Introduction to The Godhead: The Baptism of Jesus | Steve Benson

Bibles if you would

to the book of Matthew this morning.

We've been doing a series

on the important subjects

the word of God. We've been looking at

the Godhead.

God the Father, God the Son, God the

Holy Spirit.

And

this morning we're going to continue to

look at

God the Son.

and

and his two

baptisms.

So, the son of God, Jesus had two

baptisms that he

uh shared with us. And as we can see in

scripture

and we're going to start out in Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and then this is

as well. We're going to see a lot of

John the Baptist here as we look at

this. Obviously, he's the baptizer

and the one that the Old Testament

predicted.

But we have two baptisms of Jesus. And

we're going to look at the first one

here.

It is was his water baptism.

And we're going to look at his other one

as well. And then we're going to come

back and look at this first one, the the

one on water.

So, we want to look at everything the

scripture has to say about this, not

just limit ourselves to to one verse or

even one context

uh on this particular subject.

And you know, this is one that deserves

to study and or deserves our time to

understand and to know why

Jesus was baptized.

If you want to start a church fight

or or a fight at work or in your

neighborhood, just bring this subject up

and it will do it every time.

So, that's not my intent at all.

My intent is to look at what the word of

God says and let's rely on it

and let's stick to what it says

about this particular subject.

And you guys are familiar enough with

this that I don't have to read all this

here in chapter 3. But the subject of

Jesus water baptism is here in chapter

3. And we are going to come back and

look at

look at this from two perspectives I

guess. Uh one from John's perspective

and the other one from Jesus

perspective.

Uh he's God by the way. The whole

trinity shows up at his baptism.

So we want to hear what John has to say

about this and we want to hear what

Jesus has to say about this water

baptism here. Then cometh Jesus from

Galilee to Jordan unto John to be

baptized by him.

But John forbade him, saying, I have

need to be baptized of thee, and you

come to me.

And Jesus answered and said unto him,

Permit it to be so now, for thus it

becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.

And then he considered to him, "And

Jesus, when he was baptized, went up

straightway out of the water, and lo,

the heavens were opened, and he saw the

spirit of God descending like a dove and

lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from

heaven said, "This is my beloved son in

whom I am well pleased." And this is

Jesus water baptism. Um he's at the

Jordan. uh the water is mentioned and

and you know John is the baptizer and we

have a lot of things here that took

place uh that are so important for us to

understand

uh as to why Jesus was baptized

you know and why John what John says and

then what what the Godhead says here in

verse 16. So this is the first baptism

of Jesus. Now let's look at the second

one. He mentions it in Matthew chap 11.

Matthew chap 11

and verse 11.

And here John, he mentions John, verily

I say unto you, among them that were

born of women, there is none greater

than John the Baptist. And he uh that is

the least

in heaven is greater than he. And from

the days of John until now, the kingdom

of heavens suffices violence, and

violence taketh it by force. So here we

see Jesus mentioning John the Baptist.

And this is when John particularly uh

was concerned about uh Jesus. And you

know, here we have even the prophet

himself saying, "Was I the right

prophet?"

And you see what Jesus answer was. it

might as well been for it is written,

you know, over and over. Uh he mentions

the reasons why. Now, here's a second

one. I'm sorry. If you'll turn to John

chap 20

and verse 20

then you know no other prophet baptized

that I know of

um correct me if I'm wrong on that one

but I think John was the only one

and for specific reasons.

And here Jesus mentions his second

baptism

in John, I'm sorry, in Matthew chapter

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

20 and verse 20.

Then cometh he to uh the mother of

Zebedee's children and her sons

worshiping him, desiring a certain thing

of him. And he said unto her, "What will

you do?" And she said unto him, "Grant

these that my two sons may set the one

on the right hand and the other on the

left in your kingdom." And Jesus says,

'You don't know what you're asking.' And

here's where he brings up his his second

baptism. You know, these men didn't know

that the day would come in the distant

future where each one of them would uh

would die for the cause of Christ and

indeed they would they would taste death

for him. But here he's not talking about

reigning. He's talking about suffering.

and as well himself. He's not talking

about himself reigning here and he will

reign. But before he reigns, he has to

come and be baptized with this with this

uh baptism that he mentions here. And he

says, "Be baptism with baptized with the

baptism that I have in verse 22." And

they said, "We are able." They were

wrong. They were going to be able, you

know, once he prepared them. and you

shall drink indeed of my cup and be

baptized with the baptism that I am

baptized with but to sit on the right

hand and on the left is not for me to

give but for my father. So he is

mentioning his second baptism here which

uh if we put this together with John 18

11

uh there we see where it is mentioned

that that this is the baptism the death

the Jesus death upon the cross. So we

have here the two baptisms that he

mentions the water and here uh with fire

and his death. I turn over to Matthew

26.

