Matthew 3:13–17

In the thirty years of His private life at Nazareth He had fulfilled His own responsibility as Man before God. He has now come forth from that retirement to take His public place as Mediator for others. The Father has accepted Him as perfectly pleasing: the unblemished Lamb of sacrifice, and also the Priest who can offer for the sins of men.

His baptism is indeed the pledge in which He devotes Himself to the path of service that lies before Him. It is His "Behold, I have come," and the Jordan pictures in advance the death "written of Him in the scroll of the book," in its law of sacrifice.

What a cluster of wonders! Jesus coming to be baptized by John, who was openly preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins. What could bring the Lord Jesus there? For He never confessed sins, and had none to confess. He challenges even His enemies to convict Him of sin. Here was a man without sin, without the smallest particle of self in any form or degree. He was the lowliest and most blessed of men, the One who judged everything according to God. And yet He comes to be baptized! ... What is the clue to this? It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus. It was not the judgment of God that put Him there; it was not any need in Himself that brought Him there; nothing that He had to acknowledge or confess; but it was grace. For on whom in Israel did God's eye look down with compassion? Upon those who were confessing their sins.

The gracious Lord could not let His people take one step alone. He goes to be baptized by John. He, I need not say, needed no such baptism... The Lord does not identify Himself with rebellious and perverse Israel. He identifies Himself with the path of God, and with those who were walking in it. He makes Himself one of them once they had taken it.

The will of the Father was always what moved Jesus. He was the perfect model of man as man should be according to God's thoughts, and for God on the earth. He could always say, in the words of Psalm 16, "I have set the LORD always before me." So He would identify Himself in grace with those in whom the Spirit of God was working... The world despised them. But God in grace had His eye on them. The Lord Jesus openly took His place with them, and so began His ministry.

His use of the word "us" is significant. In being baptized He was identifying Himself with the many who were repenting of their sins. He was in effect accepting the sentence of death for them, for He was not under that sentence Himself. He had joined Himself with sinners. The claims of righteousness could only be met if He took on Himself the full responsibility for their sins. So by His baptism He was pledging Himself to go to the cross. There He would meet the claims of righteousness in full on their behalf.

It is a strange thing for anyone with the least understanding of Scripture to claim that the Lord was here a pattern of "believer's baptism." Was He baptized as a repentant believer, who was Himself faith's object — not a Christian, but the Christian's Christ? And was it for Him to "fulfill all righteousness," to take a place that was not His? Surely the Father's witness to His own beloved Son should check this strange and unworthy thought.

What a cluster of wonders! Jesus came to be baptized by John, who preached repentance and forgiveness of sins for all to hear. What could bring the Lord Jesus there? For He never confessed sins, and had none to confess. He challenges even His enemies to prove Him guilty of sin. He was a man without sin, without the smallest trace of self in any form or degree. He was the lowliest and most blessed of men. He judged everything according to God. And yet He comes to be baptized! John felt it at once. Jesus was coming to be baptized by him — by the man whose baptism was one of repentance! What is the key to this? It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus. It was not the judgment of God that put Him there; it was not any need in Himself that brought Him there.

The Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is greater than John, and the Baptist bowed before Him in humility and worship. He is the creator of all things. Now He comes to the preacher of repentance and presents Himself for baptism. What a scene! John stood amazed. "He tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?'" In other words: I am the sinner. I need repentance. I deserve to go into that river of death. But You are holy — no evil in You, nothing worthy of death.

Now Jesus presents Himself among the people who were doing this. He is truly the Lord, Jehovah, the righteous Judge of His people. He is the One who was to clear His threshing floor. Yet He takes His place among the faithful remnant who humble themselves before this judgment. He takes the place of the lowest of His people before God… What a perfect testimony of grace! The Saviour identifies Himself, in this grace, with the first movement of the Spirit in the hearts of His own people. He humbles Himself not only by stooping in grace towards them, but by taking His place as one of them, in their true position before God.

On the Lord's approaching John to be baptized, John at once acknowledged Him — acknowledged Him without any introduction. There seems to have been in his soul some sense that this was He. Matt. 3:14. He had, in fact, acknowledged Him even before He was born. Luke 1:44. The world did not know Him, but John knows Him, and so condemns the world.

