#22 Lu. 3:21-22;  THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

 

Introduction:

 

    In our text last Sunday John the Baptist was arrested and put

into prison by Herod the tetrarch.  In out text today John baptized

Jesus in the River Jordan.  It is obvious that what takes place in

this text happened before John was arrested.  Luke did not follow an

exact time sequence at this point in his writings.  Rather he

rearranged the order slightly in order to temporarily close out what

he had to say about John and in order to begin his account of the

ministry of Jesus.  Later Luke will come back to the John and tell us

about John's death.  But for the time being he turns his attention to

the ministry of Jesus.  The first event in the ministry of Jesus was

the baptism of Jesus.  Oddly enough, Luke says nothing about John

being the one who baptized Him.

 

I. Jesus coming to John for baptism

 

    V. 21,  "Now when all the people were baptized..."  The idea is

large numbers of people were coming to John the Baptist to be

baptized of him.  First they came and heard John preach and

professed to believe the message that he was preaching about the

Christ.  Then they expressed a desire to be baptized by John and John

baptized them.

    When John had finished baptizing all who came for baptism on this

particular occasion, then there stepped forth one additional man who

also expressed a desire to be baptized by John.  This man was Jesus.

Coming after all the others were baptized seems to indicate that the

crowd may have already dispersed before Jesus approached John asking

to be baptized.  Jesus had walked all the way from the city of

Nazareth in Galilee to the place on the Jordan River where John was

preaching and baptizing.  Depending on exactly where John was located

on the river, Jesus had walked fifty or sixty miles to be baptized of

John.

    (V. 21), "...it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized..."

Now the question just might naturally come, "Why would Jesus want to

be baptized?  And why would He walk all that distance to John to be

baptized of John?"  Let me remind you to start with that there was no

sin whatsoever in Jesus.  John preached repentance, but Jesus had not

come to John to repent of sin.  He certainly did not need to be saved

and so He did not think that getting baptized would help get Him into

heaven.

    The answer is that Jesus came to get baptized because He knew

that this was what God the Father wanted Him to do.  He wanted to get

baptized simply because He wanted to do the Father's will.  Whatever

it took to do the Father's will, that is what He wanted to do.  That

is a pretty good reason for anyone who is saved to get baptized.  Get

baptized simply because it will please God for you to do so.

    And why did He walk all that distance to John to get John to do

the baptizing?  Why did He not get somebody to baptize Him in the Sea

of Galilee?  There was plenty of water there.  Surely there was

somebody close by who could put Him under the water and lift Him back

up again.  Why did He walk all the way to Judaea where John was?  The

answer is that John was the one whom God had authorized to baptize.

God had specifically planned that John would baptize Him and then

would announce to the people of Israel that Jesus is the Messiah, the

Christ.

 

II.  Jesus praying at His baptismal service

 

    (V. 21), "...and praying..."  Luke tells us that Jesus engaged in

prayer at the time of His baptism.  This also raises a question in

our minds: "Why would Jesus need to pray?"  First the question was,

"Why would He want to be baptized?"  Now the question is, "Why would

He need to pray?"  Let me say that Jesus here sets a good example

that we should follow.  We, too, should pray.  We should follow the

example that Jesus has set in being baptized and we should follow His

example in prayer.  We should frequently pray.

    But that is not the reason that Jesus prayed on this occasion.

Jesus did not pray just to set us a good example that we might

follow.  Jesus prayed because He felt the need in His own life to

pray.  Now why would Jesus Christ, the Son of God feel the need to

pray?  Why would One who is a part of the Holy Trinity need to pray?

Why would One who is God in human flesh feel the need to pray?

    And the answer is:  Jesus felt the need to pray because He did

need to pray.  Even though He is Deity God yet as a human being, He

needed to pray.  He needed to pray because He now lives in human

flesh.  In becoming a man, Jesus took upon Himself the weaknesses of

a man.  It is true that He still has all might and all power.  But He

never used His own might and power for His own personal benefit.  As

a human being, He would depend entirely upon God the Father and God

the Holy Spirit to render the aid He needed.

    In view of His dependency upon God, it was needful for Him to

pray on this special occasion particularly.  His baptism was the

first act of His public ministry.  It was the starting point of His

public ministry.  It was a turning point of His life.  He was no

longer just Jesus the carpenter;  He was Jesus the Christ.  So He

felt His need of God's help in His life and He prayed unto God the

Father to lead Him and guide Him and bless Him and to empower Him.

 

III.  The Holy Spirit coming down on Jesus at His baptism

 

    (V. 21), "...the heaven was opened."  In answer to the prayer of

Jesus to God the Heavenly Father the heaven was opened.  It was as if

a window was opened up to heaven and the Holy Spirit of God came down

to Jesus through that open window.  V. 22, "And the Holy Ghost

descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him..."

    Now this statement leads to many questions.  Was this a literal

dove which merely represented or symbolized the Holy Spirit?  And the

answer to that question is, "No."  This is not a dove which came upon

Him.  It was the Holy Spirit in the bodily form of a dove.

    This, then in turn leads to other questions.  If, as some people

say the Holy Spirit did not come into the world until Pentecost

following the resurrection, what is He doing in the world at this

time?  The answer to that question is the Holy Spirit did not come

into the world on Pentecost following the Resurrection.  He came upon

the church on that Pentecost.  There is a lot of difference in coming

into the world and coming upon the church.