Matthew 26

and verse 42

here. He says, "Oh my father, this cup

may not pass away from me unless I drink

it." And he says, "Your will be done."

So even Jesus defines what this second

baptism is uh for him. uh it's it's to

do his father's will. So we have the two

baptisms of Jesus. We have the water

one. We have the the one here uh the

baptism of his death. Now turn to

Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

That's the book right before Matthew.

Even I can find this one.

Malachi.

And we've looked at a lot of these Old

Testament verses that describe Jesus in

detail. Remember, we even the the Old

Testament even talks about the 30 pieces

of silver. So, we have a lot of uh

prophecies about these things. And the

one here in Malachi, it's similar to

what Isaiah said about the Messiah

and also John the Baptist. So the Old

Testament connects these two men. Um,

one is a prophet and one is the son of

God.

But the son of God deserves a messenger.

The son of God deserves a prophet to be

uh just preceding him. Uh, in fact,

they're so close u I think they're

second cousins.

Um, humanly speaking, they're that

close.

And here God says in verse one, "Behold,

I will send my messenger,

and he shall prepare the way before me,

God speaking, sayeth the Lord, and you

will seek and suddenly come to his

temple, even the messenger of the

covenant, whom you delight in, and

behold, he shall come, sayeth the Lord

of hosts." So John the Baptist is going

to come the the the the forerunner the

messenger uh here in the last book of

the Old Testament says that the Messiah

is going to have this uh messenger run

before him.

And we don't see any water mentioned

here at all. you know what um you know

that that's going to come uh at here

here in Matthew chapter 3 but Malachiah

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

God says you know return to me that's

the whole point of this prophecy

God says you've strayed you know and and

and if we read the whole chapter here we

would see all the way up to verse 7

where he says even from the days of your

father you have gone from my ordinances

and you have not kept them return to

So that's what repentance is, you know,

is a returning to God. It is a

confession of our sin. It is a

realization of our sin. It's a real

realization of our separation from God

and our need for a savior and a

redeemer.

And then verse two of chapter 3 says

says, "Who the who is he that can abide

his coming?" Well, this is his return.

So we have the first and second advents

right here in in just two verses. And

the Old Testament often amazingly does

this. And here he he doesn't talk about

you know what uh he Jesus is going to do

in his first advent.

Even Jesus said I've not come to judge.

I have come to save.

So verse one Jesus is going to come and

save. Verse two Jesus is going to come

and judge. Same same person. you know,

it's the Messiah.

You know, he's going to be our savior

and our redeemer as well as as the one

who comes back and will judge all the

nations. And that's what Isaiah says as

well. We saw that earlier on when we

looked there in chapter 40 and verse

three. It's it's almost an identical

prophecy of the Lord Jesus. So, and John

the Baptist, the messenger going before

him. And John was a he was a special

prophet. And and we saw earlier

that Jesus pointed that out. And he was

a special prophet because he's the one

that pointed directly to the Messiah.

Now, he wasn't God. And a lot of people

got confused about these things. Turn

over to Luke 1.

You know, Jesus birth was special.

John's birth was special. You know, they

weren't the same, but but there was a

reason that, you know, that

John the Baptist was born, you know,

just

months or, you know, whatever it was

before Jesus was born. They're almost

the same age and they're related humanly

speaking.

And here the angel says, you know, God

was involved in John the Baptist

birth as well.

And Jesus already said

he he was a great prophet

and he was great because of what he did

and how separated and set apart he was

and whole family was. He come from a a

uh the line of the priesthood.

But here in chapter 1 verse 13, the

angel said, "Fear not, Zakius, for your

prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth

shall bear a son, and you'll call his

name John." So clear down to the details

here about this messenger that's going

to go before Jesus,

you know, and that and the family of of

John was um

you know, they were a they were a godly

family,

you know, they weren't,

you know, somebody else. They were a

wonderful family. It's almost like Mary

and Joseph, you know, they were a

wonderful couple.

as well. So God picked the right ones to

give Jesus the Messiah to. God picks the

right ones to give John the Baptist to.

