Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” 15 But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
Until this moment in history, nearly all Jewish cleansing rituals were done through the sprinkling of water. Full immersion baptisms were only performed on pagan Gentiles (non-Jewish people) who were converting to the jewish faith. The baptisms performed by John introduced a radical and revolutionary understanding of sin - that ALL of humanity, including God’s chosen people, were filled with sin and needed to be cleansed from that sin in order to escape God’s wrath. Choosing to be publicly baptized was a sign of ultimate humility because it meant publicly embracing the revolutionary claim that Jewish people needed repentance just as much as the stigmatized Gentiles.
With that being understood, the fact that Jesus approached John in v. 13 asking to be baptized would have been a crowd-shocking moment. John correctly understood that Jesus had no sin to repent of, leaving him wondering the same question that you may have when you read this passage - “Why in the world does JESUS need to be baptized?” One of the most important responses to this question is because Jesus wanted to be identified by sinful people and with sinful people. Time and time again throughout the New Testament we see Jesus personally identifying with people as a means to show them how eager and willing he is to restore them if they will just repent and turn to him. Our response to this truth today should be to replace one word in John’s response in v. 14 - “Jesus, I have the need not only to be baptized by you, but to be baptized into you.” If you are fully immersed into Jesus then you recognize your inability to make yourself righteous, and you see that He is inviting you to receive HIS righteousness.
Reflection Questions:
Is there an area of my life that I need to repent of (turn away from)?
Are there any ways that I’ve tried to achieve a righteous standing with God on my own?
David Waldroup
Executive Pastor
Comments