Jesus baptized

Jesus’ Baptism of Identification

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

¹⁶ When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ¹⁷ And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

—Matthew 3:13–17

3:15 righteousness. God’s kingdom (His sovereign rule in salvation and judgment) is defined by His righteousness. Jesus teaches the perfect righteousness that God requires (5:20, 48); He also secures God’s righteousness for sinners. His baptism points to His death as “a ransom for many” (20:28) and shows the perfect obedience in which He fulfills all righteousness (Jer. 23:5, 6). Remission of sins and the gift of righteousness are received through faith in Jesus (8:10; 23:23; cf. 21:32). Those who lack God’s righteousness, but hunger and thirst for it, will be filled (5:6; 6:33). Jesus calls those burdened with the load of self-righteousness to find their rest in Him (11:28–12:8).¹

The baptism of Jesus has been difficult to interpret. Why did the Son of God need to be baptized? John’s baptism was a call to repentance; it was an introduction to the new kingdom. When Jesus came to the Jordan and asked John to baptize Him, John tried to dissuade Him. John stated that he needed what Jesus could give him rather than that Jesus needed anything from John. However, Jesus responded that it should be done “to fulfill all righteousness.”

For thirty years Jesus had lived in Nazareth, awaiting the time when the Father would direct Him to begin His public ministry. His act of being baptized by John was a complete and full identification with the kingdom that John was announcing. Baptism symbolized the turning from the old to the new. Jesus’ baptism was His own symbolic act of identification with the new, of participation in the kingdom of God. Jesus’ use of the word “righteousness” is significant, for righteousness is the word which denotes right relationship. Jesus’ act of being baptized was a witness to the rightness of His relationship in the kingdom and to His right relationship with God, the sovereign of this kingdom.

A second symbolic happening with Jesus’ baptism was the descending of the Spirit of God upon Him. As John said in his witness, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’” (John 1:32–33). John was granted the visual symbol of the Spirit of God lighting on Jesus in the fashion of a dove alighting—the assurance that this was the King coming in His kingdom. But the Spirit came as a dove, not as a lion upon “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah” in power, but with dovelike meekness.

The third certification is the voice from heaven which John heard at the baptism. The voice said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The statement has two phrases, each a quotation from the Old Testament. In Psalm 2:7, a psalm which described the Messiah as the coming King, we read, “You are my Son” (niv). In Isaiah 42:1, the description of the suffering servant, we read, “in whom I delight” (niv). At Jesus’ baptism He is given this divine confirmation from the Father, a word of His being and His behavior, of His acceptance and His approval. The person of the King is now introduced as the Son of God!

A suggested outline for a message on Jesus’ baptism of identification is as follows: (1) the Sign, the act of baptism; (2) the Spirit, the presence of God; and (3) the Sonship, attested by the voice from heaven (3:13–17). He is identified with the kingdom, with the Spirit, and with the Father.²

This is remarkable, and we are going to ask the question: “Why was Jesus baptized?” and try to answer it.

But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him [Matt. 3:14–15].

Why was Jesus baptized? There may be several answers, but the primary reason is stated right here: “For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Jesus is identifying Himself completely with sinful mankind. Isaiah had prophesied that He would be numbered with the transgressors (see Isa. 53:12). Here is a King who identifies Himself with His subjects. Actually, baptism means identification, and I believe identification was the primary purpose for the baptism of the Lord Jesus. Again, the reason Jesus was baptized was not to set an example for us. It was not a pattern for us to follow. Christ was holy—He did not need to repent. You and I do need to repent. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He was baptized to completely identify Himself with humanity.

There was a second reason Jesus was baptized. Water baptism is symbolic of death. His death was a baptism. You remember that He said to James and John when they wanted to be seated on His right hand and on His left hand in the Kingdom, “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matt. 20:22). You see, Christ’s death was a baptism. He entered into death for you and for me.

There is a third reason for the baptism of Jesus. At this time He was set aside for His office of priest. The Holy Spirit came upon Him for this priestly ministry. Everything that Jesus did, His every act, was done by the power of the Holy Spirit. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). There was sin on Him, but there was no sin in Him. My sin was put on Him, not in Him. That is an important distinction. Therefore, you and I are saved by being identified with Him. He identified Himself with us in baptism. And Peter says that we are saved by baptism (see 1 Pet. 3:21). In what way? By being identified with the Lord Jesus. To be saved is to be in Christ. How do we get into Christ? By the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe in water baptism because by it we declare that we are identified with Christ. The Lord Jesus said, “… him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). We must recognize that we have to be identified with Christ, and that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Our water baptism is a testimony to this. One time an old salt said to a young sailor in trying to get him to accept Christ and be baptized, “Young man it is duty or mutiny!” And when you come to Christ, my friend, you are to be baptized because it is a duty. If you are not, it is mutiny.

This subject of baptism needs to be lifted out of the realm of argument to the high and lofty plane of standing for Christ. How we need to come out and stand for Christ!

Let me repeat verse 15: “And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him”—that is, John baptized Him.³

Because John’s mother and Jesus’ mother were cousins, John knew Jesus quite well. And although he did not yet understand that his second cousin was the promised Messiah, he knew Jesus was without sin. That is why, in the midst of baptizing others, John was suddenly aware of his own sinfulness when Jesus approached him.

“There’s no fault in you,” declared John. “You should be baptizing me.”

But Jesus immediately said, “Allow it to be so, for in so doing, we will fulfill all righteousness. It’s the right thing to do.” Why? If baptism was a sign of repentance, why would Jesus, who was sinless, say, “It’s important for Me to be baptized by you”?

I suggest four reasons for your consideration.