And notice what they say about his

ministry.

And you will have joy and gladness and

you will you will re shall receive at

his birth.

For he shall be great in the sight of

the Lord.

You'll drink neither wine nor strong

drink. and he shall be filled with the

Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

You know, there's no one it says that

about

uh here the only one greater is Jesus

who is God. And uh and we saw that last

week. It's over there in verse 34 about

Mary. You know, she said, "I don't even

know a man." And and the Bible says

there that the Holy Spirit came upon

her. The power of the highest

overshadowed her there in verse 35.

So, two great spectacular things we have

here with John the Baptist and with with

Jesus and Jesus being greater and John

saying so John said I'm not him. I'm the

I'm the voice of the one crying in the

wilderness

and he's going to have a ministry here.

He's filled with the Holy Spirit

uh and the children of Israel shall he

turn to the Lord their God. There it is.

What's John going to do? What's his

ministry? He's going to turn Israel

to the Lord their God whom Mary is going

to give birth to here as we saw in verse

34.

and he shall go before him and in the

spirit and power of Elijah

to turn the hearts of the fathers to the

children, the disobedient to the wisdom

of the just to make ready a people

prepared for the Lord. So that's what

John's ministry is now. He goes he is in

the wilderness and having you know grown

up there in the in the nation and around

these you know these are the Jordan and

you know the areas where he was born and

Jesus is born in Bethlehem and these

things are going on not in the middle of

Jerusalem where you know somebody might

think you know God's going to come. No

these are out these are out in the

wilderness John he's going to come in

the wilderness. Jesus is going to show

up in the wilderness,

not in um the temple.

So he was filled from his birth. He will

come in the power of Elijah.

And you know, we read about John. He he

lacked no um he he wasn't afraid, was

he? You know, how would you like to

stand and call all the religious people

in town vipers?

And he did.

And his whole point was to turn people

to the Lord. Even the re the worst ones

were the religious people.

How they needed to repent.

And how they needed to come to know the

Lord. And Zachcharias said unto the

angel, "How shall I know this? I'm an

old man and my wife is well stricken and

you."

Sometimes God

makes us chuckle.

And the angel will say unto him, I am

Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God,

and I am sent to speak unto thee and to

show thee these glad tidings. That's

good news. That's what it is, you know,

and that's the whole point that we

looked at in the Old Testament when we

went clear back to Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

where the seed of the woman is

mentioned. And all the way through the

Old Testament, we've had that coming

through, you know, all the ones that God

sent the seed through,

uh, Noah and Shem, and then, you know,

ultimately David and, and that's the way

the New Testament starts out is here. He

is

the seed of the woman and and here the

seed of the woman was married and and

there is no seed of Joseph. That's what

the Bible says. you know, this this man

begott his son. This man begott his son.

This man begott his son until it gets to

Jesus. And then it doesn't say that

about Joseph. It says the Holy Spirit

begott him.

So now let's go to John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

And you know, John, he doesn't just

repeat what everybody else has said

about this event. He he really brings

out some stuff for us here. uh to take

note of. Turn back to to John

and this is a part of John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

This may be one of the best chapters in

the whole Bible of everything that has

went before.

And and you know what Jesus said to

Nicodemus, except a man be born again,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So now John the Baptist has handed off

the preaching and the teaching to the

one that he baptized to the one he said

don't listen to me listen to him

and John chapter 3 ends up

John 3 · chapter mention

ends with the the testimony about John

the Baptist

and John sheds a lot of light on these

things in verse 22 after these things

came Jesus and his disciples enter to

the land of Judea

and there he tried with them and

baptized. So we see that John the

Baptist ministry in continued on even

after Matthew chapter 3 um and Luke

Matthew 3 · chapter mention Luke 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 uh here John chapter 3 John

John 3 · chapter mention

sort of tells us what we don't know from

the other gospels

and you might read this and say well was

Jesus baptizing?

No, Jesus was not baptizing. Let's read

the whole the whole verse context for

John was not yet cast into prison. So

this is before Matthew chap 11 where

John gets cast in prison.

Then there arose a question between some

of John's disciples and the Jews about

purifying.

