I’m With Them

Well, morning, folks. It is so lovely to see you.

My name is Graeme. I'm the pastor here, and it's great to meet

! Particularly some new people this morning for whom this is your first time.

We just want you to know how welcome you are.

Now, friends, have you got Matthew 3 open in front of you?

Yeah?

Right.

Do you remember what Shrek said about ogres?

What did he say about ogres?

What are they like?

Onions.

Why are they like onions?

Layers.

Oh, my goodness, guys. Matthew 3, the layers in this.

It's unbelievable.

I've had the week of my dreams this week in this text because of the depth

and the God that we meet in this four verses of Scripture.

So just in case you're thinking we're shortchanging you this morning

by looking at four verses, layers, depths to this.

Can I get us into it this morning?

Here is a T-shirt that you'll find that you can buy at the minute on Etsy.

It's a T-shirt.

Apparently, they market it as the perfect one for a parent to wear when they're out

and about with their children.

So picture the scene.

You're in the 24-7 Asda.

You're a parent.

The kids are running mental around the place looking for the sweet cereal aisle.

Promise you it's a hypothetical.

I've never lived it.

Okay?

They're running around causing chaos.

Somebody from the other aisle, another customer, looks on at these kids disapprovingly

and you can tell what they're thinking.

Whose kids are these?

Only for you to look at mom or dad wearing this T-shirt.

Yeah, I'm with them.

You know the kind of novelty T-shirts that you get?

I'm with her, arrow.

I'm with him, arrow.

You got that phrase in your mind?

Yeah, I'm with them.

That's the phrase that you've got to keep in your mind if you're going to get the enormity

of the truth at the heart of this passage.

So if you're a note taker today, and I love that so many of you are, if you're a note taker

or if you're like me, you like to scribble things in your Bible, then that is what to write

above verses 13 to 17 of Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Go ahead and do it.

Yeah, I'm with them.

And it's the answer to the million dollar question that's right at the heart of this passage.

Are you thinking it?

If you were here last week, maybe it's already in your mind, the million dollar question.

And I'm going to try and get us there.

We'll get to that question in about 10 minutes time, but see if you can work it out as we go.

What we need to appreciate as we head there is that there is a rough 28 year time gap between

the end of chapter 2, do you see it there, and the beginning of chapter 3.

Now blinking, you might miss that.

You might not get that in the plain reading, but that's what's happening in the chronology

of this.

There's a 28 year time gap between the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3.

So that means that Matthew has given us in his account of Jesus' life, he has given us

two detailed chapters, 1 and 2, on the first two years of Jesus' life.

And then he's proceeded to write another 26 chapters on the last three years of Jesus' life.

And that's with a purpose.

It tells you that Matthew, according to Matthew, if you and I want to understand who Jesus is,

his person, his significance, we need to get the beginning and the end of his life.

Now if you're like me, you've got a curious mind.

You're thinking, what on earth happened in between those years, right?

What happened in that gap?

Well, we don't know a huge amount about what did happen in those in-between years.

But we do know one thing for certain that didn't happen.

Jesus never sinned.

Yeah?

Jesus never sinned.

So imagine that.

No cheat to his parents.

No fallout with his siblings.

No teenage pushing of boundaries.

No expletives when he hits his thumb with the hammer on the carpentry work site.

And that's the reason I imagine that none of the other Nazarene mums wanted to go for a coffee catch-up with Mary.

And they're telling her about their child but refusing to tidy their room.

How's it going for you, Mary?

He's perfect.

No sin.

And just in case we think his life is about not doing things,

what he is doing this whole time

is he is giving his life totally over to pursuing obedience to God

and with that knowing joy.

Sometimes you'll hear theologians call those two sides of the perfection coin

Jesus' passive and his active obedience.

It's really important.

One of the foundation things of the Christian faith.

His active and his passive obedience.

And I think instinctively we struggle to get our heads around that.

I was thinking that this week.

Because we don't know anything other than living our lives in this world that is broken.

I struggle with this.

I've got no framework for understanding what a perfect life would look like.

I mean, how easy is it at the minute to turn on the news

and see what's happening to people in Iran?

And to watch something like that.

And honestly, your heart is just completely unmoved.

Or Ukraine or Gaza.

Or you take your pick at the minute.

And you feel like because we're bombarded with it

that we can become almost emotionally numb to it.

I've listened to enough Jeremy Vine phone-ins on Radio 2

doing a long drive down south in my time

to know that one of the bingo phrases from callers

when he asked people to ring in

and comment on the latest big political scandal,

one of the bingo phrases you hear from people is this.

