The Commissioning of the King

Matthew 3:13-17

     We come to the last paragraph in the 3rd chapter of Matthew.  We are examining the Gospel of Matthew, and noting, as we go, that Matthew presents the Lord Jesus Christ as King.  That's Matthew's particular approach.  He wants the world to know that Christ is the promised King, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.  We saw, when we studied the Gospel of John some years ago, that John's major message is that Jesus is God; and in every paragraph almost in the entire Gospel of John, John points up something of the deity of Christ. 

     Well, in almost every paragraph of Matthew, Matthew is dealing with the kingly nature of Christ, and no different as we come to the end of the third chapter, for here we find the commissioning of the King.  Matthew doesn't say it in those terms, but that is precisely what occurs.  In the majesty of the moment, mass...Matthew does manage to capture in all of its fullness.  There's something strikingly majestic about this text.  All of the anticipation of the previous texts seems to come to fulfillment here; because, as we come to Matthew 3:13, we read the words, "Then cometh Jesus."  And really, for the first time, the Lord Jesus appears upon the stage.  Up until this time, it has been preparatory.  Matthew has been commenting on various elements in the beginnings of Jesus, His birth, the things surrounding His birth, His forerunner, etc.; but now, finally, Jesus steps onto the stage.  Jesus takes the place of prominence.

     The anticipation that has been building since the beginning of this record is now fulfilled.  In chapter 1 verses 1 to 17, we saw the ancestry of the King.  In chapter 1 verses 18 to 25, we saw the arrival of the King, His birth.  In chapter 2 verses 1 to 12, we saw the adoration of the King, the worship given to Him by the magi.  In chapter 2 verses 13 to 23, we saw the attestation to the King.  That is, He is attested to be the King by the fulfillment of specific prophecy; and in chapter 3 verses 1 to 12, we saw the announcer of the King, John the Baptist.  And now, finally, after all of that, we come in chapter 3 verses 13 to 17 to arrival of the King.  If you wanna add another one, the anointing of the King. 

     This is, as it were, His coronation.  This is His commissioning, the beginning of His ministry.  It's a rich and a blessed section of Scripture.  The King comes out of 30 years of seclusion, 30 years of obscurity, 30 years of being hidden, as it were, finally to manifest himself to the world.  John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, has made ready the path.  The way is prepared.  The path is straight, and from the quiet seclusion of Nazareth, the Lord Jesus comes to inaugurate His work, to assume His office, and He is commissioned.  He is crowned, as it were, in a very wonderful way right here as we begin in this paragraph. 

     Now, I want us to see three aspects to the commissioning of Jesus Christ.  First, the baptism of the Son.  Second, the anointing of the Spirit.  Thirdly, the Word of the Father, and you will notice that all the Trinity is involved.  The baptism of the Son, the anointing of the Spirit, and the Word of the Father.  This is a very important passage for instruction on the Trinity, because all of them are here synonymously, all acting at the very same time; and if you're looking for a passage in which to find the Trinity, this is as good as any. 

     Thirty years of peaceful preparation, 30 years of being in Nazareth, now comes to an end.  That is all buried, and the King comes for the storm and the stress of the unique work that God has commissioned Him to do. 

     Now, let's look, first of all, at the baptism of the Son; and we're gonna look at all kinds of interesting things in this; and perhaps some things that you wouldn't expect out of the text, but are related, because I think it's a good opportunity to teach you some things even about baptism.  But, first of all, the baptism of the Son, verses 13 through 16, at least the first part.  Now, here we find a passage of Scripture which has confused many people; and in order for us to get a good grip on it, we have to sort of look at it carefully; and what we wanna do is to consider, first of all, the details of His baptism, and then discuss its significance. 

