The first of anything is always unprecedented. Sounds like common sense, but the idea of “unprecedented”
has more of an impact on us, than just the word “first” sometimes. The term unprecedented by nature then is used
rarely, because it is experienced rarely.
The first time a president elect chooses to use Twitter instead of the
main stream media has been unprecedented as an example. The level of crisis in Aleppo Syria is unprecedented
to the residents who live there. And on
the plus side, the birth of our Savior was unprecedented as well. No virgins ever gave birth before that. Satan may have done his best to counterfeit
this characteristic of the Gospel in other pagan religions. But the real event, the real virgin birth was
unprecedented. It didn’t hurt to have
angelic choirs, magi from the East, and a dedicated star leading the way
either. All of these supporting events
insured the unprecedented nature of God entering our earth in human form.
But while many miraculous events marked the birth and youth
of Jesus, the main event had yet to begin.
The ministry of Jesus was on the doorstep. John the Baptist had been preaching about it
with a fervency that could not be matched.
The Holy Spirit was blessing the ministry of John, convicting his
listeners of their need to repent and come to God, symbolically through
baptism, and now possibly literally through human contact with Jesus. As with His birth, the counterfeit events
Satan created in other pagan religions were not going to come close to the real
thing. All the deities of Satan demanded
things of man for their favor; Jesus would be the only God who offered things
to man, even to His enemies. The real
ministry of Jesus was about to be unveiled and it was truly going to be a
first. It was truly going to be
unprecedented.
So how does the unveiling take place? An event this glorious is sure to begin at
the Temple in Jerusalem, in front of the High Priest and the assembly of the
Sanhedrin. All of Jerusalem would be
called to attend, well at least, anyone who was anyone in polite society, would
be called to attend. Jesus would submit
His authority to the Priesthood and the Sanhedrin. They would give Him His marching orders, and
discuss how soon Rome was to be evicted from Israel. Then the existing leadership would start
making plans about which leadership positions they wanted in the new government
Jesus was sure to form. After all, Jesus
was going to need good lieutenants and counselors, in order to maintain order
in the provinces. This was certainly the
view of those who led the church in the days of Christ. But it was not the way of Jesus, or of His
Father. They had different ideas.
First must come the ratification of the ministry of John the
Baptist. The same nut, who called the
Priests vipers, and had a message of shock and awe for church leadership, was
to be validated by Jesus before Jesus did a single thing on His own
formally. That did not make any sense to
the Sanhedrin. But it made perfect sense
to those who heard the message of Elijah in the words of John, and the power of
the Holy Spirit that Isaiah had predicted.
God was moving near the Jordan river.
Not moving the waters, but stirring the hearts to repentance. The announcements of the proximity of Jesus
that John made every day were not the empty rattling’s of a homeless
crazy. They were a prophecy of the
Truth, who was soon to be among them.
So Jesus begins His ministry without pomp or circumstance. He foregoes the formality of the Temple, and
the authority of the Sanhedrin, and looks for a place and a man of abject
humility. And there he finds his cousin,
a willing servant of the most high God.
Matthew begins his account in chapter three of his Gospel picking up in
verse 13 saying … “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be
baptized of him.” Say What?! From the point of view of church leadership
this move makes zero sense. And frankly
from our perspective some 2000 years later a lot of questions emerge as well.
First, Jesus had no sin to be baptized from. He had no need of repentance because He lived
a perfect life. So why request this act
that would have no real meaning for Himself?
Second, for those who care about perceptions, the audience standing near
was sure to interpret this move as Jesus being no different than they
were. But He was different. He was God.
They were not. There could not be
a bigger difference, yet doing this action would cause them to think, He was
just one of them. It is a bit deceptive
if all you judge actions upon is their appearances. How many of us still judge so?
Matthew continues in verse 14 saying … “But John forbad him,
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” Look closely here as John knows Jesus to be
the Son of God immediately, without hesitation, and without doubt. John is not wrestling with the identity of
Jesus. John knows full well that Jesus
is the Messiah. Not because he read
about it in a book. Not because he was
related to Jesus by blood. Not because
of the conditions of His unprecedented birth.
John knows Jesus to be God, because the light of divinity shines through
the eyes of Jesus as they stare right through John to the depths of his very
soul. John’s response is to further
humble himself. John wants Jesus to
baptize him, preferably with Holy Fire, but water will do too. At a minimum Jesus has this all backwards.
Matthew continues in verse 15 saying … “And Jesus answering
said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness. Then he suffered him.”
Interesting the choice of the word suffer. He might have used the term, humor me. He might have commanded John, but He did not,
instead He pleads with John for patience and acquiescence. He gives John the reason, that this tradition
is part of the fulfillment of all righteousness. And there it is. The real motive of Jesus begins to
emerge. Those witnesses on the banks of
the Jordan river, were in no less need of baptism after the arrival of Jesus
than they were before it. Our need
continues. Our embrace of the symbolism
continues. Jesus does not eradicate the
practice of baptism, He endorses it personally by example.
There are those modern Christians who believe they need make
no public display of the embrace of humility and service to our Lord. They believe that “what is in their hearts”
is enough. Yet across the New Testament
church, baptism becomes the entry, the gateway to the faith. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit happens
after baptism. Though I am certain His
ministry occurs across our lifetimes. Jesus
does not get baptized because He needs it.
He does it because we need it. We
will need it later, even after His work for us on this earth reaches its
fulfillment. There is always need for
repentance. There is always need for
humility. There is always need for
submission.
And the ministry of John the Baptist is validated and
ratified in no higher a way. God
Himself, ratifies John’s message and its continued need. John does not go home after this encounter
with Christ. He does not resign and go
on a tour to Disneyland. Instead he is
even more committed, even more energized.
If Jesus had ignored John, that continuation may have never had its
fervor. But then the unprecedented
happens.
Matthew continues in verse 16 saying … “And Jesus, when he
was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
lighting upon him: [verse 17] And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
This is the definition of unprecedented.
No other baptism went like this one.
No other baptizee came up out of the water and found the heavens opened
up, the Spirit of God descending in the form of a dove, and very voice of the
Father God saying these words. God the
Father Himself bears witness to the identity of His own very loved Son. God the Father Himself declares in front of
all who are there, who Jesus is.
The ministry of John is ratified. But even more important, the ministry of
Jesus is revealed to begin, by His own Father in heaven. What John has foretold is reality. It is their reality. It is our reality. This was more than a first. This was a one time only event. The coming of the Messiah was now. The fulfillment of the prophecy given to Adam
and Eve, given to Noah, given to Abraham, Moses, David, and countless others
has reached its zenith. For 4000 years
humanity has waited for this. We have
waited for an encounter with God. And
sadly, some of us, are still waiting.
Not because our God is unwilling to reach us, but because we have
substituted the worship of self in His place.
We preach the gospel of self, of self reliance, instead of submission to
Jesus.
There is no need of baptism, when submission has been fully
discarded. The mirror makes no demands
on our humility. It asks us only to
serve the image we find in it. But Jesus
offers us so much more. Jesus offers us
an escape from that image, and a journey towards something bigger than we have
ever dreamed of. Our self imposed
limitations have kept us enslaved to mediocrity at best, and depravity at
worst, when what Jesus offers us is a perfection we have not even
imagined. Perfect health. Perfect minds. And a Perfect ability to love unencumbered by
slavery to self, and the image in the mirror.
Matthew makes no comparison between Old and New Testaments
in this passage, because there was no reference that could have encompassed
it. Unprecedented leaves Matthew only
reporting what he has seen. And this was
only the beginning …
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