1.. Jesus’ Baptism Was an Affirmation of John’s Ministry

In joining the masses and coming to the Jordan to be baptized, Jesus was saying, “Even though John knows he’s a sinner, even though John is aware of his inadequacies, I approve of his service for Me. And his message of repentance is a valid one.” When Jesus began His public preaching, repentance was His message as well. In coming to the Jordan, Jesus was affirming John’s ministry—both the man and the message.

2.. Jesus’ Baptism Is an Identification with Us Personally

He who knew no sin took our sin, died for us, and identifies with us in baptism. Jesus was immersed, and so are we. Consequently, there is an identification and a bonding.

3.. Jesus’ Baptism Was a Declaration to His Father Prophetically

In submission to the Father’s plan, Jesus came to die. Romans 6 teaches that baptism is a picture of death and burial. In baptism, Jesus was saying, “I know I have come to die. And, Father, I am submitted to that plan of death and burial.” But because baptism doesn’t end in the water, because He was pulled out again, which speaks of resurrection, Jesus also declared this to His Father, “Yes, I am submitted to Your plan—I will die. But I will also rise again through Your power.”

4.. Jesus’ Baptism Is an Illustration of the Trinity

After Jesus came out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard from the heavens.

The baptism of Jesus was an affirmation of John’s ministry, an identification with us personally, a declaration to the Father prophetically, and an illustration of the Trinity practically.

When I read of Jesus’ baptism, my mind goes back about twenty-three hundred years earlier to the story of a man whose name means “Comforter.” You know him by the name of Noah. Noah was surrounded by a world that was corrupt and defiled. But Scripture tells us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And God told Noah, “I’m going to drown this corrupt, wicked world. I’m going to be merciful.”

Merciful? Yes.

In sending the Flood, God was doing quickly and mercifully what man was doing slowly and painfully. Noah’s society, immersed in the occult and caught up in perversion, was destroying itself. So God sent the Flood. For forty days it rained, and the world was drowned. At the end of forty days, the rain stopped, and Noah let out a raven and a dove. The raven, a scavenger, had plenty to pick on. Carcasses were everywhere, so the raven didn’t come back. But the dove, a bird of purity, circled, and finding no place to set her foot, came back and landed on Noah.

The picture is incredible to me. A man called Comfort, surrounded by water, in which the polluted world has been drowned, and the dove comes upon him. Could this have registered in the minds of those who observed the baptism of Jesus? It certainly does for me, and through it, I understand something of the significance of baptism—a dying to the world around us and a resurrection to newness of life as Paul declared in Romans 6:4.

I am not stretching the analogy, because in 1 Peter 3:21, Peter writes that Noah and the Flood are a picture of baptism. But wait—there was another man who was submerged in water, baptized radically, whose name literally means “dove.” You know him by his more familiar name of Jonah. Jonah was rebelling against the Lord when he went through a most interesting baptism. He wasn’t only immersed in water. He was thrown in! For three days, he was at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a great fish, where he was broken as he cried out to God and repented from his sin. And suddenly, he was resurrected as the whale had the “urge to re-gurge” him on the beach at Assyria.

Jonah’s baptism was not a drowning of the world around him. It was a drowning of the rebellion and selfishness within him. Jonah had his own agenda, but through his baptism, he surrendered it. That’s also what baptism is about. Not only are you dying to the world that surrounds you, but to the selfishness within you. Baptism says, “Lord, I will go wherever You lead. Do whatever You desire. Whatever that might mean, I trust You. You are my God and my King.”

You might be saying, “This is all very fine theoretically. But I was baptized six months ago, or six years ago, or sixty years ago, and I have failed miserably.”

So did Noah. After emerging from the ark, Noah got drunk and exposed himself in a manner that caused a problem in his sons felt to this day. The sinfulness that should have been eradicated from Noah’s world resurfaced when he was drunk in his tent.

What about Jonah? Jonah preached, and the greatest revival in history took place as the entire city of Ninevah turned to the Lord. Yet what did Jonah do? He went up on a hillside and pouted, angry because four hundred thousand Ninevites got saved. He failed miserably because the selfishness that should have been drowned in the belly of the whale re-emerged.

During Noah’s baptism, it rained for forty days. After Jonah’s baptism, he emerged and preached, “forty days until Ninevah is destroyed.” Following Jesus’ baptism, He was led into the wilderness for forty days. Although all three had times of trial, only One emerged victorious. Only One made it successfully. Only One was baptized and moved on to total and complete victory. Was it Jonah, the great prophet? No. Noah, the man of faith? No. Only Jesus.

Jesus, in His forty-day temptation, overcame Satan. He didn’t fail. And because of His victory, baptism not only says, “I am dying to the sin around me, and I am dying to the sin within me,” but most importantly, it says, “I believe in the One who died for me.”

You see, gang, when you are baptized, it doesn’t mean you are going to be perfect from that point on. It means you acknowledge that you are perfectly forgiven and perfectly loved, that Jesus Christ paid the price for every sin you ever have done, are doing, or will ever do. The One who was baptized and was victorious through those forty days of trial and testing is now living in you.

Thus Paul writes,

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

That’s the gospel—Jesus Christ victorious, living in me. I don’t know when you were baptized, but I encourage you to reaffirm your baptism in your own heart. Be like Noah. Watch the world drown, and rise above it. Be like Jonah. Die to your selfishness, and walk in newness of life. And if you have failed like Noah did, like Jonah did, like we all have, know this: Jesus is your Victory. He who knew no sin became sin for you. You are perfectly forgiven. Enjoy your salvation, and live to that calling.⁴

1 Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2005). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (p. 1365). Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries.

2 Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Matthew (Vol. 24, p. 18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

3 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Matthew 1-13) (electronic ed., Vol. 34, pp. 52–54). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

4 Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (pp. 17–20). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.