     Let's look at verse 13 to begin with.  "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptized by him."  Now, you notice the verse begins with then.  This is very vague.  Doesn't tell us much of anything.  We don't know when the then was other than the fact that the then hooks us up with the time of the ministry of John the Baptist.  Sometime during the ministry of John the Baptist, while other people were coming to him, as it says in verse 5, "And there went to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the regions round about the Jordan, and were baptized by him."  Sometime during that ministry of John, it was then that Jesus came. 

     Now, we really don't know how long John had ministered.  We have no idea.  Verse 5 indicates that it was long enough for Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan to come; and so it would've needed to have been several months to allow for those people to come, and to take the long journeys that would be involved.  No doubt for several months, John had been ministering.  Now, some Bible scholars wanna connect up an interesting thought.  We know that Jesus began His ministry when He was 30.  We know that because Luke 3:23 tells us that.  When He was about 30 years of age, He began His ministry.

     Now, supposing that John also began his ministry when he was 30, that would mean that John had ministered six months prior to when Christ came, because John was born six months before Christ, according to Luke chapter 1 and verse 26.  John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin.  You remember that?  And so John was part of the family, as it were; and we know the story of Elizabeth and her giving birth to John, the 1st chapter of Luke; and he was six months older than Jesus.  So if he began his ministry at the age of 30, as Jesus did, it would've been going on for about six months.

     But on the other hand, we have no reason to believe that he began at 30.  There's nothing in the Scripture that tells us that.  That would be purely conjecture.  Now, some people say, "Well, in Numbers, Numbers chapter 4, the Word of God says that the priests were to begin their ministry when they were 30; and there's some indication that David actually embarked upon certain dimensions of his ministry to the Lord when he was 30; and so that 30 does at least hang around as a number significant among ministries; and it was according to Numbers 4 the time when the priests began to function.  But that principle was very temporary, because, by the time you get to the 8th chapter of Numbers, the priests' age is lowered to 25; and if you read in 1 Chronicles chapter 23, David lowered the age to 20 for special reasons; and that early age of 20, for the beginning of a priest's ministry was continued through the reign of Hezekiah, according to 2 Chronicles 31; and it was continued after the captivity, according the Ezra 3 verse 8.

     So the 30 of Numbers 4 quickly becomes 25 in Numbers 8, and, in 1 Chronicles 23, becomes 20 and seems to stay that way; so I really don't think that the 30 is that significant.  All of that to say we don't know when Jesus came, and we don't know how long John was ministering.  There's no way that we can push ourselves to any answer; and in Luke chapter 3 and verse 21, a parallel passage.  The Word of God says, "Now when all the people were being baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized."  Now, Luke then tell us that Jesus came when all the other people were coming.  This was no private audience with John.  This was no little intimate tête-à-tête.  This was no secret commissioning.  Jesus just came along with everybody else, and we will see the absolute significance of that in a little while.

     Now notice again in verse 13 some other of the details.  You'll notice that he uses the word cometh.  Very interesting word, paraginnami.  It is a word that has multiple meaning potential, but it is a word that is used specifically in many places to refer to making a public appearance.  It was a word used sometimes to speak of the arrival of a teacher, somebody who was to take a public...a significant place in public vision or the public eye.  In fact, it is the same verb used in verse 1, "In those days came John the Baptist."  It seems to be used, then, at least in some cases, for the initiation of a public ministry; and so, in that sense, this text is saying, "Then Jesus initiating His public ministry came from Galilee."  And, by the way, Mark 1:9 adds, "From Nazareth in Galilee."  We don't really know exactly where on the Jordan River John was, but it could've been as much as a 60-mile walk for the Lord to get there; and, at this time, He's coming alone.  Just beginning His ministry.  Nothing really has taken place at all.  He steps out of the obscurity of Nazareth, walks maybe as much as 60 miles, makes His public appearance, initiating His ministry. 