It doesn't surprise me anymore.

We're just so used to living in this world.

But what we need to see is that when Jesus comes on the scene,

he is something both radically different and wonderfully attractive.

And Matthew wants us to look at him and conclude,

here is humanity as it was always meant to be.

He is perfect love,

covered over in flesh.

And so with that in mind,

would you have a look at verse 13?

Now remember the context

that we thought about last week.

John the Baptist is at the River Jordan.

So people are coming to him.

Do you remember we saw that last week?

Verse 6.

People are coming to him.

And what are they doing?

They are confessing their sins.

They are publicly declaring that there is dirt on my hands,

that I am guilty before a holy God.

And my greatest need in this moment

is not to keep hiding,

is to come and be clean.

That's what they're coming to John and saying.

And what are they doing?

They are being baptized.

Again, to see it in the text,

they're being baptized.

So they're going under the water.

They're coming up again.

And then one day,

John is out in the middle of the river doing his thing.

You're in the text.

Yeah?

He's out in the middle of the river doing his thing.

As usual,

a queue of people is forming.

Right?

Again, we're British.

It probably wasn't a queue.

Probably just gathering around the river.

Right?

But looking up,

what does John see?

Or rather,

who does John see?

He clocks Jesus.

Do you remember Jesus as the one,

verse 11,

whose sandals John has just said

that he is not worthy to untie?

And Jesus has come all the way

from Galilee in the north

down to the Jordan.

Now, depending on where the starting

and the ending point is

that is somewhere between

a 40 to 80 mile trip.

Think of it roughly Glasgow to Edinburgh

or Edinburgh to Glasgow,

depending on your preference.

And he's not doing an Uber.

He's doing it on foot.

Now, just remember what we thought about last week

with all these details.

None of it is filler.

All of this is with a purpose.

What is the purpose?

What does Matthew want us to see?

He wants us to see that this has a purpose.

And now we're getting warmer

to our million dollar question.

Are you thinking it yet?

Are you thinking it yet?

John, he clocks Jesus in line.

And he effectively says,

Jesus,

what are you doing here?

What are you doing here?

You're here wanting to be baptized by me?

Surely it's me that needs to be baptized

by you.

Do you see what he's saying?

Surely this should be the other way around.

I guess this is a bit like Magnus Carlsen

enrolling in a beginner's chess class.

Or maybe it's Adele auditioning

in the early rounds of the X Factor.

Do you get it?

Surely it's the other way around.

And you've got to say that John's right, isn't he?

And I was thinking about it this week, friends.

I can get my head around

why the people in this day

are confessing their sins

and getting baptized.

I get that.

I can get

and most definitely understand

why I needed to repent of my sins

and come to Christ to forgiveness.

And so we've arrived

at the million dollar question.

Are you thinking it?

Why is Jesus getting baptized?

Because he's not repenting

of any sins that he committed.

Right?

You guys, perfect.

Friends, this is where we need to remember

the T-shirt.

He's not repenting of any sins.

What is he doing in this moment?

And this is glorious.

He is identifying himself

with the very people

that he's come to save.

And see, as we try

and get our heads into this,

to the answer to that question,

I was reminded of a famous old quote

about the Bible.

And it's been attributed

to many people over the years.

And to be honest,

it's been repeated so often,

I don't think anyone knows

who said it anymore.

But that's no problem

because it's not about

who has copyright to it.

It's about the insight

that it contains

and it's absolutely golden.

You ready for this?

The Bible

is like a river

shallow enough

for a lamb to go wading,

but deep enough

for the elephant

to go swimming.

And what Matthew is doing

in verses 16 and 17

is inviting us out

to the deep waters

and

to the deep waters

and to get our elephant on.

Friends, this is,

this is deep

and it is profound

and it is wonderful.

And maybe you're here

this morning,

you think,

all this Jesus stuff

is still new to me.

I don't really get it.

Come wait in this.

This is who our God is.

What we get in these four verses,

we get a profound glimpse

into the heart

and the mission

of the God of the Bible.

You ready to be stretched

a little bit by this text?

You up for it?

The God of the Bible

is triune.

We've already been singing

about that,

meaning that he is one God

in three persons.

He is Father,

he is Son,

he is Spirit,

and that puts him

in a league of his own.

There is nothing else

like him

out there

on the market.

He is radically different

from any

so-called competitors

in this world.

He is so radically

different from

what our Muslim friends

would understand

Allah to be like.

or our Buddhist friends

who worship many gods.

