Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Baptism of Jesus.


The Baptism of Jesus.

Matthew 3:13-17  
 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.   As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [NIV]

The baptism of Jesus is before us today.


Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

A simple enough sentence, but packed with meaning.

Let me give you two illustrations to make my point:
First: when we heard we were moving to Alberton, I just had to go out and get……………………………. a surfboard! (For readers who do not know the geography of South Africa, Alberton is in Johannesburg and is 600 km away from the sea)
Second: all Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Have you made pilgrimage to Mecca?

You're all very kind, because the looks on your faces when I say……… I had to get a surfboard… and……….. have you been to Mecca………………. are looks of puzzlement,……. looks which indicate that you suspect I'm a bit crazy; looks which say what were the elders thinking in asking this chap to come here?


Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

John had a look on his face similar to yours when Jesus came to be baptised. What is this chap, my cousin Jesus,….. what is he up to?

So:


John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  

John could not understand why Jesus would submit to baptism.

Let's have a look at what baptism is and try to understand John's confusion.

The Greek word baptizein means to dip, to soak, to immerse, into a liquid, so that what has been dipped takes on the qualities of what it has been dipped in.
For example, if you have white wool and you want red wool, you baptise it in red dye. Here you get an idea of what Paul will later imply when he says that at our baptism we are baptised into Christ. We take on His qualities.
When you wanted to tan leather, you baptised it into tanning solution.

Jewish people at the time of Jesus, baptised themselves regularly! They immersed themselves in ritual baths called mikvehs, as a sign of cleansing. So, men, if they had touched a dead body for example, and women, after their monthly period, would immerse themselves in these ritual baths as a sign of cleansing, not from sin, these things aren't sinful, but they made you ritually unclean and you couldn't go to the temple and into the presence of God, unless you were ritually clean.

John the baptiser took this 1000-year-old practice but he preached a new context: he preached that people needed cleansing from a life pattern of sin. Not just the removal of ritual uncleanness, but the washing away ingrained sin. Now in Judaism, sin was something that was dealt with at the temple, with oxen and lambs and so on being slaughtered, but John was preaching: it's not so much a bull that needs to have its throat slit; it's you that needs to be the focal point of confession and repentance. You need to be cleansed from sin and here is a symbol that you can remember for ever, reminding you of your cleansing from sin.

And so on this Sunday that we remember the baptism of Christ, I call on you who have been baptised to remember what your baptism signifies……. you are in Christ and you are taking on his qualities------ his power, his strength, his holiness, his humility etc.
Let your baptism reminds you that…. You… Are…. In…..Christ.

That is the truth, so………………, remember your baptism, it's a very useful tool when confronted with temptation. Remember who you really are.

Now you can all understand why John….



 tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me.”



Jesus did not need John's baptism for cleansing from sin, and John, who was a prophet as well as a baptiser., knew that.



Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

The Life Application Bible puts that into more understandable English when it says: Jesus said: “It must be done because we must do everything that is right.”

Why was it right for Jesus, who had no sin, to submit to John's baptism for cleansing from sin?

Why is it that you and I sometimes have to do things which we don't really feel we need to do? Why is it that we sometimes have to do things, or submit to things, that we really don’t want to do? Do you ever ask (perhaps under your breath) in the home, the school, the workplace, in the church, in the nation, why do I have to do this? And I'm not at all suggesting that this means we mustn't ask the questions, but I am saying: humbly recognise that there is often (perhaps I should say always) a bigger picture that you might well not be aware of.

Abraham had to learn this, Moses had to learn this, the prophets had to learn this, Mary the mother of Jesus had to learn this, and you and I have had to learn this, sometimes in a very hard and painful way, that there is always a bigger picture, and sometimes all we can cling to is that “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

And so Jesus submits to a baptism which he didn't really need. Why?
Very briefly:
            I think He confessed sin on behalf of the whole world when He went into that water;
            He knew it was part of accomplishing God's mission and advancing God's work in the world;
            His baptism served as, can I say, His ordination into public ministry to bring the message of salvation to all people;
            His action certainly also was a sign of support for John's ministry and message of personal repentance;
            Jesus certainly identified with the penitent people of God, and therefore with humanness and sin;
            And finally, He did this to give us an example to follow.


As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”


Our God is Three, our God is One.
In these verses all three persons of the Trinity are present and active. The doctrine of the Trinity, which was developed much later in church history, teaches that God is three persons, yet One in essence.
God the Father speaks.
God the Son is baptised.
God the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus.
God is One, yet He is in three persons at the same time.
This is one of God's incomprehensible mysteries.

So, Jesus was baptised.

Are you……………………………..?

Let me conclude:

If you are baptised, you are in Christ. May the remembrance of that help us and spur us on in our growth in holiness.

You and I are baptised, let us be committed to living lives that fulfil all righteousness.

You and I are baptised, may we remember that our God is on the throne, that His Son Jesus showed us how a human can live and that His Holy Spirit is with us, empowering us to become more and more like Jesus.



In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.