     It's amazing to me, as I thought about that, that Christ waited 30 years in the carpenter's shop in Nazareth performing the simple duties of the home and the simple duties of the shop, and all the time knowing He was God incarnate, and all the time knowing there was a lost world, and all the time knowing that that world was waiting for Him and never, ever being frustrated, because it was all in the Father's plan.  Thirty years of obscurity, waiting for the Father's timing, patiently, in a complete kind of unquestioning submission to the Father, He waited for 30 years; and now the hour struck; and when it struck, He came forth; and it says He came to the Jordan.

     Now, we don't know where on the Jordan.  We don't know specifically where John was.  I mean we know a name, Bethabara, but we don't know where that was.  We don't know whether it was way south by the Dead Sea or up a little bit north.  We have no way to reconstruct the specifics, but someplace on the southern part of the Jordan River; and you will notice also that it says He came unto John.  He came unto John, specifically, His cousin and His forerunner; and here it's kind of a...like a relay race.  John is about to pass the baton to Christ.  This is the phasing out of the ministry of John and the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. 

     Now, perhaps Jesus and John knew each other.  I know they knew about each other.  I know Jesus knew about John, the forerunner, 'cause He was omniscient.  I know John knew about Jesus, because they were cousins.  You say, "Well, how does that...how does that prove that John knew about Him?"  Well, for many reasons.  Perhaps when they were babies, they may have played together.  Perhaps when they were little children, they may have spent time together.  Then John went his way into the wilderness, and Jesus remained in the seclusion of Nazaress... Nazareth.  John staying for his lifetime in that wilderness area.  Perhaps they never met again; but I'm quite confident that John knew that Jesus was the Messiah. 

     There's several things that help me to understand that.  One is that Elizabeth called Jesus Lord; and if she, John the Baptist's mother, believed He was Lord, there's no question in my mind that she would've passed that on to her son; and the very fact that he is instantly recognizing Jesus here and recognize Him...recognizes Him for who He is is another indication that, indeed, he knew.  We'll talk more about that in a minute. 

     So He comes to meet John, and He has a very specific purpose in mind.  Look at the end of verse 13.  It says, "To be baptized by him," and the Greek construction here for you Greek students, when you see infinitive with to, you know that this is a purpose that's being denoted.  He came with the purpose of being baptized by John.  That was His express intention.  He came there to be baptized.  Now at first this is shocking, and it has really been a problem for a lot of people.  It was a problem for John the Baptist, and it's still a problem for people unless you really examine the text carefully.  He came to be baptized.

     Now, what's shocking about it is from verse 6.  Go back to verse 6.  "And when John was baptizing...it says...he was baptizing in the Jordan, and the people were confessing their sin."  This was based on his message in verse 2, "Repent."  He was preaching repentance, and his baptism was a baptism of repentance with the confession of sin.  Look at verse 11.  John said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance." 

     Now, repentance admits what?  Sin.  John's then was a baptism for sinners.  John was baptizing people who admitted their sin, who confessed their sin, who repented of their sin, and who desired that God would transform them and prepare them for the coming of the King.  His was a baptism for sinners.  It was meant, as we have already seen, to be an outward sign of an inward transformation.  It was to symbolize a conversion, a turning from sin, a repentance, a baptism for sinners. 

     Now do you see the problem?  Why does Jesus come to be baptized with a baptism that really belongs to sinners?  Why should He seek this?  Did He need salvation?  Why did He desire to join a crowd of sinners?  To enter into that which was a symbol of conversion. 

     Well, there's some interesting solutions to the question.  One very ancient writer suggested that Jesus came to be baptized only because His mother wanted Him to, and His brothers wanted Him to.  Now, this is recorded in a book called the Gospel according to the Hebrews.  This is what we call an apocryphal book.  It is a non-Scriptural book.  These books rose in the first couple of centuries.  They were false.  They were untrue.  They were not offered by the Holy Spirit, and it was Satan's attempt, of course, to worm them into the canon of the...of the New Testament and make the confusion.  They didn't get in, but many of them have interesting things that do show us the thinking of the day; and according to the Gospel of Hebrews, we read this.  "Behold, the mother of the Lord and His brethren said to Him, 'John the Baptist baptiseth for the remission of sins.  Let us go and be baptized by him.'  But He said to them, 'What sin have I committed that I should go and be baptized by him, except perchance this very thing that I have said in ignorance.'"

