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A modern baptism in the Jordan River

Thoughts from Matthew 3…

A few years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to the Jordan river and seeing the traditional site where Jesus was baptized. The river was actually very small in that area, but there were several markers to commemorate the spot. Shrines and churches filled the landscape, allowing people of all denominations to come and worship.

Most of us have heard about the scene where Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. There are pictures in children’s books and artist renderings, all seeking to capture the moment where God the Father spoke from heaven and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him.

About 30 years have passed since the times when Jesus was born (Matthew 1), and when He was visited by the wise men (Matthew 2). Jesus’ relative, John the Baptist, was preaching in the wilderness that the kingdom of Heaven was at hand. Therefore, the people needed to repent, and to be baptized in order to show that they were part of this kingdom (see here).

It was during this time that Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth, in Galilee, and came to the Jordan River in order to be baptized by John.

John had been preaching that the King was coming, but when he came face-to-face with Jesus, he refused to baptize him. Jesus was greater than him, and John did not consider himself worthy to baptize him. John only consented when Jesus told him that it was necessary in order to “fulfill all righteousness”.

What does this mean? Why did Jesus come to be baptized? Why was this necessary for Jesus, and for that matter, for John?

Bible scholars have long considered these questions and have produced a very large list of answers for why Jesus came to be baptized. The many explanations range from the very simplistic to the very complex, from the logical to the almost mystical. Many see in Jesus’ baptism a preview of His ministry to come, including identification with sinners, anticipation of the cross, his burial and resurrection, the preview of Christian baptism, and the validation of John’s ministry. ³

These explanations contain excellent theology and have been put forth by some of the finest Bible teachers of our time. But they are all deficient for a number of reasons.

First, they fail to explain why this was necessary for both Jesus and John, in order to for fill all righteousness. Why is John’s role important here?

Second, these answers are all based on assumptions, not from the text itself. These assumptions are based on the explainers’ understanding of theology and how the ministry of Jesus Christ unfolded. None of these explanations are given by Matthew, Mark, nor Luke at the time of Jesus‘ baptism.

Finally, these explanations are difficult to reconcile with Jesus being both fully God and fully man.

Matthew 1 (see here) shows that Jesus was born fully human, and he was also fully God. We cannot fully comprehend how an infinite God can live within the confines of finite humanity, yet this was the life of Jesus Christ on earth. The gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all show this in Jesus’ life. He was holy God, and so he was unblemished by the sin that has plagued the human race. Yet he was a lowly human, so he could be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Jesus lived with all of the authority and power of God himself. As it says in Colossians, “in him is all the fullness of God” (Colossians 1:19).

Yet Jesus was also fully human. As it says in Philippians 2, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. Jesus Christ, the Almighty God, laid aside the voluntary use of his attributes, living fully in the form of finite mankind, relying totally upon the Holy Spirit.

How could Jesus be both divine and human? This paradox is difficult to reconcile. Many theologians and Bible scholars have sought a simple explanation by emphasizing either His divinity or His humanity.

There are those who have elevated Jesus’ humanity at the expense of His deity. Some have either minimized it or outright denied the fact that Jesus was God. They portray Him as a normal human going through daily life with the same weaknesses and failures as you and I. But to deny Jesus’ deity is to deny the words from the New Testament Gospels and the Epistles. The Gospel of John starts out with, “the Word was with God, and the word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus said about himself, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus also taught that he descended from heaven (John 3:13), and Jesus’ prayer in John 17 tells of His oneness with the Father (John 17:20-21). One of the most eloquent sections of the epistles that tell of the greatness of Jesus Christ is Colossians 1:15-20, where Jesus is above creation, the author of creation, the head of the church, and in Him is all of the essence of deity. Both His followers and His enemies recognized that Jesus said that He was God (Matthew 16:16-17, John 5:18). You cannot deny His deity.

