Jesus Kneels in Prayer in the Jordan RiverBible World
3:14Matthew 3:14
But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
John drew back from immersing Jesus because he saw Him as holier and greater than himself and felt he himself needed cleansing from Jesus instead. He could not understand why One who had never sinned should receive a rite given to repentant sinners as a sign of cleansing from guilt. Jesus overruled the refusal by requiring it then in order to fulfill all righteousness, and John yielded and immersed Him in the Jordan. Though needing no repentance for Himself, as the sinless Head and representative of humanity He took the sinner's place, identifying with sinners and taking their sins upon Him while honoring the ordinance and setting the steps of conversion for all to follow. His prayer at the baptism opened heaven, bringing the Spirit upon Him and the Father's declaration of Him as the beloved Son, which stands as the pledge that all who believe in Him are accepted in Him.
Baptism Setting and Sequence
When Jesus came to John, John was still waiting for the sign by which God would identify the Messiah to him. He believed Jesus was the promised One, yet the secluded life Jesus had lived at Nazareth had left him uncertain, and he rested the matter in faith until God should make it plain.
He had been told beforehand that the Messiah would seek baptism from him and that a sign of divine character would then be given so that he could present Him to the people. He recognized Jesus by the holiness seen in His face. The request belonged to the start of Christ's public ministry, when the time had come and His first act was to go to the Jordan to be baptized by John. At about thirty years of age His baptism was His anointing for His mission, His inauguration and dedication for His appointed work.
John at first resisted and forbade Him, but then yielded to His request and baptized Him. He led Jesus down into the waters of the beautiful Jordan and baptized Him there in the sight of all the people. Newly made disciples were present and witnessed wonderful things, and from what they saw there and afterward they concluded that Jesus of Nazareth is the One Moses and the prophets wrote of.
The baptism took place while Jesus was separated from Mary and before His temptation in the wilderness and His coming to the marriage at Cana. Afterward He was led by the Spirit into a desolate place, the Spirit fitting Him for the fierce temptation that followed. There He fasted forty days and faced the devil, yet continued on the course set for Him. His baptism, followed by His wilderness temptation and victory, was part of His coming to give humanity another trial, so that people through His merits can overcome temptation, especially temptation involving appetite, and gain moral power to break the hold of habit and indulgence.
John's Reluctance Explained
John drew back and forbade Jesus because he recognized Him as greater, superior and holier than himself, and he felt that he himself needed to be baptized by Jesus and questioned why Jesus came to him to be baptized. At first he refused to perform the ordinance upon Christ, declaring that the need ran the other way, that he needed baptism from Christ rather than Christ needing baptism from him. His refusal belonged to Christ's coming to the Jordan to receive baptism at John's hand, the ordinance John administered to large numbers who repented.
He felt unworthy to baptize Him because he saw the contrast between his own sinfulness and Jesus' sinless purity. He knew himself to be a sinner in need of baptism while recognizing Christ's superiority, holiness and sinless purity. Christ's submission to the rite came before beginning His work, not as confession of personal guilt or need of repentance.
Because his baptism was for repentant sinners as a sign of repentance and cleansing from guilt and pollution, he could not understand why the sinless Christ would receive an ordinance that symbolized guilt and cleansing. To him the act seemed to imply guilt, since he understood baptism as an ordinance of repentance and confession of guilt to be washed away.
His resistance also reflected his effort to direct the people's faith away from himself and toward the One who was to come. His greatness in God's sight lay in the work God gave him of preparing the way for Christ's ministry.
Why Christ Sought Baptism
Jesus pressed John to permit it at that time, for it was fitting for them to fulfill all righteousness, and John gave way and baptized Him. The answer overcame John's refusal and his sense that he himself needed to be baptized by Jesus, who was greater and holier than he.