The Baptist could not tell anyone who came to him that their sins were forgiven. Nor could he understand at all why Jesus should take a place with those who had confessed their sins at the Jordan (Matt. 3:14). His mission was only to set God's seal by baptism on those who, by their confession, took their place before God as sinners.

How admirable at this moment is the great prophet, John the Baptist!… By humbling himself in this way, he exalts the personal dignity of his Lord. At the same time, faced with such perfection, he owns his own condition as a sinner. But how much more admirable still is the Saviour Himself! He, the most high, humbles Himself still lower than John, who stooped to the sandals of His feet… He is not content with lowering Himself. Then He adds, "It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." He raises John to a level with Himself, and makes him a companion in carrying out the will of God.

Was He baptized as a penitent believer, when He Himself was faith's object — not a Christian, but the Christian's Christ? And was it "to fulfill all righteousness" for Him to take a place that was not His own? Surely the Father's witness to His own beloved Son should check this strange and unworthy thought.

What could bring the Lord Jesus there? For He never confessed sins, and had none to confess... He was a Man without sin, without the smallest trace of self in any form or degree. He was the lowliest and most blessed of men, the One who judged everything according to God. And yet He comes to be baptized!... What is the clue to this? It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus. It was not the judgment of God that put Him there. It was not any need in Himself, nothing He had to acknowledge or confess. It was grace. For on whom in Israel did God's eye look down with compassion? Upon those that were confessing their sins.

The Lord answers, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. In Him it was fulfilling righteousness. Still He takes the lowly place. You, John, have your part to do, I mine. "Us" is not, I believe, a royal "we" — though that is not very important. It refers to John as much as to Jesus.

This was indeed a gracious reply, and in it the Lord at once maintained His authority and showed His grace. There was the gentle insistence that His will must be done. At the same time, with special grace, He joined John with Himself in that submission which godly service always involves.

The people had come to be baptized by John, confessing their sins. He had come fulfilling righteousness — that is, carrying out the will of God.

It is all righteousness that is now to be fulfilled, and not merely the doing of the law. Now it was the righteousness of acknowledging the true state that even the best part of Israel was in.

The Lord does not identify Himself with rebellious and perverse Israel. He identifies with the path of God, and with those who were walking in it. Yet He makes Himself one of them once they had taken it... He has now taken His place among the godly and upright though feeble sons of men.

He identified Himself with them, not in their sin, but in their place before God as righteous.

A baptism in Jordan, the river of death, and so a "baptism to death"... Death was the righteous penalty of sin, which by grace they were permitted to anticipate... His own fulfilment of righteousness is in going into death for them as their Saviour and their sacrifice. He is moving from His former position as One fulfilling righteousness for Himself. He now takes the position of One fulfilling it for others.

By joining Himself with sinners, He could meet the claims of righteousness in only one way: by taking upon Himself the full responsibility for their sins. So by His baptism He was pledging Himself to go to the cross. There He would perfectly meet the claims of righteousness on their behalf.

The moment He had taken this place with His poor people, the heavens were opened. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him — just what has been done to us since the veil was torn. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and sealed; so are we. He was the Beloved Son; we are sons, and know it. Of course, He had it in His own blessed Person, and we are brought in by redemption.

He takes His place among us; and note, He was always the same Person all along His path… Heaven opened! Never before had there been a person on whom heaven could open. Never before could a voice — the Father's voice — say, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." There was nothing in Him but what heaven could delight in.

There lies the explanation. The heavens could now open. At last there was a man on earth who had the good pleasure of God and who, so to speak, drew it down upon Himself. "Heaven" could not remain silent. Christ was the One above all. He stood out from the crowd. Outwardly He was one of many who were baptised, but He had nothing to confess.

Notice the words, "the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him" — that is the form the descending Spirit took, no doubt expressing what He was in His own Person. The dove, as you know, was the bird of sorrow and the bird of love. So it was a fitting picture of what our Lord Jesus Christ was in His own holy, precious, glorious Person.