But others have focused on Jesus’ divinity, forgetting that he was also very much human. He was hungry, thirsty, tired, and he felt physical and emotional pain (e.g. Matthew 4:2, John 4:6-7, John 11:33-35). We see Him act with apparently limited knowledge, such as going to a barren fig tree when He was hungry (Matthew 21:18-19), or by leading his disciples to a quiet retreat, only to be surrounded by over 5,000 people who followed him from the city (Mark 6:30-44). The simplest explanation is that Jesus’ knowledge was limited while He was on earth. He had set aside His omniscience and was relying totally on the direction and empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, growing in both wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). The best understanding of why Jesus came to John’s baptism was not because He was orchestrating all of the finer points of theology, but rather that he had submitted fully to God. God had led John to baptize and Jesus was prepared to follow everything that God had instituted. John preached about the kingdom of heaven and offered baptism to identify those who were ready to be part of this kingdom. Hence the reason to “fulfill all righteousness“, was that it was right for John to baptize Jesus. It was the right thing for them to do.

Toward the end of his ministry, Jesus was challenged by the Jewish Priests who asked him by what authority He was teaching? Jesus answered them with a question of His own, “The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from man?“ (Matthew 21:23-27). The rhetorical answer was that John’s baptism was from heaven.

After Jesus was baptized, His ministry showed the results of his baptism. It was the last act of His private life and the beginning of his public ministry. ¹ Jesus was personally verified by God the Father. The Holy Spirit came to rest on Him, and would direct and empower Him for the rest of his life on earth.

All of the theological facts pointed out above came about as a result of Jesus’ baptism. ² He identified with believing sinners, He validated John’s ministry, and His ultimate sacrifice allowed any who believed in Him to become sons of God (John 1:12). The present Christian baptism does not identify with the baptism of John, but rather illustrates the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Remember!

Jesus Christ is beyond our understanding!

The scenes of history may be interesting, but let us not forget Jesus Christ Himself! He is the most important one!

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Previous post: The Herald of the King

When I was in elementary school, one of my greatest enjoyments was driving past the high school on my way to violin lessons. Why? Teenagers. To me, a young naive child, teenagers were weird, messed…

Source: A letter from a Christian teen

I remember exactly where I was on September 11^th 2001. I was leaving my biblical Hebrew class in seminary when another student approached the prof and told him what had taken place. As news of the events unfolded I remember this sinking feeling in my stomach. I felt sick. When I heard the news that the Supreme Court ruled to make gay-marriage legal, I had that same feeling. On September 11^th the twin towers fell. Today, two great towers of American culture have fallen.

Where America once had great respect for moral truth, today that tower is lying in a heap of rubble. And where America once had respect for the things of God, and even had a semblance of the “Fear of the Lord” that tower also is lying in a heap of rubble. Admittedly, one has to go back at least an entire generation to find those towers standing strong. But, for the majority of American history those two towers had a profound effect on the fiber of the American Republic. America is America only with those towers standing strong.

The founders of our republic understood the necessity of religion for a functional democracy. They believed that America would only be as strong as the people had a healthy love for the virtues and principles of religious truth. Sure, they were not all evangelical Christians, as we understood the term today. But, even those who were Deists believed in a God that created laws which govern civilization. In fact, it was those very laws that framed the bases for our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. They expected each person in the republic to self-govern themselves according to those “self-evident” truths of nature and nature’s God.

America has a history that is unparalleled in the history of the world. No other nation has enjoyed the peace and prosperity that America has experienced. One of the reasons 9/11 was so shocking was that it was the first time America suffered loss on her own soil. With the Supreme Court’s ruling today, America has suffered another loss – but this one is a self-inflicted wound.

The two great towers of moral truth and fear of God have fallen. Upon those twin towers America’s peace and prosperity were built. But, the tragedy is not just that those towers have fallen. The greater tragedy are the new towers that replace the old.

The reality is that those towers were in decay and disrepair for at least a generation. Where they were once the proud monuments of the American conscious, over the past generation, as they became neglected, they began to be seen as an unseemly eyesore in the new moral landscape that our generation was building.

