John is puzzled by the approaching Christ. John had known Jesus all his life. He knew the miracle surrounding the life of Jesus. John knew he was stirring the pot for Jesus to enter into ministry. But to baptize Jesus? Why him?
Jesus gives a gentle answer, “Let it be so now.” In affirming John, Jesus takes another step in exemplifying humility. Paul calls it “preferring our brother” while Jesus says it is an act to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus had to be the example for others to follow. The Sadducees and the Pharisees and the unbelievers all looked on to witness this act of humility. Jesus led the way to repentance even though He did not have to repent. He was, as one commentary says, identifying Himself with the depravity within us. He was sympathizing with our condition in sin and showing us how to find refuge in God.
Fulfilled righteousness is following after God in obedience and in humility. We are showing how freedom can only begin when we decide to step towards Him and accept His righteousness. This act of humility reminds us that to follow Him we have to take the steps of admitting our need for His forgiveness. The act of repentance completes (fulfills) our character (replaces our sin with His righteousness – the right way of thinking and doing).
So when I say that we will stand before God as Jesus either affirms us or denies us, I am saying our character will reveal who we really are to Christ. We either accept His act of mercy and live for Him, or we deny this act and keep Him out of our lives. We either stand completed by the righteous act of Jesus or we stand humiliated by our refusal to admit our need to be saved from sin – the very sin that separates us from God.
John agreed to baptize Jesus. He did not fully understand why. He may not have even fully accepted his role in the baptism of Jesus (John was still trying to reconcile this act as seen in Luke 7). When we decide to ask for forgiveness and accept the life Jesus died to give us, we will not immediately know everything. We will still ask questions. We will still have to study for understanding. Accepting the righteousness of Jesus allows us to question our faith for understanding so we can walk on more solid ground. Being baptized shows we are willing to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. His baptism was the one that gives everyone’s baptism significance.
John experiences the beauty of a resurrected Jesus as Jesus comes out of the water (John would be dead long before Jesus was put on a cross). John knew of the sign of the dove (John 1:32-34). John witnessed this dove at this very moment. Prophecy fulfilled before his very eyes. The Bible does not say if anyone else sees this. The picture we are left with is one of a Servant King.
Then a voice speaks from heaven calling Jesus the Son He loves and with whom He is well pleased. I do not know who heard this. What I do know is that at this very moment we have the presence of a triune God – Father as the voice; Son as the one being baptized, and Spirit as the dove.
I want to end this study with these words from the Life Application Bible Notes:
“Put yourself in John's shoes. Your work is going well, people are taking notice, everything is growing. But you know that the purpose of your work is to prepare the people for Jesus (John 1:35-37). Then Jesus arrives, and his coming tests your integrity. Will you be able to turn your followers over to him? John passed the test by publicly baptizing Jesus. Soon he would say, "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30). Can we, like John, put our egos and profitable work aside in order to point others to Jesus? Are we willing to lose some of our status so that everyone will benefit?”
No comments:
Post a Comment