     In other words, the question is why would He go to be baptized?  And, apparently, whoever the phony guy was who wrote the Gospel according to Hebrews, he couldn't figure it out either...and so he just took a wild guess that Jesus' mother and brothers sorta laid this responsibility on Him; but the spurious Gospel according to the Hebrews, while not giving us an answer, does at least help us to know that the early writers faced the question.  They tried to deal with it.  It was a puzzle to them.  Why should Jesus be baptized in a baptism for sinners?  And, secondly, why, by a sinner himself, John the Baptist?

     Now, there was a group of people in the early days of the church called the Gnostics.  You remember that?  From the Greek word gnosis, to know.  They were the know-it-alls.  They were the ones who supposedly had the inside track on God, and this is what they taught.  They taught that Jesus was just a man -- that the human Jesus was just a man; and, at His baptism, He got incarnated with the divine Spirit.  Okay?  That up until His baptism, He was just an average, normal human being who was sinful like other people, and He was just a human being; and then at His baptism, He was incarnated by this very high-level, sort of divine Spirit called the lagass, the Christ-Spirit. 

     So they say He needed the baptism, because the baptism purified the sinner Jesus to receive this deity element; and so this was a cleansing preparatory act, so that He could be incarnated.  Well, that doesn't cut it, folks.  That doesn't make it, because it doesn't square with Scripture that, when He was born, His name shall be called Emmanuel, God With Us.  He was God from the very beginning.  He didn't become God at His baptism.  He didn't get incarnated at His baptism.  He was incarnated in His birth.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Had no earthly father, so that doesn't make it either.  So the Gospel according to Hebrews is out, and the Gospel according to the Gnostics is out...

     Well, if He didn't have any sin, and He didn't need any confession, and He was already God, and His mother and His brothers didn't tell Him, and He had nothing to repent of, and He didn't need a conversion, and He didn't need a transformation, and He didn't need to change His life or change His heart, then what in the world is He doing?  Well, if it's any consolation, John had the same problem.  Look at verse 14.  "But John...and this is an imperfect tense...kept on hindering Him, saying, 'I...and incidentally all the pronouns here are emphatic in the Greek...I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?"  They're all emphatic.  "John kept on hindering him."  The verb form denotes an attempted action.  John constantly tried to stop Jesus from getting baptized.  He sounds a little like Peter, doesn't He?  Trying to stop Jesus from going to the cross and, finally, the Lord had to say, "Get thee behind me, Satan."  "Get out of My way, will you, Peter?  I gotta do this." 

     The verb, incidentally, is compound.  Anytime the Greeks take a verb and add a preposition to the front of it and compound it, they intensify it; and so John was earnestly, strongly, intensely continuing to hinder Jesus from getting baptized.  He wouldn't hear of it.  It made absolutely no sense to him whatever.  "I...he said...have need to be baptized by you."  "What are you doing coming to me?"  This is all backwards...

     I was interested as I thought about this to notice that John's treatment of Jesus is the very opposite of the way he treated the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Verse 7, they came to be baptized, and "When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come for baptism, he said to them, 'O generation of vipers, who's warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth therefore fruits befitting repentance.'"

     Now, listen, he refused to baptize the Pharisees and the Sadducees because they weren't repentant.  You see that?  He refused to baptize them because they were in impenitent.  They were sinful.  Here, he refuses to baptize Jesus because He is sinless and has nothing to repent of; and so the whole idea makes no sense to him...he who towered above the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who thought they towered above everybody, finds himself bowed in deepest humility before Jesus.  

     Now, it's obvious to me, people, that John recognized Jesus.  He recognized who He w