Over the last three decades as the new morality was being built, people began to grumble about the old buildings that were ruining the new skyline. At first there was an uneasy toleration for the old towers. Some wanted to keep them as a monument to the past. Many were more than happy to turn them into museum.  But, they learned that those twin towers were functional; and as long as they stood they kept people from embracing the new towers. Since those towers refused to become a relic of the past, they were targeted for demolition. Today that demolition is complete.

With the dust settling from the towers collapse, the new landscape is clear to see. In the place of the old, the new twin towers dominate the landscape. The two towers that now define the American landscape are the towers of Defiance against God, and Depravity in the name of God. The word America will remain, but her heart has been given to another. In time the moral and spiritual fabric of the new America will look nothing like the Republic of old.

The first tower, Defiance, receives her name from the statue that decorates the rooftop. The statue is of a woman who represents justice. However, instead of the old statue where the woman wears a blindfold and has a pair of scales, the new one has a woman, holding the hand of another woman, and with her free hand she is shaking her fist at God. And instead of a blindfold, she has a pair of binoculars hung around her neck, so when needed, she is able to clearly see all around her who dare to stand against her. She is called “justice” because she will, at once, bring all non-conformists to the bar of gay-wrath where their sentence will be swift and without mercy.

The second tower, Depravity, derives its name from the many plaques that decorate the great halls of this tower. Whereas the old towers had many verses from the Bible reminding its visitors of those great truths that guided the nation to greatness, this new tower has many aphorisms and platitudes intimidating the citizenry to rejoice over iniquity and sin.

What was once seen as wrong is now celebrated as good; and what was once embraced as good is now vilified as evil. Further, where, in the past, divine love was celebrate as truth which reveals reality, the new “divine” love demands that all be given acceptance and affirmation as it seeks to create a new reality. The old love revealed sin so those entrapped by its devices may repent and turn back to God. The new love demands that all declarations of sin become sin itself. To declare a protected act sinful is to engage in the worst sin possible. And where the God of the old age allowed differences of opinion and was willing to allow dissenters their own place, the gods of new age will in no way tolerate opposing points of view, and instead will work diligently to uproot all opposition. Justice is ready to serve.

Today begins a new age for this country. We have crossed a line that will forever define the new from the old.

We use the term miracle today to describe something amazing or extraordinary.  Yet the miracles mentioned in The Bible were much more than what we talk about today.  God used a human messenger to deliver his message, but he would then give that messenger some power so that he could prove that the message was true.

Acts 2:22 ” “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—”

The New Testament uses three words for miracles [1]:

• Miracles – (δύναμις) dunamis – powers or mighty works; never used in the Gospel of John
• Wonders – (τέρας) teras – a wonder; used only once in John
• Signs – (σημεῖον) sēmeion – sign; used several times through John, starting in chapter 2

As we follow John’s narrative to Jesus’ first miracle, let us first point out why:

John 2:11 ” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

Jesus performed this miracle so that people could see his glory, i.e. could see who he really was.  Even more specifically, this was so that his new disciples would believe in him.

One of the bright spots for the poor farmers in Galilee was the occasional wedding celebration.  The contracts were already made, the promises already committed, and now it was time for the groom to go and fetch the bride.  He would lead her to the home that he had prepared for them with the entire town following in the procession.  They marriage contract was completed and all invited guests would join in a large feast.  Depending on the wealth of the families, the marriage feast could last for several days.

But the wedding held much deeper meaning to the Jews than just the celebration.  Both the Old Testament scriptures and Rabbinic tradition taught that marriage symbolized God’s relationship with his people.  The more devout Jews would prepare for the wedding with fasting.  Some even believed that the wedding ceremony would forgive sins [3]  All faithful Jews would enter the ceremony with a ceremonial washing.

