The kingdom of God has finally come. His domain of truth and justice has arrived. The domain of sin, rebellion, and suffering has ended. And for all who enter the kingdom, they have life, rest, and peace.
This is the big message of Matthew’s gospel, and we’ve been catching a foretaste of this message in the first 3 chapters. If the kingdom is central, then even more so its King. That’s why the gospel quickly zooms in on Jesus.
But the challenge of reading the gospel is that we tend towards familiarity, and our sense of familiarity sometimes creeps into boredom. The baptism of Christ, turn it around, inside out, stretch it, zoom in, zoom out, and then consider what it means for us.
Here’s the central question for us: Why does the baptism of Jesus matter? And why does it matter for us?
(A) A purposeful sign of the kingdom (Matt 3:13)
As we begin this study, we read of how Jesus goes to John humbly for water baptism as though He were a sinner (Matt 3:13). Jesus took a purposeful 65km journey from Galilee to the Jordan to find John. But, what has it to do with the Kingdom coming?
Galilee was where Joseph had chosen to escape to instead of Bethlehem (Matt 2:22). Since that point, we learn nothing about Jesus. These are the hidden years of Jesus and we are not told anything about His life in those 30 or so years. Matthew wrote this gospel years later, and chose to include this. Jesus appears for the first time at this significant event. The first public appearance of Jesus is the first unveiling of His character and discipleship.
Bear in mind that this is Matthew, one of Jesus’ followers, putting this event first in his remembrance of Jesus’ ministry. It is out of the context of a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, proclaimed by John, that Jesus appears. And stunningly so. Jesus goes to John humbly for water baptism as though He were a sinner. This calls to mind what we have known of Jesus thus far. Matthew 1:17-18 tells us God’s purposeful plan through history — from Father Abraham to King David to Jesus the Christ. From the moment He was conceived in Matthew 1:20-21, it was anticipated that He would deal with our sins.
D.A. Carson puts it this way, “If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior. ”
Thereafter in Matthew 2:2, 6, recall the wise men who came seeking a king born under a divine star — prophesied in ancient Scripture. But instead of setting Him on a throne, they worshiped the King in Matthew 2:11 with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Myrrh, for they knew that this King had come to also do the work of a Priest, bringing atonement for sin.
And so, we arrive at Matthew 3:1-6, watching the kingdom of heaven arrive. It is proclaimed by John, where this King shockingly joins in the baptism in water as a sign of that reality that He associates with sinners and their sin.
This event is so significant that the apostles, in Acts 1:21-22, recognize that Jesus’ baptism was the beginning of His public ministry. It was the precondition for any inclusion into apostolic witness! So why is the baptism so important? Here’s the answer: At that point, He became one of us. He entered that representative function, being baptized as though He were a sinner, even though He was not.
Pause for a moment and consider if this is the Jesus you know. Having lived in anonymity for 30 years, He makes His splash on the scene by raising His hand to associate Himself with sinners. Today, do you feel alone in your troubles and circumstances? Do you feel like no one cares or no one sees your pain? Do you know that this Saviour came onto the scene and said that He left Heaven’s glory, was born in a manger, disappeared for 30 years to work as a carpenter, and entered into public ministry by seeking to be like one of us? This is the Saviour that we have. This is the Jesus that we know — full of humility.
This is the Savior of true humility. The word humility comes from the Latin, humilitas, which means “from the earth”. What boundless grace that the man of heaven would show up and associate Himself as one “from the earth”!
Here are some observations about His humility. Firstly, humility means rejecting self-promotion — Jesus’ anonymity mean that though He had everything, He did not clamour to make it known. Rather, He entrusted Himself to God to make things known in God’s own time.
Secondly, humility means willfully prioritising another’s agenda -- the priority of baptism meant that He was not following His own script. He was choosing the life His Father had set out for Him.
Thirdly, Humility means rejecting personal convenience and autonomy - Jesus traveled to John (65km). Even the king bows before God Almighty. Modern man has shackled himself to self-promotion, priority of self, convenience and autonomy. Are you self-promoting? Prioritising yourself? Living for convenience? Training yourself to surrender autonomy? Think about the character of our Saviour as He pursues this purposeful sign to show us the humility of the Kingdom.
