Jesus being by our side at all times - listening in to all our conversations, reading all our emails, and watching everything that we watch with us. The Book of Hebrews warns us: "And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (4.13).
Our first encounters with Christ, like this one with John the Baptist, can be a little confusing and scary. Think of Peter, Nicodemus, the Woman at the Well. His holiness exposes our unholiness. This is something we have to see. This is why every Sunday in our worship as a Christian church and individually in our private prayers we daily confess our sins and recognize our unholiness that we have according to our earthly bodies. Our sin and the sins of the world around us is the most destabilizing factor in our lives. Our confidence in Christ begins by recognizing this and confessing our sin.
To Fulfill All Righteousness
Now Jesus speaks. “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus was not only born holy, He also complied fully with God’s holy law to fulfill all righteousness. But in this baptism He is doing even more. Here He is giving His righteousness to us. He fulfilled the holy law of God not only for Himself, but for the whole world.
Isaiah spoke of this in chapter 53 of his great book. “My righteous Servant will justify many” (v. 11). Now let me make this as clear as I can. In the Hebrew language the word “righteous” and the word “justify” are basically the same word. The problem is that in English we don’t use the root word “righteous” to say “make righteous.” If we did we might try to say something like “righteous-ize.” “My righteous servant will righteous-ize many.” Jesus fulfills all righteousness in this sense that He makes us righteous. In His baptism He is not being forgiven of any sins. Rather, He is stepping up to take the sins of the world into Himself. Isaiah goes on to say it this way: “For He shall bear their iniquities.” This is the Gospel. This is the good news answer to the problem of our unholiness.
Allow me to illustrate this with an unusual story. Back in the 1950s two young couples went out on a double date. The girl from the couple that was riding along in the back seat had certain allergies. While they were at a party she indulged in some food that she shouldn’t have eaten. Her boyfriend reminded her of the potential reaction, but she said it wouldn’t be a problem. She didn’t eat much. Everything seemed to go well for the rest of the evening until they were driving home. Then the allergy attacked with a vengeance. In her case this allergy appeared with the symptom of nausea. She became very sick to her stomach but was too embarrassed to say anything. They were getting close to her home, and she was just sure that she could hold on long enough. But as they were within one block of her home she lost the battle with the allergy. Now all this time her boyfriend was quite aware of what was developing… to save her from total humility in just the nick of time he allowed her to lose the contents of her stomach in the sleeve of his suit. He also pulled out his clean handkerchief and wiped her face. Within seconds they were stopped in front of her house. The other couple never knew what had happened. They said their goodbyes, and this loving young man proceeded to help his girl friend to the house. He had saved her from a very bad situation.
This illustrates what Jesus has done for us. He has taken into Himself all the sin and guilt of this world in order to save us from a horrible situation. When He was baptized, He stepped into the Jordan River in order to receive His anointing. This means that He was selected by God the Father to fulfill all righteousness. This is the beginning of the great exchange. We give Him our sin. He gives us His own righteousness. Imagine all your sins and shame. How embarrassing it would be to see that portrayed on a huge video screen for everyone. Think of all the ways you have hurt people and disappointed God. But now think of all those terrible, stinking things scooped up by Jesus. He took them with Him to the cross, and there they died with Him never to haunt you again.
This Is My Beloved Son
The last one to speak is God the Father. In Jesus’ baptism we clearly see the Triune God. Many sermons on this text focus on the Trinity. It is a wonderful theme, but we will have to save it for another time. For now we see that at Jesus’ baptism the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. Then the voice of the Father came from heaven. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus probably needed to hear this as much as we do. Remember that He was fully and truly a man. He was facing the most awesome task of all. With this voice God the Father assured Him and strengthened Him. Throughout His earthly ministry Jesus constantly shows us His close relationship to His Father. He constantly prayed to His Father and taught us to pray to Him as our Father. In the Garden of Gethesemane, as He was preparing for His own death, He prayed to the Father. His very last words from the cross were, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23.46).
Now the beautiful thing about Jesus’ baptism is that Jesus also brings us to the Father. The Father’s word to His Son also becomes His word to us in our baptisms. Because we have been given Jesus’ righteousness by faith, God the Father can also say about you, “This is My beloved son or daughter, in whom I am well pleased.” Just as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are a divine family, so we are brought into that family through our baptism and faith in Jesus. Instead of being embarrassed and ashamed in the presence of God, as John was at first, we are now, through Christ, the objects of God's pleasure. Remember the first Christmas carol every sung, the song of the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!" (Luke 2:14) And again these words: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12.32). And the words of Psalm 40 "Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me..." (v. 13). God is pleased to save us from our sins!
Conclusion
There are so many things in this world that we cannot be sure of, there are so many deceptions and falsehoods. But today we have heard two things we can be very sure of: That Jesus is God's beloved Son, and that in Him, we are also God's beloved children. Because He fulfilled all righteousness we can be assured. We can have confidence. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3.1).
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