The narrative of the wedding in John 2 is very concise.  The entire scene of the wedding is more of a summary with few specific details.  Much has been written to try and “fill in the blanks” but this is what we know from the Gospel of John:

John 2:1-2
​ On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

The setting is in town of Cana.  Mary is at the wedding in a position of responsibility (v.3).  Jesus is invited and travels up from Judea with his disciples.  (Note that Jesus’ disciple Nathanael is from Cana.) Cana is not far from Jesus’ home town of Nazareth.

John 2:3
When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

The crisis comes when the wine runs out. This was more than a social failure but a great humiliation to the new couple. This was a culture where hospitality is very important and they have just failed.

Mary comes to Jesus with the problem.  We are not told what she expects of Jesus: Is she asking her oldest son to take care of the problem [4]?  She clearly knows that Jesus is the Messiah, so does she now expect that he will perform a miracle?  Either way, we are not told what Mary is thinking.  Jesus’ immediate response makes Mary’s thoughts irrelevant.

John 2:4-5
And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Jesus’ reply respectfully puts her in her place.  He replies with two brief statements:

“Woman, what does this have to do with with me?“

Jesus’ response is respectful, but he does not refer to her as his mother.  Instead, Jesus is telling her that he is no longer submitting to her as her son.  They have a new relationship now that he has begun his ministry.  The comment, “what does this have to do with me”, could be translated as “You misunderstand our relationship”. [5]

“My Hour has not yet come.“

Jesus further emphasizes that he now is taking direction from the Holy Spirit.  He will only act on the Spirit’s timing and not take orders from his mother. [6]

John 2:6-8
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.

As mentioned above, it was expected for the Jews to purify themselves (ceremonially wash their hands) before entering the wedding ceremony.  This would have been a very devout family to gather this much water (120-180 gallons) for the guests’ purification.

John 2:9-10
When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

John makes a point to note here that the master of the feast was oblivious to what was going on.  All he knew was that now, at the end of the feast, they come out with the best wine.

This is Jesus’ first public act in his ministry and he starts at a celebration.  But as I reflect on this passage, it shows that Jesus is still working through personal connections with people.  In the previous chapter, we see Jesus call Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael through personal encounters.  Now, we see Jesus using a family celebration to show who he is, and to draw his disciples to him.

John 2:11
” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

Previous post: Introduction to Jesus

John’s Gospel narrative opens with the scene of a man preaching in the desert.  He has gained so many followers that he now has the attention of the religious establishment.  Who is this man? This man, John, is leading and baptizing new disciples every day, yet he has no connection to any of the leading religious parties.

I often wonder what it would have been like to be with John at this time. He captivated multitudes yet he had a simple message: “Repent, for the Messiah is coming!” [1]  But John’s excitement has only intensified.  It has been close to 6 weeks earlier [2] when Jesus had come to John, requesting to be baptized.  Here was the coming king that John had been preaching about, and he was requesting that John baptize him.  Jesus had abruptly left after his baptism, leaving John to only reflect on the encounter.

For more information on the promised Messiah, see the link here.

The narrative of John 1 (v. 19-51) gives a very specific succession of days as we see the focus move from John now to Jesus:

Thursday: John is confronted about who he is 

(v. 19-28) At some time during the day on Thursday [4], a delegation reaches John as he is teaching by the Jordan.  This is a group of priests and levites who have been sent from the top religious governing body (the Sanhedrin) in Jerusalem.  Their line of questions is straightforward: “Who are you?”

“Are you the Messiah?”

John’s response is redundant.  He confesses, does not deny, but confesses that he is NOT the messiah (the Christ).

“Are you Elijah?”

Malachi 4:5 promises that Elijah will return before the Messiah.  In Luke (1:17) the angel tells that John will be in the spirit and power of Elijah.  But John is not the answer of Elijah to these people. [5]  His answer is in less detail, “I am not!”

“Are you the Prophet?”

Near his death, Moses promised to the Israelites that God would raise up a prophet like him, who would tell them God’s word (Deut 18:15-18).  The Jews evidently saw in this promise another prophet of Moses’ stature who would come (separate from Elijah or the Messiah).  (Both Peter and Stephen apply this promise to Jesus as the Messiah, Acts 3:22, 7:37). John’s answer is very abrupt, “No!”.

