When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was
baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form
like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My
beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22 )
Jesus was, is and shall ever be utterly, inexpressibly
holy. No wonder then, that as John came
to baptize Him, even so great a mortal as John the Baptist (Jesus said there
had been none greater) balked at placing his hands on Him and immersing
Him. John was baptizing sinners—and
Jesus did not belong to that crowd. John
himself said he wasn’t worthy to assume the position of the lowliest slave and
stoop and loosen Christ’s sandal thongs, much less have Jesus submit to him in
baptism! Still, John listened and did as
Christ required—and then he heard something else.
There is need to LISTEN! Not only did John listen, but we need to do
so as God speaks through this text. To
the voice of the Herald was added the Voice out of Heaven. This is the Father’s affirmation of the
absolute faithfulness of His Son. For
the eighteen years after the episode in the Temple
This makes it all the more remarkable that Jesus comes
along with sinners to be baptized by John!
Imagine—in front of the lengthy line of baptismal candidates waiting
their turn to step into the Jordan River ,
there may have been a remorseful prostitute in front of Him, and a repentant
homosexual behind Him. We know there were
all manner of scoundrels there. So, why
was Jesus among them?
He was identifying with them—and that was His mission.
These were the very people He came to
reach. God did not leave us in our
hopeless state, but He came to us! In
the act of baptism He was declaring His death, burial and resurrection. This was a Gospel message, which is declared
every time someone is baptized. Being
baptized was a step of obedience required—a positive act, and not only was
Christ not guilty of a sin of commission (doing the wrong thing), He could not
be accused of a sin of omission (failing to do the right thing).
Christ’s purity was ever reinforced by prayer. We hear Him lifting up His voice in prayer as
He is lifted up from the water. Such
intimacy with His Father was indispensable in maintaining His impeccable life. How we who are so weak in comparison to Him
can think we will stand strong until we kneel in weakness is beyond me. It is foolish! If I don’t win the battle in prayer, I am
beaten before the Devil ever shows up—and he is coming to encounter us (Luke 4:1-13 ), lurking right
around the corner.
His obedience and prayer brought down the anointing of
the Spirit for His ministry. The Dove
descended from heaven and rested upon Him.
His life was continuously, conspicuously and comprehensively related to
and reliant upon the Holy Spirit. Jesus
was conceived in holiness in the virgin’s womb by the Holy Spirit’s creative
act. Being always submissive to the
Father’s will, there was never a time Jesus was not filled with the Holy
Spirit. Now, as He embarks on three and
one-half years of ministry, the unction and anointing of the Spirit comes upon
Him to enable Him to do the work.
I am called as a child of God to be holy for He is
holy. Followers of Christ need to
emulate His actions. Though I will not
be sinless, I need to seek to sin less.
To submit to God’s will for me as Christ did in baptism, and publicly
confess my allegiance to Him is the first step.
Then, I need to maintain close communion with God in prayer—daily and
throughout the day. The same Holy Spirit
can fill me inside with His grace and come upon me in power for godly character
and conduct if I will seek Him. Thus,
God can speak His benediction on my life as He did for His only Begotten Son! Not to the same degree, of course, but any
commendation from the Father is precious indeed.
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