(B) A necessary sign of the kingdom (Matt 3:14-15)
But John objects. And he does so on the grounds of his own need and sinfulness, vis a vis Jesus’ relative perfection. Think about it. All day long, John the Baptizer had been putting people under the water as he listened to people confessing their sins, and then proclaiming the forgiveness of their sins. This is an incredibly weighty matter that no ordinary man would presume on.
With John, we see the sincerity of faith. Having baptized people all the day long, he turns to Jesus and makes the confession that he himself needs to be baptized – that he is a sinner in need of saving, just like everyone he had baptized! The only thing going through his mind is consistent with his earlier words from Matthew 3:11-12. Jesus is infinitely glorious, and our only proper response is worship.
There is so much of modern Christianity that is the opposite of John. We proclaim the following statements all the day long: I walk in victory. I walk in power. I walk in glory. God gives them all to me. I am the chosen of God, and as long as I desire it, I can name it and claim it. For God must give them to me.
Friends, we have much to learn from John’s posture before Jesus. All that he can think about is the judgment that he deserves, and the cleansing that he needs. Maybe that is the kind of wake-up call that many of us need. That is the difference between knowing Jesus as the holy God, who has really showed up in human flesh. There is no more room for religious games. When we look at our lives, relative to God’s holiness, we recognize that we are chaff.
What great a grace, then, that Jesus turns to persuade John. He understands John’s godly motives, and simply says, “Let it be so now.” Jesus does not deny His glory. He does not minimize John’s sin in the slightest. He does not feign humility by correcting John’s worship. Instead, He says the reason is the need for the present, the now, and to fulfill all righteousness at the present. Do you see the implication? If John does not baptize Jesus, then righteousness is not fulfilled. Jesus is saying that He will become as a sinner, so that the sinner may be represented by Him. For all of us, the act of baptism is a “minus” — it removes something from us. But for Jesus, baptism has no “minus” — there is nothing for Him to leave behind in the water. But it is a “plus”. He does this to fulfill all righteousness. He binds Himself to us sinners, goes into the water clean, and comes out of the water bearing all our guilt that He might fulfill all righteousness.
(C) A blessed sign of the kingdom (Matt 3:16-17)
What follows is amazing. Matthew wants us to focus on these events, and we know this because of the two-fold “behold” (Matt 3:16, 17). Each exclamation proclaims another Person of the Trinity. The Spirit descends and the Father approves. This is an incredibly glorious Trinitarian moment at Jesus’ baptism and act of obedience. This is the only time in the Bible that all three Persons of the Godhead show up, and they show up here when Jesus associates Himself with our sin, in preparation of the Cross, to fulfill all righteousness. Do you see how this reveals the unique Trinitarian character of the Godhead? Do you see their delight? This is a God of surpassing love!
Friends, all of this is to show that at the center of God’s kingdom is baptism. Jesus says in Mark 10:38-39 that there is a clear picture of the kingdom. Jesus is going to be baptized, and all who will follow him will also be baptized. How does Jesus use baptism here? He uses it as a synonym for death. Right at the beginning of His appearing, he says, “Look forward to my death.” The humility of Jesus is not primarily known in how nice He was to John. It is chiefly known in the God who created all things chose to die, and even die on a Cross.
That’s how we understand baptism today. The person who goes in dies. It is a watery grace. And the one who comes out can only come out because of Jesus’ resurrection. Romans 6:2-3 makes this clear. Our baptism into the Triune God means that we are joined with Christ in an act of faith in His death and resurrection -- the blessed one giving Himself for us.
This has profound implications for your life and mine today. The self that has died in the watery grave must no longer be indistinguishable from the self that was raised from the grave. The self that once slept with sin must no longer be comfortable with its presence. The self that once sought its own promotion must now seek its Saviour’s glory.
Friends, this is what the baptism of Christ means for us, and He graciously invites us in, knowing that when we enter that watery grave, there is the guarantee of everlasting arms that will swoop us up into life eternal, and gloriously so. If you are going through something particularly difficult today, here these words! Remember that you were once dead and now are made alive in Christ. We can leave all our fears, anxieties and sins in the water, and trust in the One who has pulled us out of the water and given us new life.
What does it look like to practically remember the death and resurrection of Jesus each day? How does that help us live out our kingdom identity?