“Who are you”

The delegation needs to give an answer back their senders.  John quotes Isaiah 40:3, saying that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  He is the herald who is to come before the king’s visit to get things ready.

“Why do you baptize, then?”

John replies with, “I baptize you with water but a greater one is among you.”  John has seen the Messiah by this time and is waiting for him to reveal himself.

John seems to become increasingly reactive to all of the questions about him.  It is like he is fighting the temptation himself.

Friday: John sees Jesus

 (v 29-34) John sees Jesus on the next day after the delegation (Friday), and publicly announces him as “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”.  The depiction of a lamb would be well known to the Jews who were listening to John.  The sacrificed lamb for sin was an essential part of the Jewish beliefs.  However, John also mentions that Jesus is not only for the Jews but for the whole world.  In case the readers were still unsure what John was talking about, he concludes his message on Friday saying, “this is the Son of God”.

John emphasizes his points about Jesus on that day: Jesus outranks him, John did not know Jesus beforehand, but his entire purpose was to reveal the Messiah to Israel.

Jesus has just been on a 40-day fast and would be on the brink of death by the time it ended.  He is still probably very weak and sickly when he comes up while John is announcing him.  He is already defying the Jewish expectations of the Messiah.  They are looking for a magnificent, conquering king, but instead stumbles in a man who has been ignored by the religious authorities and is only announced by this lone preacher in the middle of the wilderness. [6]

Saturday: “We have found the Messiah!”

(v. 35-42) John is spending time on a Sabbath morning with two of his disciples. They would have been especially close to John if they had come to join him on a Sabbath day. [3][4]  We know that one of the disciples was Andrew and the other disciple is traditionally believed to be John (the author of this book).  John points out Jesus to them and indicates again that he is the Lamb of God.

The conversation is almost awkward between the two disciples and Jesus.  Jesus says to them, “What are you looking for?”  They respond with, “Teacher, where are you staying?”, indicating that they want to spend time with him [7].  Jesus invites them to come and they stay with him that day.

Any doubts that Andrew and John may have had that day are erased after spending time with Jesus.  Andrew gets his brother Simon and tells him, We have found the Messiah”.

Jesus looks at Simon, as if studying him him [7], and then changes his name.  Simon will become one of the Jesus’ closest and most well-known of his disciples, yet he is now better known by the new name that Jesus gave him, “Peter” (or Rock).

Sunday: Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael

Jesus is traveling North to Galilee on the next day.  He first finds Philip and simply directs him to “Follow Me”.  Don’t just follow me once, but continually follow me. We learn later about Philip and find that he is one who wants to carefully measure the facts.  Jesus asks Philip to follow him and to stay with him even when he doesn’t understand. [7]

Philip brings Nathanael, who is hesitant.  Jesus is from Nazareth, but can any good come out of Nazareth?  Nazareth was a wicked city with a reputation for trouble.  Jews of his day did not believe that any prophet would come from Galilee (John 7:52), and there was no prophecy pertaining to Nazareth.

Jesus commends Nathanael for his frankness, but Jesus goes further.  Jesus tells Nathanael that he knows that he has been meditating on God, and about the way to God.  Sitting under the fig tree was a colloquial term for spiritual mediation. The reference to angels ascending and descending would be connected to the common thoughts of his day, that Jacob’s ladder was the way to God (See Genesis 28). [7]  Jesus tells Nathanael that he knows what he was doing, what he was thinking, and that Jesus is the way to God!

Jesus commonly referred to himself as the “Son of Man”.  The “Son of Man” was a recognized Messianic title from the Old Testament (See Dan 7:13-14) [8]  Note that Nathanael is called Bartholomew in the other gospel accounts.

Jesus may have been given divine insight into his other disciples as he called them, knowing the right words to say to bring them.  However, Nathanael’s response alone shows that Jesus is given divine insight into this latest encounter.

Previous post: The Word