Now the Jews, now here's a good thing

for us to see with the water. Why the

water, you know, why the water? Why was

John baptizing with water? Why was John

saying repent, you know, and talking

about, you know, uh um confessing your

sins and fleeing from your sins? And the

Jews thought that that water could

purify.

I mean, that's sort of, you know,

ingrained in the Jews and especially the

Pharisees.

You know, we we have the one context

where they were baptizing their hands,

letting the water run down their elbows,

you know, and say that, you know, we

didn't eat with unclean hands, but

they're eating with unclean hands.

That's here as well with the with the um

at the uh right after the the marriage

when Jesus turned the water into wine.

But one thing at a time, he says, uh,

"And they came unto John and said,

Rabbi,

um, he that was with thee beyond the

Jordan,

to whom you bear witness,

you know, John did his John did his job.

John did his ministry. He said, "Here he

is. Here he is. Here he is.

I I must decrease and he must increase."

And John said, uh, behold the same

baptized with all men and can and all

men come to him. And John answered and

said, a man can receive nothing except

to be given to him from heaven. And you

yourselves bear witness that I said, I

am not the Christ, but I sent before

him. John did his job and did it well.

And he that the he that has the bride

is the bridegroom.

That's Jesus. He's the one with the

bride. He's the one with the church.

Here John mentions the church before the

the day of Pentecost in Acts. You know,

this is this is just amazing

that he knows these things.

But he that heareth them rejoices

greatly because of the bridegroom's

voice.

And this is my joy. Therefore, I am

fulfilled. He must increase and I must

decrease. So, we have the testimony of

John here

um in John the Baptist

about these things and he says in verse

31, he that cometh from above

is above all.

So, the apostles know here when this is

written about the deity of Christ. John

knew about the deity of Christ. How is

that? Well, John was there when God

said, "This is my beloved son whom I am

well pleased." Back there in Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. And what he has seen and

heard that he testifies

and no man receives his testimony. And

he that has received his testimony has

set the seal to this. God is true.

Uh for he whom God has sent speaks the

words of God.

For God gives not the spirit by measure

unto him. The father loves the son and

he has given all things into his hand.

So John the Baptist handed off his

ministry to Jesus

to to where we can proclaim now the

gospel of the son of God as having died

for our sins. That's what verse 36

here's the gospel. He that believes on

the son has everlasting life. That's it.

You want everlasting life, believe on

the son.

And he that believeth not, the Son shall

not see life, but the wrath of God

abides on him. So John finishes his

ministry where Malachi says he's going

to

he's going to come back um and judge the

world. So it's just incredible to see

these things. And you know here uh we

seen John baptizing and these things

were going on but uh John hands off his

ministry to Jesus

the prophet does. So let's go back to

Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Why was Jesus baptized?

This is the beginning of his ministry.

That's one reason.

And we're going to see another one.

Go back to Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

And

John knows this is Jesus. He knows this

is the son of God. He knows this is the

Messiah. There's no shouldn't be any

doubt in John's mind.

And John knows because look what he

says.

You coming to me

to be baptized?

You know, look at John's reaction

and then look at Jesus reaction. Permit

it to be so now.

So John's just in shock that the son of

God has come to be baptized by him. So

the reason John is baptizing and the

reason Jesus gets baptized, they're not

the same.

You know, it's uh they're not the same.

And we'll talk about this as we go

through this here. But why is John uh

just amazed up there in verse 13?

And why is this reaction

uh that we have from him? What you

coming to me?

And the reason being is because John

knows that Jesus is the spotless lamb of

God. Remember

John says that in his gospel. John John

the Apostle said John the Baptist said

we got a lot of John's this morning.

It's him. Behold the lamb of God that

takes away the sin of the world. It's

the deity of Christ. He's God.

And for the Jews, there were a lot of

people who thought this. And and um here

John

literally he's pointing to Jesus. He

says that he's the one, you know, you're

the Messiah. You're the son of God.

You know, you're coming to me.

And uh you know, and then we have here

the whole trinity shows up in verse 16.

And uh you know the these three are

already united with this.

You know, God the Father didn't say,

"Well, you know what? My son's doing a

pretty good job down there. I think I'll

just endorse him." That's not what this

is. He was endorsed before he ever got

here. And John sees that. John knows

that he's the sinless son of God.