To fulfill all righteousness does not bring righteousness to an end but fulfills all of God's requirements in repentance, faith and baptism, the steps of genuine conversion. Christ's baptism shows that baptism is a step in conversion and in entering covenant relation with God in the way of salvation. His baptism thus took its place in God's provision for repentant people who take the steps of conversion.
As the sinless Head of humanity and its Substitute, Surety and representative, He took the necessary steps of repentance, conversion and faith and received baptism in behalf of the human race. In doing so He identified Himself with sinners, took their sins upon Him, and embraced the whole sinful world who by repentance and faith would be pardoned. He needed no repentance and did not receive baptism to confess personal guilt, for He had never sinned and His baptism was not a confession of His own guilt or a sign of repentance for His own sins.
Though wholly righteous, He submitted to the rite before beginning His work, honoring the ordinance and setting an example for everyone to follow by receiving it. His example shows the steps sinners must take in conversion to become children of God and heirs of heaven. In His humanity He filled up the full measure of the law's requirements in perfect and entire obedience, magnifying the law and making it honorable and revealing its spiritual nature to heavenly beings, unfallen worlds and a disobedient world. He thereby declared His mission not to destroy the law or lessen obedience but to fulfill it, so that human beings by uniting their weakness to His divine nature through living faith may partake of His character and keep all God's commandments.
Heaven's Response and Witness
After John yielded, Jesus came straightway up out of the water and knelt on the riverbank in prayer, and as He prayed heaven was opened above Him. Then the Spirit of God descended like a dove and lit upon Him, while a voice from heaven declared Him the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased.
That opening came with a majestic voice resounding through heaven and earth like thunder, with lightnings flashing from cloudless heavens. The brightness of the Father's glory overshadowed the form of Jesus and pointed Him out in the crowd as the Son acknowledged by God with unmistakable assurance. That glory resting on Christ stood as a pledge of love for humanity.
Satan was present on the ground witnessing the scene, and the circumstances aroused his intense hatred. He knew for certain that unless he could overcome Christ there would thenceforth be a limitation of his power. He heard in the opening heavens and the voice to the Son a death-knell to his hope that God's abhorrence of sin would forever separate God from man and break the link between heaven and earth.
By that voice the Father signified His acceptance of the Son and declared Him the Son of God and the long-awaited Deliverer. The declaration signified that heaven was more directly accessible to man, that God would unite man more fully to Himself, and that power would be given to overcome Satan's devices. For that purpose Christ had come from the royal courts to the earth.
Acceptance and Christian Example
In accepting Christ at the Jordan the Father gave a pledge to the whole human family that they through Christ might also be accepted. His prayer on the banks of the Jordan opened heaven and opened the way for the prayers of fallen people to reach God, so that through Jesus their Advocate they are accepted by God. That prayer embraces every son and daughter of Adam who will believe in Christ as a personal Saviour and take the same steps of repentance, conversion, faith and baptism. All who intelligently and understandingly receive His Word will see the salvation of God, for in Christ is the only hope of salvation, and all who believe in Him and obey His commandments are accepted in the Beloved.
The baptized are buried with Christ as an emblem of His death and raised as an emblem of His resurrection to live as newborn souls, dead with life hid with Christ in God. The three great infinite powers of Father, Son and Holy Ghost are pledged to work for them, with Christ cleaving a way through Satan's dark shadow to the throne of God so that the promise spoken to Him, accepted in the Beloved, comes to them. Christ has pledged Himself to keep all who look to Him and trust in Him with abiding faith.
Therefore believers should expect large things, place themselves under the molding hand of God to be made vessels unto honor, and commit the keeping of their souls to Him as unto a faithful Creator. They are to stand in moral dignity with life hid with Christ in God and not retaliate when untrue words are spoken. His baptism, followed by His wilderness temptation and victory, makes it possible for people through His merits to overcome temptation — especially temptation involving appetite — and gain moral power to break the hold of habit and indulgence. His example shows that God hears prayer, and even the needy, sinful and despised may approach the Father in Jesus' name and receive assurance of God's favor.