    The Holy Spirit was in the world a long time before the Pentecost

following the resurrection.  He was in the world in Old Testament

times.  If He were not, then the Old Testament prophets were not

called of God and they did not speak the word of God as they claimed.

I am sure that you recall reading in the Old Testament that the

prophets of old would say, "Thus saith the Lord."  But if the Holy

Spirit were not here in the world, they had no word from God.

    If the Holy Spirit was not in the world until Pentecost following

the resurrection of Jesus the Old Testament is not inspired of God.

If that be true then the writings of Peter and Paul were not inspired

of God, , because both these men  said that the Old Testament

prophets wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God.

    In fact if the Holy Spirit did not come into the world until

Pentecost following the resurrection, then Jesus Himself could not be

the virgin born Son of God, because the Scripture says that the Holy

Spirit of God overshadowed Mary and conceived the Christ child within

her womb.

    So the Holy Spirit did not come into the world on the day of

Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus.  Neither did He come

into the world at the baptism of Jesus.  He came upon the church on

Pentecost and He came upon Jesus at His baptism.

 

IV.  The voice of the God the Father speaking from heaven

 

    (V. 22), "...and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art

my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."  We see here a clear cut

declaration of the Deity of Jesus.  God the Heavenly Father spoke

from heaven and declared Jesus to be His Son.  This is the equivalent

to John 3:16 which declared Jesus to be the only begotten Son of God.

Everyone who is saved in a son of God, but Jesus is the only person

who was ever been conceived in human flesh by the Spirit of God.  He

is the only One to be a son of God from the time of His physical

birth.  He is the only physically begotten Son of God.  In that sense

He is "The Son of God, the only begotten Son of God."

    This is also a clear cut example of the Holy Trinity.  God the

Son was here on earth being baptized.  God the Holy Spirit came down

in the form of a dove and lit upon God the Son.  God the Father spoke

form Heaven in an audible voice.  I am not sure just who all may have

heard God speak from Heaven.  Jesus most certainly heard God the

Father when He spoke from heaven.  Matthew, in his account, makes it

clear that John the Baptist heard.  Whether or not anybody else heard

is not clear to me.  But all three of the Trinity are clearly seen as

being distinct Persons or Personalities.  One is baptized.  A second

is in the form of a dove.  The third speaks from heaven.

    In some mysterious way these Three make up the Godhead.  They

make up the Godhead in such a way that there is but One God.  Yet

there are three distinct persons in the Godhead.

    Now it is not that each One is a part of God.  The Scriptures

repeatedly call the Father "God."  He is not a part of God.  He is

God.  Likewise Jesus is not a part of God.  He is God.  The same is

true of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not a part of God.  The

Holy Spirit is God.  Yet in some mysterious way there are not three

Gods.  There is but one God.  I do not profess to understand all

about it.  I just know that it is so because that is what the Bible

teaches.  Who knows?  Perhaps in eternity we will understand it.  For

the time being I do not need to understand it.  All I need to know is

that this is what the Bible teaches.

    Our eternal destiny depends on the accuracy of the statement

which God the Father made about Him..  If Jesus is not the Son of God

then we have no Savior.  If He is not the Son of God then He had the

same sinful nature that all other human beings inherited from Adam.

If He is not the Son of God, then He did not live a sinless life.  If

He is not the Son of God, the He, too, is a sinner and He, too,

stands in need of a Savior.  If He is not the Son of God then He

could not pay the sin debt for us and provide salvation for our

souls.

    But the fact of the matter is that He is the Son of God.  God,

Himself, said so.  And because He is the Son of God we do have a

Savior.  He did not inherit the sin nature from Adam and He did live

a sinless life.  He does not need a Savior; He is the Savior.  When

He died on Calvary's cross He did pay the sin debt for all mankind

and He offers salvation to all men. Now He calls upon all men to

repent of their sin and to trust in Him and be saved.  He said that

the Son of Man came into the world to seek and to save that which was

lost.  He said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden

and I will give you rest."  He said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn

of me for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and I will give you

rest unto your souls."  He said, "He that cometh unto me I will in no

wise cast out."  He said, "He that believeth in me though he were

dead yet shall he live."  He said, "For God so loved the world that

He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should

not perish but have everlasting life."

 

V.  What Jesus has done for me

 

    Let me tell you one thing.  I believe with all my heart and soul

that Jesus is the very Christ of God, the very Son of God, the Savior

of the world.  I believe that when I was sixteen years of age sitting

in a little church in Pensacola, Florida that when I called on Jesus

Christ and asked Him to save my soul that Jesus saved me.  I believe

that every human being who has ever lived who has called on Jesus and

trusted in Him to save them from their sin that Jesus has saved them.

Furthermore, I believe that if there is anybody here under the sound

of my voice who will call on Jesus and trust in Him for salvation

that Jesus will save that person.  Even right now Jesus will save

anyone who will call on Him and trust in Him for salvation.  I

believe that if you will call on Jesus and put your faith in Him to

save you and keep you out of the fires of hell that Jesus will save

you.

 

    Conclusion:

 

    Now if you believe that, too, I am going to ask you right here

right now to call on Jesus and get saved.  Won't you do that right

now?  We are going to have an invitation hymn and while this

congregation sings that song won't you just slip out into the aisle

and come forward trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior?

    Now there may be Christians here this morning who need to come

forward also.  It may be that you are saved but you do not have

scriptural baptism.  If that is your case, come right now and present

yourself to this church for scriptural baptism.  If you are saved and

have scriptural baptism and you feel that it is God's will for you to

place your membership here and serve Him, won't you come while we

sing?