And uh you know John he he goes on to

say um

that

he can wash us from our sins. John the

apostle.

So John here John the Baptist the

greatest of the prophets

baptizes

the son of God.

And this marks Jesus earthly ministry

the beginning of it. How do we know

that? because of what John says over in

John chapter 3. I mean, John just lit

John 3 · chapter mention

John the Apostle literally says John the

Baptist did exactly what the book of

Malachi said he would do. He just hands

off the ministry

to Jesus that began in the wilderness.

And um you know these are

some important things. So here's where

Jesus earthly ministry begins because

look what happens next is his temptation

and we're going to look at that but not

today.

So you know John the Baptist he was the

son of a priest and you know John he was

a prophet and he was a priest that God

was working through and he pointed to

the greater prophet. He turned to the

greater priest, Jesus. And here he is

realizing that I'm just a man and he is

God. Jesus said, "Permit it to be so now

where becometh to fulfill

all righteousness."

You know, and water, the Jews thought

the water could purify, and water can

purify, but only physically. It can't

purify

um spiritually.

Only the blood of the lamb can do that.

And that's exactly what John says uh in

John chapter 1. Uh it is the blood of

John 1 · chapter mention

the lamb that will cleanse us from all

unrighteousness. So, you know, Jesus,

you know, he's he was God when he was

born. You know, we talked about that at

the incarnation. We talked about that at

the virgin birth. He was God before he

ever come to earth.

He became a man. He didn't become God.

He was already God.

He was already eternal.

But he become a man to come and to live

a life on this earth for a reason. And

that reason was his second baptism that

he spoke of as well. So we need to

remember that this first one is just the

beginning and we need to remember the

second one that he spoke of that he was

going to become the spotless or he is

the spotless lamb of God. He's as God,

he cannot sin.

So if he can't sin, then that's, you

know, his deity is greater than his

humanity. And the devil's going to test

him on those things here in in Matthew

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. And we'll talk about that

later. But go back to Luke chapter 3

Luke 3 · chapter mention

with me.

Luke

Luke 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

and

verse three,

Luke 3:3.

Luke 3:3

And he came into all the country about

the Jordan preaching the baptism of

repentance for the remission of sins.

This is this is John the Baptist, the

guy that Malachi spoke of. And we saw in

the other um the other text and it is

written and here Luke mentions Isaiah's

prophecy which is identical to Malachias

uh the prophet the voice of one crying

in the wilderness prepare ye the way of

the Lord and make his path straight. You

know nothing about the Messiah needing

to repent of sin. You know it's this is

beyond that. He's sinless.

He is the sinless son of God. And then

look if you will in Luke chapter 1

Luke 1 · chapter mention

and and here was the intent of John's

ministry

not for for us all. And then you know

Jesus comes along at the end of Matthew

and says to be baptized in the name of

the father the son and the holy spirit.

That is indeed water baptism. And we'll

we'll talk about the Christians baptisms

at a different time. Today we're talking

about Jesus baptism

and John the reason that John was there

and John pointing to him to give

knowledge of salvation unto his people

for the remissions of sin. You know

they're thinking water. Oh water can

make me clean. John says no

the blood is what will make you clean.

and through the tender mercy of God

whereby uh so so Luke here tells us the

same thing that Matthew told us, the

same thing that John told us, the same

thing that John the Baptist said, the

same thing that John the Apostle said,

the same thing that Jesus said.

So here we have the testimony of

scriptures establishing

the reason why Jesus was baptized.

not for his repentance, not for his

remission of sin.

You know, that was everybody else that

John was baptizing.

But we can see here that, you know,

there were there there are phrases that

the Jews knew like, you know, the

Passover, you know, you you say Passover

and the Jews were like, "Oh, Passover,

it's you know, that's that's an event."

There's a lot of, you know, a lot of

truth and a lot of revelation from the

word of God about the Passover,

you know, God passing over our sins

because of blood,

you know. So, so they're not ignorant

people, you know, they've had the word

of God. That's an that's a part of this

the amazing thing when we get to the

sinlessness of Jesus. You know, God

didn't send him, you know, out to a

desert island where there was no one. He

put him right where all the sinners

were, right where the devil was. And let

him get tested. But he was holy before

he was ever tested. That's what verse 75

says. In holiness and righteousness

before him all the days of our life. And

this child Jesus is him. So John does a

great job

of pointing to Jesus and telling us who

he is.