John drew back from immersing Jesus because he saw Him as holier and greater than himself and felt he himself needed cleansing from Jesus instead. He could not understand why One who had never sinned should receive a rite given to repentant sinners as a sign of cleansing from guilt. Jesus overruled the refusal by requiring it then in order to fulfill all righteousness, and John yielded and immersed Him in the Jordan. Though needing no repentance for Himself, as the sinless Head and representative of humanity He took the sinner's place, identifying with sinners and taking their sins upon Him while honoring the ordinance and setting the steps of conversion for all to follow. His prayer at the baptism opened heaven, bringing the Spirit upon Him and the Father's declaration of Him as the beloved Son, which stands as the pledge that all who believe in Him are accepted in Him.
Baptism Setting and Sequence
When Jesus came to John, John was still waiting for the sign by which God would identify the Messiah to him. He believed Jesus was the promised One, yet the secluded life Jesus had lived at Nazareth had left him uncertain, and he rested the matter in faith until God should make it plain.
He had been told beforehand that the Messiah would seek baptism from him and that a sign of divine character would then be given so that he could present Him to the people. He recognized Jesus by the holiness seen in His face. The request belonged to the start of Christ's public ministry, when the time had come and His first act was to go to the Jordan to be baptized by John. At about thirty years of age His baptism was His anointing for His mission, His inauguration and dedication for His appointed work.
John at first resisted and forbade Him, but then yielded to His request and baptized Him. He led Jesus down into the waters of the beautiful Jordan and baptized Him there in the sight of all the people. Newly made disciples were present and witnessed wonderful things, and from what they saw there and afterward they concluded that Jesus of Nazareth is the One Moses and the prophets wrote of.
The baptism took place while Jesus was separated from Mary and before His temptation in the wilderness and His coming to the marriage at Cana. Afterward He was led by the Spirit into a desolate place, the Spirit fitting Him for the fierce temptation that followed. There He fasted forty days and faced the devil, yet continued on the course set for Him. His baptism, followed by His wilderness temptation and victory, was part of His coming to give humanity another trial, so that people through His merits can overcome temptation, especially temptation involving appetite, and gain moral power to break the hold of habit and indulgence.
John's Reluctance Explained
John drew back and forbade Jesus because he recognized Him as greater, superior and holier than himself, and he felt that he himself needed to be baptized by Jesus and questioned why Jesus came to him to be baptized. At first he refused to perform the ordinance upon Christ, declaring that the need ran the other way, that he needed baptism from Christ rather than Christ needing baptism from him. His refusal belonged to Christ's coming to the Jordan to receive baptism at John's hand, the ordinance John administered to large numbers who repented.
He felt unworthy to baptize Him because he saw the contrast between his own sinfulness and Jesus' sinless purity. He knew himself to be a sinner in need of baptism while recognizing Christ's superiority, holiness and sinless purity. Christ's submission to the rite came before beginning His work, not as confession of personal guilt or need of repentance.
Because his baptism was for repentant sinners as a sign of repentance and cleansing from guilt and pollution, he could not understand why the sinless Christ would receive an ordinance that symbolized guilt and cleansing. To him the act seemed to imply guilt, since he understood baptism as an ordinance of repentance and confession of guilt to be washed away.
His resistance also reflected his effort to direct the people's faith away from himself and toward the One who was to come. His greatness in God's sight lay in the work God gave him of preparing the way for Christ's ministry.
Why Christ Sought Baptism
Jesus pressed John to permit it at that time, for it was fitting for them to fulfill all righteousness, and John gave way and baptized Him. The answer overcame John's refusal and his sense that he himself needed to be baptized by Jesus, who was greater and holier than he.
To fulfill all righteousness does not bring righteousness to an end but fulfills all of God's requirements in repentance, faith and baptism, the steps of genuine conversion. Christ's baptism shows that baptism is a step in conversion and in entering covenant relation with God in the way of salvation. His baptism thus took its place in God's provision for repentant people who take the steps of conversion.