The God of the Bible

is radically different.

He is the reality

of all realities.

He is the beauty

of all beauties.

Before anything was,

he was.

And with perfect wisdom

and power,

this God spoke creation

into existence.

What do we do

when we speak?

Why does anyone speak?

They speak to make

themselves known.

And this God

has made himself

known

in creation.

And why did he

create the world?

Have you ever wondered that?

Why did he create the world?

Well, because he is

Father, Son, and Spirit.

Because he is

a community of love.

The answer cannot be

that he was lonely

or that he is needy.

He doesn't need anything.

He's not sure

of enjoyment

and satisfaction.

He created the world

to showcase his glory

and invite us

into knowing him.

Friends,

have you ever wondered

why human beings

long for relationships?

The answer is

that we are made

in the image of God

who has eternally existed

as a fully satisfied

community of love.

We're made in his image.

No longer there's longings

for relationships.

This God,

he knows the end

from the beginning.

He's never reacting

to anything.

When Adam and Eve

rebelled against God

in the Garden of Eden,

it was tragic,

but it did not take him

by surprise.

No, this God

has eternally had

a plan

to redeem the world

and showcase

the glory of his love

to the world.

You feeling stretched?

And in Matthew,

what do we get here?

Who's in the photo,

if you like?

Who's in the photo?

The Father,

the Son,

and the Spirit.

You feeling stretched?

And I think we're meant

to ask,

if we know

the Bible story,

I think we're meant

to ask ourselves,

when was the last time

that we saw all three

mentioned together

in the Bible story?

And the answer,

I think,

is Genesis 1.

With the Spirit

hovering over the waters,

let us make man

in our image.

And what is Matthew doing

but creating that sense

of wonderful anticipation

as to what God

is about to do

that's kicking off

in this moment

as he is acting

to bring about

the start of

a new creation.

You see,

as far as

the earth is concerned,

the baptism of Jesus,

I don't imagine

it looks anything special

as far as

earth looking on

is concerned.

But it's almost

as if heaven

at the kickoff

of Jesus'

public ministry

cannot contain

its excitement.

And so,

friends,

let's just think

about three things

that we can savor

as we think about

the Father,

the Son,

and the Spirit

from these verses.

Here's the first thing

we need to savor here.

It's the willing Son

to fulfill

all righteousness.

See verse 15,

right?

Jesus tells John

why he's come

to get baptized.

Do you see it?

What does he say?

To fulfill

all

righteousness.

Now,

we're thinking a bit more

about that word

fulfill

and the law

in a few chapters

time.

But for the purposes

of this today,

in the back

of Jesus'

mind

is this thing

that Isaiah

had spoken about.

And this is where

Isaiah 42

and 52

and 53

come in.

So if you've got it

there,

you can flick there.

And the book of Isaiah,

you've got these two

big things that are

happening in Isaiah.

These two big themes

that you think,

how is this puzzle

going to be solved?

So on the one hand,

you've got God

promising that he's

going to rightly

punish his people

for their blatant

idolatry and sin

against him

and for dragging

his name

through the mud

via their lives

in front of the nations.

So God's going,

on one hand,

he's going to say,

I'm going to punish sin.

But on the other hand,

God is promising

that he's going to

make a way

for his people

to be forgiven

and set free

and to be transformed.

God is going to

create this city

of righteousness

and he's going to

create a people

who long

to live

for him.

And you think,

how is God

going to do

both of these things?

We're standing

at the center

of that Venn diagram.

How God

is going to be faithful

to both of those things?

It's this figure

that you get

in Isaiah 42,

get it in 49,

52, 53,

called

my servant.

This figure

who will act

wisely,

who will have

no deceit

in his mouth,

who will be

despised

and rejected

by men,

who will be

a man of

sorrows

and he will

carry all

our infirmities

on himself

and he will be

pierced for

our

transgressions.

And what else

will he do?

He will

number

himself

with the

transgressors.

So he will say,

I'm one of them.

Are you beginning

to get this?

He's going to say,

I'm one of them.

And Christians

down the ages

have rightly,

absolutely

cherished

Isaiah 52

and 53

in particular

because we read

this and we think

to ourselves,

cannot wait

to meet this guy.

Where is he coming?

sin?

We read it

alongside Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

And so here

we have

Jesus

in this

the most

wonderful

of moments

who having

read the

scriptures

since he

was a boy,

he declares

in this

moment

as he gets

baptized,

as he stands

in the place

of sinners,

as he identifies

with them,

with this

my servant

in the back

of his mind.