And the word salvation here, it it means

deliverance.

You know, we that's that's that's our

problem as sinners. We don't understand

we need delivered

from our sins.

We don't think we have any. And if we

did, maybe we can do something to

rectify them with God. We're we're

ignorant. We have sins. And and here he

says the only way that we can come and

enjoy this uh salvation

to his people to the Jews first and then

to the Gentiles the tender mercy of God.

Jesus is the tender mercy of God and

he's the one that God sent forth here.

And you know this, the Jews had to

scapegoat.

You know, boy, that really spoke volumes

to me about my sin. Well, how did God

get rid of my sin? Well, the Jews had

they had the scapegoat. You know, they

would bring the scapegoat in and people

would lay their hands on the head of the

scapegoat, which represented their sins

leaving them and going on the goat.

And then they wouldn't kill that goat.

They would take him out in the

wilderness and turn him loose and hope

he never came back. That was the

scapegoat.

So the Messiah, the lamb of God, if

we're going to have the forgiveness of

sins, if our our sins are going to be

paid for and remembered no more, then we

have to let the sinless son of God

accomplish this for us. You know, the

Jews knew what a trespass offering was.

They, you know, they more than anyone

understood sin. They more than anyone

understood the consequences of sin. And

it's not because they were smarter than

anybody else. It's because they were the

chosen of God.

So God in incredible way

works through this Jewish nation

to bring about not only his the Messiah,

but the one who pointed

to the Messiah. Go to Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

Romans

Romans 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

You know,

he

didn't How could the angel say he's

going to take away all the sins if he

had a risk of sinning? you know, he he

was sinless before he ever came here

and he remained sinless. He We're going

to talk about that. Um the sinlessness

of Christ

and this testing, that's what it did.

You know, it uh it made him pure if you

can imagine.

And you know, the the Jews thought not

keeping the Sabbath was sin. You know,

that's in their mind. And Jesus said,

"No, I'll tell you what sin is. It's to

think an evil thought. It doesn't even

have to become action."

And the Jews, the Pharisees, they were

they were, you know, the most religious

people around, yet they didn't even

understand

uh the their own sinfulness.

So the Hebrew word

in Romans chapter 4

Romans 4 · chapter mention

and I want to go over to verse five. If

you said atonement to a Jew,

he'd know what you were talking about.

Oh, the atonement. You're talking about

the covering, mercy seat, the the

tabernacle, the the place where God came

and met with us where our sins were

covered. Yeah, that's the atonement.

But in a greater way, Jesus come

and shed his blood

to make that atonement.

That's the greatness of the book of

Hebrew. But here in Romans chapter 4 and

Romans 4 · chapter mention

verse 7,

Paul says, "Blessed." This is like that

good news.

Oh, the good news of Jesus

all the way back to Genesis chapter

three, the seed of the one. That good

news. Yeah, that good news.

Him, he it is

says John the Baptist will come after me

and he'll do greater things. And here's

the one of the greater things he did.

Blessed are they

whose iniquities are forgiven and whose

sins are covered. There's the word

atonement.

And to the Jew, it was like, I got to go

every year, you know, and then I go out

and I sin more and I got to come back,

you know, my sins are just a constant

reminder to me that I'm a sinner.

But now through the blood of the lamb,

we can have this blessedness and have

our iniquities and our sins forgiven.

You say, just the best ones or the worst

ones? No.

No. So there's no best ones or worst

ones when it comes to sin.

It's all of our sin from the time we're

born till we die

or covered

by the blood of the lamb.

Blessed is he that whom the Lord will

not impute his sin. So it's up to God

who gets forgiven and who doesn't.

Remember they had a hard time when Jesus

come down. They said, "What? Who's he

think he is? Only God can forgive sin.

See, the Jews knew that. And here Paul

knew that. Here Paul tells us,

only God can forgive sin.

No man can do that. I don't care how

many titles you put on him. He's still a

man. He is a sinner like us.

He needs a savior. He needs a redeemer.

The only sinless one

is the son of God. And go to Luke 17

because here that here that uh episode

is that I mentioned

in Luke chapter 17.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

There's human and divine forgiveness.