As the sinless Head of humanity and its Substitute, Surety and representative, He took the necessary steps of repentance, conversion and faith and received baptism in behalf of the human race. In doing so He identified Himself with sinners, took their sins upon Him, and embraced the whole sinful world who by repentance and faith would be pardoned. He needed no repentance and did not receive baptism to confess personal guilt, for He had never sinned and His baptism was not a confession of His own guilt or a sign of repentance for His own sins.
Though wholly righteous, He submitted to the rite before beginning His work, honoring the ordinance and setting an example for everyone to follow by receiving it. His example shows the steps sinners must take in conversion to become children of God and heirs of heaven. In His humanity He filled up the full measure of the law's requirements in perfect and entire obedience, magnifying the law and making it honorable and revealing its spiritual nature to heavenly beings, unfallen worlds and a disobedient world. He thereby declared His mission not to destroy the law or lessen obedience but to fulfill it, so that human beings by uniting their weakness to His divine nature through living faith may partake of His character and keep all God's commandments.
Heaven's Response and Witness
After John yielded, Jesus came straightway up out of the water and knelt on the riverbank in prayer, and as He prayed heaven was opened above Him. Then the Spirit of God descended like a dove and lit upon Him, while a voice from heaven declared Him the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased.
That opening came with a majestic voice resounding through heaven and earth like thunder, with lightnings flashing from cloudless heavens. The brightness of the Father's glory overshadowed the form of Jesus and pointed Him out in the crowd as the Son acknowledged by God with unmistakable assurance. That glory resting on Christ stood as a pledge of love for humanity.
Satan was present on the ground witnessing the scene, and the circumstances aroused his intense hatred. He knew for certain that unless he could overcome Christ there would thenceforth be a limitation of his power. He heard in the opening heavens and the voice to the Son a death-knell to his hope that God's abhorrence of sin would forever separate God from man and break the link between heaven and earth.
By that voice the Father signified His acceptance of the Son and declared Him the Son of God and the long-awaited Deliverer. The declaration signified that heaven was more directly accessible to man, that God would unite man more fully to Himself, and that power would be given to overcome Satan's devices. For that purpose Christ had come from the royal courts to the earth.
Acceptance and Christian Example
In accepting Christ at the Jordan the Father gave a pledge to the whole human family that they through Christ might also be accepted. His prayer on the banks of the Jordan opened heaven and opened the way for the prayers of fallen people to reach God, so that through Jesus their Advocate they are accepted by God. That prayer embraces every son and daughter of Adam who will believe in Christ as a personal Saviour and take the same steps of repentance, conversion, faith and baptism. All who intelligently and understandingly receive His Word will see the salvation of God, for in Christ is the only hope of salvation, and all who believe in Him and obey His commandments are accepted in the Beloved.
The baptized are buried with Christ as an emblem of His death and raised as an emblem of His resurrection to live as newborn souls, dead with life hid with Christ in God. The three great infinite powers of Father, Son and Holy Ghost are pledged to work for them, with Christ cleaving a way through Satan's dark shadow to the throne of God so that the promise spoken to Him, accepted in the Beloved, comes to them. Christ has pledged Himself to keep all who look to Him and trust in Him with abiding faith.
Therefore believers should expect large things, place themselves under the molding hand of God to be made vessels unto honor, and commit the keeping of their souls to Him as unto a faithful Creator. They are to stand in moral dignity with life hid with Christ in God and not retaliate when untrue words are spoken. His baptism, followed by His wilderness temptation and victory, makes it possible for people through His merits to overcome temptation — especially temptation involving appetite — and gain moral power to break the hold of habit and indulgence. His example shows that God hears prayer, and even the needy, sinful and despised may approach the Father in Jesus' name and receive assurance of God's favor.