He is declaring,

I am willing.

He's uniting

himself with

the people

that he's come

to save,

saying,

Father,

I will live

for them.

For them,

I'll do it.

I will live

for them

the perfect

life that

they could

never live.

And I will

die the death

that they

deserve to die

because of

their sin.

I'm up for it.

I'm going to

be the servant.

And it's

well worth

seeing,

folks,

that Jesus

saves us

by both

his doing

and his

dying.

Jesus

is stepping

right into

the shoes

of Isaiah

52 and

53 of

this servant

job description

and he's

declaring in

this moment,

I am

willing.

oh,

is this

not great

that he's

come to

do the

very thing

that I

could never

do for

myself

and that

you could

never do

for yourself.

He left

the

eternity

with his

father and

you all

go and

he stepped

into the

water for

you and

I.

See the

willing son,

but secondly,

we need to

go quicker

here,

I promise.

See the

equipping

spirit.

Verse 16,

he descends

on Jesus

in the form

of a dove.

Now don't

get sidetracked

by the dove

there.

I'm going to

give you

your theories

afterwards.

The answer is

we're not

sure.

I think it's

just another

symbol for

the Holy

Spirit.

You get

fire,

you get

lots of

symbols

throughout

scripture.

It's

just another

one of

these

indicating

the

presence

of

the

Spirit.

But what's

important to

see is

that the

falling of

the Spirit

connects Jesus

with the

servant of

Isaiah 42.

The one on

whom God

will put

his Spirit.

And what

will that

Spirit do?

What will

he do?

He will

empower

Jesus to

accomplish

his mission.

And he

will bring

home the

truth that

the Father

is just

about to

declare of

him.

I take

it he

will bring

it home

in a

really

personal

way.

But the

big thing

to see is

the Spirit

is given

to the

Son and

sends him

out to

accomplish

this

mission.

And this

is Ian's

verses next

week and I

don't want to

verse creep but

I'll do it

for five

seconds.

Okay.

Look at

verse one

of chapter

four.

It is the

Spirit that

leads Jesus

into the

wilderness.

Friends,

the equipping

Spirit,

we're going

quicker here.

Thirdly,

see the

adoring

Father.

Verse 17.

Look at

this.

With

him

I am

well

pleased.

Oh,

the

Father,

his heart

is positively

bursting with

pride and

brimming with

love as he

looks on the

faithful obedience

of his

Son.

And there

are overtones

in that word

Son there.

We don't have

time to do

this but you

can check out

your own time

of Psalm

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and 2 Samuel

7 there.

We thought

about Psalm

2 a few

weeks ago

in the

first sermon

of this

year.

But when

God talks

about his

Son there,

he's also

talking about

his King.

And the

way that

Matthew's

written this

is he

emphasizes

verse 16

in Matthew.

Do you

see how

Jesus

seeing and

presumably

hearing

is to

show us

that although

this

declaration

is for

the world,

these words

are aimed

personally

at Jesus.

Now

why does

that matter?

here's

what we're

going to

see next

week.

It matters

next week

because in

the very

next few

verses,

the devil

is going

to be in

Jesus'

ear saying,

are you

sure?

You

sure you're

the Son?

You sure

you heard

that right?

I mean,

the distance

between heaven

and earth

is big

and phone

reception is

not great

these days.

You've

just

switched

to

O2.

You sure

it didn't

fall out?

You sure

it didn't

drop?

Or is it

a contract?

You didn't

read the

terms and

conditions?

There's an

asterisk there

that you

missed.

You sure?

I mean,

would you

really be out

here starving

in the

wilderness

if that

was true?

I mean,

it's as if

here God

the Father

is saying

to his

son at

the outset

of his

public

ministry,

no matter

what happens,

he sees

you step

into being

that servant.

Don't you

believe anything

else?

And is

that not a

wonderful

lesson for

the Christian

life?

When the

devil so

often whispers

in our

ears,

you sure?

Again,

think back to

the beginning

of the

Bible story,

Genesis 3,

the devil's

only got one

play.

You sure?

Did God

really say?

Did he

really say

that you

can be

forgiven of

all your

sins?

Did he

really say

his love

is unconditional?

Nothing's

going to

separate you

from it.

Are you

sure?

Have you

seen your

week last

week?

If he did

love you,

do you not

think your

life would

be a little

bit easier?

A cancer

free life?

Do you not

think that you

would sail

through your

exams?

Do you not

think you

would have

no mental

health

worries?