Noah's dove found no rest for the sole of its foot except on the ark. In the same way, the Holy Spirit found One on whom He could rest, where all around was waste and ruin.

In lowly grace He submitted to the baptism of repentance, but with no need for repentance. He publicly joined those who had confessed their sins, having no sins Himself to confess. Will unbelieving hearts think otherwise of Him, and misread this act of grace? To check such a hateful charge, the heavens were torn open the moment He came out of the water. The Father, jealous for the glory of the Son, gave the Holy Spirit to rest upon Him… He was the fulfilment of the grain offering of fine flour mingled, and anointed, with oil, apart from the cleansing and atoning blood. So He stood in contrast with the priests of Aaron's line, who received the anointing oil after blood had been applied.

I need not say to you that the Holy Spirit's coming down on the Lord Jesus did not in any sense add to His perfection. He was as perfect before as afterwards; but it was in connection with His service on earth. It was God, as it were, setting His mark upon Him, and sealing Him for His work.

Kings, priests and prophets entered their office by anointing with oil. Prophecy and picture alike pointed to the promised One being marked out in the same way. So when Andrew heard John the Baptist say that the Holy Spirit had come down on Jesus, he took the news straight to his brother Simon: "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).

The veil torn, the heavens opened to us, sealed and anointed by the Father, owned by Him as His sons. When He was here as Man, the heavens opened at His baptism. He was sealed and anointed, and the Father owned Him as His Son. This is the first time that the Trinity was fully revealed. Then He goes to be tempted.

The heavens were opened to Him. This is a significant word that is often overlooked. For Him alone the heavens are open… In Him the heavens are opened for us, and He has taken all of us who believe into heaven, bringing many sons to glory.

Does it not seem that this wonderful testimony of God the Father followed from Christ fulfilling all righteousness in the waters of the Jordan? It was the answer of God to the place that Christ, in His grace, had taken. It was God, jealous for the glory of His Son, who would not allow any suspicion to rest on this loveliest and lowliest of acts... Do not think He has sin. But if you are there, He is with you: if the sheep are in the waters, the shepherd must enter them too.

Jesus was clearly the delight of God as man — not merely because of a work that was going to be done. It was the Person Himself whom God acknowledged, and His Person even after He had identified Himself with the people who were baptized... "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased" — not only "I am," but "I have been well pleased," "have found my delight." It looks back; it is not only about the present.

God's eye passed over this earth like Noah's dove, over a world swept by the flood of sin. Until He saw Jesus here, His eye could find nowhere to rest in peace and satisfaction. On Him it could rest. As for showing its satisfaction, whatever its purposes, heaven stayed closed until Jesus... was on earth. The moment He presented Himself in public service, heaven opened, the Holy Spirit came down to dwell in Him, His one resting-place here. And the Father's voice could no longer be held back. From heaven He declares, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

When God saw the first man, Adam, fresh from creation, He called him "very good" (Gen. 1). But in the Second Man, the last Adam, the Father found His "delight." This delight in the One He sent is no surprise to us. We cannot even imagine the Father having His only Son close to His heart and not delighting in Him.

He lived in the thick darkness... and a veil hid whatever showed of God's presence... Only Jesus made Him truly known. We see it where we would least expect it: in that act of incomparable grace when He was fulfilling all righteousness, baptized by John in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13-17). There, as the Holy Spirit descended on Him, the Father from heaven proclaimed Him to be His beloved Son. The Trinity stood revealed.

So we see that the voice spoke for His own ear as well as for the ears of others. The acknowledgment was personal as well as public. And so He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power for the ministry of His life here below.

The devil always sows doubts of the Divine Word. Compare Matt. 3:17 with Matt. 4:3 and 6, and see how clearly this comes out. No sooner has God said, "This is My beloved Son," than the devil says twice over, "If you are the Son of God." The little word "if" is a great favourite with the devil!

God has brought us to know Christ: "This is my beloved Son," that is what I delight in. The more we look at Him, the more we see there is the place God has brought us. If heaven opens on Him, it opens on us; if God owns Him as Son, He owns us as sons.