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Matthew 3:13–17
“Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented” (vv. 13–15).
In our studies of Luke 3–4 this month, we have looked at two key events in the life of Jesus: His baptism and His temptation by Satan in the wilderness (Luke 3:21–22; 4:1–13). We have looked primarily at the historical details and some practical applications of these accounts, but we should consider them more deeply in their theological context, for the baptism and temptation of Jesus tell us much about what Christ came to do. For assistance in this, we will turn to Dr. R.C. Sproul’s teaching series What Did Jesus Do?
We have noted that the baptism of Jesus was the moment at which He was anointed, according to His humanity, as the Messiah, and Jesus Himself would begin His preaching ministry by describing Himself as anointed to proclaim liberty to those in captivity to sin (Luke 3:21–22; 4:16–21; see Ps. 2; Isa. 61:1–2). The Holy Spirit’s coming upon Jesus to empower Him according to His human nature for the sake of ministry is vitally important, for it signifies the necessity of Jesus’ humanity to our salvation. Remember that sin entered human life and brought the curse of death on creation because a human being, Adam, gave in to temptation (Gen. 3). Consequently, redemption from sin requires a man who by His work reverses the curse. We need a human Savior because we need someone who can represent our interests before the judgment seat of God. Thus, our Savior is truly human. He is also truly God, possessing the divine nature as well, but make no mistake, the success of Jesus’ redemptive work is tied up with His being not only God but also the perfect Man (see Rom. 5:12–21).
To be the perfect Man and Mediator of salvation, Jesus had to keep the Lord’s commandments flawlessly. Adam fell from his original righteous state because he disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, and Jesus came to reverse the fall by obeying the law in every thought, word, and deed. But Jesus was tasked with obeying not only the comparatively few commandments that Adam had to obey (see Gen. 2) but also every law that God had instituted after Adam’s fall. One of these was the demand through John the Baptist that God’s people be baptized. Jesus tells us as much in today’s passage: He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:13–17). Of course, Jesus had no sin to repent of, so His baptism was not to remit His transgressions. He was baptized to identify Himself with His people and to obey every rule given by our Father.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
It was not enough for Jesus simply to die for our salvation; He had to live for it as well. Had Jesus broken even one law, He would have been disqualified as our Mediator and Savior. His need to obey God perfectly underscores the importance of God’s law. While we do not keep God’s law to secure our own salvation, let us be conscious that we are called to obey the Lord’s commands and live gratefully.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
- Psalm 119:10
- Ecclesiastes 12:9–14
- Matthew 5:17–20
- Galatians 6:1
THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
- Leviticus 21–23
- Mark 1:1–28