Do you not

think there

would be no

relational

difficulties in

your life?

Are you

sure that you

picked that

up right?

That's when

we need to

remember that

united to

Christ,

the Father

feels the

exact same

way about

us as he

does his

son.

Nothing's

going to

separate us

from his

love.

Why?

Because he's

willing to

be this

servant.

What did

he do?

He steps

into the

water for

us.

And in

this minute

he identifies

with all

those who

would come

after him

and put

their faith

in him

and say

I'm

with them.

And of

course what

is the

baptism thing

that we

do other

than us

declaring

that we

are with

him?

Yeah?

My,

his life

is my

life,

his death

is my

death,

the old

me has

gone,

the new

me has

risen,

the son

has united

himself to

me,

the father

loves me,

the spirit

is in

me,

and my

plea to

you this

morning if

you've

never done

that,

that you're

missing out

in such a

wonderful

blessing and

also it's

an obedience

thing that we

do because

it reminds us

of a

moment when

this is

true,

when it

first became

true,

he has

totally

united

himself to

us.

And friends,

we need to

know how

heaven feels

in this

moment.

Do you

know why?

We're

beginning to

close it

here.

Do you

know why?

Because this

gospel from

here on

out will

look anything

other than

victory for

Jesus.

is it?

Let me

put it

like this.

In 2007

there was

an experiment

that the

Washington

Post did

with

highly

acclaimed

violin

player called

Joshua

Bell.

And this

experiment,

it went

something like

this,

they got

Joshua Bell

to dress

up as a

busker.

And they

asked him

to go and

busk at

Washington,

D.C.

Subway.

And he

busked for

45 minutes.

He played

some of the

finest classical

pieces ever

composed on

a Stradivarius

violin worth,

get this,

3.5

million dollars.

And only

a handful

of people

stopped to

listen in

that 45

minutes.

A couple

clapped and

in the end

he raised

just over

30 dollars.

true

brilliance,

utter

magnificence

but hidden

in plain

sight.

Why does

God want

us to

know in

chapter 3?

Why does

Matthew want

us to

know in

chapter 3

about who

the son

really is?

Because this

gospel from

here on in

is not

going to

look like

victory.

And of

course the

shape of

his baptism,

if you get

this, is a

prediction of

the shape of

his life.

From this

point on his

earthly life

will be

downward

shaped.

His family

won't

understand

him.

The religious

leaders will

reject him.

Everyday

people won't

get him.

Roman

soldiers will

mock him.

The Roman

authorities will

sentence him.

Roman soldiers

will kill him.

But as if

God is

saying,

or Matthew

is saying,

as you read

the rest of

this, don't

be fooled.

What's

kicking off

here in

chapter 3

is the

most

magnificence

of rescue

missions

from the

most willing

of saviors.

What is

this that

Jesus

is declaring?

Yeah,

I'm with

them.

man of

sorrows,

what a

name.

For

the son

of God

who came

ruined

sinners to

reclaim.

Hallelujah.

What a

saviour.

Let me

pray.

Father, we

just praise

you for who

you are here

today.

Lord, our

finite

minds cannot

get our

heads around

your true

glory and

splendor.

God, I

just

because we

can't fully,

fully comprehend

does not

mean there's

any reason

not to bow

in reverence

and worship.

Father, we

thank you.

We praise

you, Father.

We praise

you, Son.

We praise

you, Spirit.

We thank

you, Lord,

that you

are a

wonderful

God.

And Lord,

I just

pray that

this message

would come

home with

the exact

application

salvation

that it

needs to

have in

each of

our lives.

Lord, maybe

for some

of us here

today, it's

just to

wake up to

the wonder

of who

you are.

There's

nothing else

worth pursuing

with our

lives than

knowing you.

Maybe for

others, it's

to know that

Jesus is the

saviour who

got down into

the dirt.

He is God

with us, and

this just

means he's

God with

us in such

a perfect

and wonderful

way, that

he truly is

one who

knows what

it is.

And Father,

maybe even for

some of us

here today,

this would

be the

morning where

we grasp

your

outrageous

love for

us, and

that we

would turn

in repentance,

leave that

old life

behind, say

sorry for the

ways that we've

offended you and

lived our own

way, and turn

to you, the

giver of life.

And may today

be the day

of salvation.

So Father, we

thank you so

much for your

goodness.

Thank you for

your word that

we have it in

our language,

that we can

pick it up

and read.

Lord, be with

us as we

finish our

time together,

we pray.

In Jesus'

wonderful name

we ask.

Amen.