You know Jesus said for us to forgive

one another. Don't hold grudges with

each other.

you know, forgive if any man trespass

against you. And Peter's like, "Well,

Lord, what if they do it again?"

Jesus said, "Forgive them again

until 70* 7."

So, you know, we should

we need forgiveness and we need to

forgive. We need to do both. But Jesus

didn't need any forgiveness.

He had never failed in anything. He's

God.

And here in Luke 17

and verse three, we have this account.

Take heed to yourselves and your brother

trespass against you. If he repents,

forgive him. For if he trespasses

against thee seven times in a day, um

you shall forgive him.

And the apostle said unto him, Lord,

increase our faith. You know, we can't

even forgive one another, let alone be

forgiven like God forgives.

And when God forgives, that's different

than when men forgive.

And that's what this is. That's what

this atonement is. That's what that's

the difference between John the Baptist

and and Jesus.

John's a man and Jesus is God.

And the scriptures clearly

proclaim that. Now, let's go back and

see what Jesus said. Go back to Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

We saw John's amazement

and the reason for it. Here we're going

to see what Jesus says

in Matthew chapter 3. I got a red letter

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Bible, so all this is in red.

He's without sin.

He's not here to

be forgiven.

He's not here to confess.

He's not here to say, "I'm a sinner."

He's here to say, "I'm not a sinner.

I'm the son of God." And the whole

trinity

uh one right after another

agree with them here. So Jesus answers

our question. Why was he baptized? He's

let it be permitted now for thus it

becomes to fulfill all righteousness.

Well, you know, Jesus and we're going to

we're going to see when we look at the

sinlessness of Jesus, you know, when he

died for us, it wasn't like he was just,

you know, some some, you know, stamp

cutout that we get out of a magazine.

No, no. He really is the son of God. He

really did uh get tested and he really

did succeed in these tests and we're

going to see that uh in in the future

here. But Jesus is baptized to please

the father.

Okay?

That's why Jesus is baptized.

Verse 17, a voice come from heaven.

This is my beloved son in whom I am well

pleased. That's why Jesus was baptized.

Please his father.

So for us, he he wasn't baptized to be

an example. You know, Jesus is our

example. He's baptized. So we need to be

baptized.

That's that's a wrong argument.

I will say when we get to talk about the

Christian baptism, there are there there

are two maybe three for us. There's

water for us. Jesus commands it at the

end of Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

And then he told the other apostles they

were going to be baptized with fire. So

people that are martyed for Jesus,

that's that might be their their second

baptism. But the the one for us is when

we're put into the body of Christ.

That's 1 Corinthians chapter 12. That's

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 6. Where the moment we're

Romans 6 · chapter mention

saved, we're put into the body of

Christ. We're baptized into the body of

Christ. These things we'll talk about in

the future. But but the reason that

Jesus is baptized is to reconcile us to

God.

So all these great things that he's come

to earth to do and and has done when we

get in Christ and that's we're he

pleased the father for us all. Every

sinner, no matter how guilty, no matter

how much sin you have, the blood of the

lamb can wash away our sin. Every spot

and wrinkle of it.

So that's who

Jesus is. He's the sinless son of God

and he's going to make the atonement

for us. And he is sinless. He's not like

us. He's not repenting of sin here.

We're being baptized because, you know,

he he's a sinner. He is not. That's why

John is amazed there in verse 30.

You know, there is a righteousness to

the law.

And you know, next time we get together,

we're going to look at that, how we

benefit from Jesus fulfilling the law

for us. And it starts with his

temptation

here in verse four in chapter 4.

Paul said the law law is holy, just, and

good.

Because he saw what Jesus did. So he

knows that is holy, just, and good. And

it helps us sinners understand our

sinfulness and our need of a redeemer

and a savior to which God himself has

provided.

Father, we come to you this morning and

we thank you for the testimony of the

scripture that you not only sent us a

redeemer,

a perfect savior, you sent us a

forerunner, John the Baptist, who's a

man like us. He He needed a savior like

we need one. But your son didn't need a

savior. He is the savior.

Uh he he would he didn't fail. He'll

never fail.

He's the same yesterday, today, and

forever. And we thank you for that.

Thank you for the scripture that guides

us to understand this great salvation

that you provided and our great need for

this salvation. and we thank you in

Jesus precious name. Amen.

>> Lord, as we go from this place

loving you more,

trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine to a sin darkened

world as we go from this