September 18th, 2024
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Fulfilling Righteousness
Based on Matthew 3:13-17
When I was a teenager, we had an amazing Vacation Bible School at the Panther Creek Church in the Kiamichi Mountains of Southeastern Oklahoma where my dad was the pastor. At the close of Bible School, one 10-year-old country boy came to my dad and said, "I want to be baptized." My dad asked him why he wanted to be baptized and his answer was special, "If Jesus was baptized, then I recon I oughta' be baptized too."
Jesus' ministry was preceded by the ministry of his older cousin by six months. John was preaching that the kingdom of God had come near. The Jewish people knew that he was talking about the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one of God who had been promised since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. The Messiah would be God's correction for the mess that sin had brought into the world. John was also preaching repentance and baptism for all. He was baptizing people in the Jordan river, not the cleanest stream in the middle east, but it was available. He was a colorful preacher. Because he had taken the same Nasserite vow that Sampson and others had made, he had extremely long hair. He wore a camel hair cloak and held it together with a leather belt. Because he was baptizing people he received the nickname, "The Baptist" or "The Baptizer."
To the Jewish people baptism had limited purposes. It had been done to the priests, especially the High Priests to prepare them for their ministry. There were ceremonial washing places in the Temple for this purpose. Gentiles who converted to the Jewish faith were also baptized as a part of their conversion. John baptizing repentant Jews for forgiveness of their sins was a whole new concept. It was highly irregular, but it caught on like a wildfire.
Because of his dynamic ministry and charismatic style many thought he, himself, was the Messiah. John explained that he was not the One. In fact he said that he wasn't even worthy to tie the sandals of the One who was coming. He even said that the baptism of the One coming would be more powerful than his. He would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He clarified this by telling about how the Messiah was bringing his winnowing fork and would separate the wheat from chaff, gathering the wheat (real followers) into his barn and burn the chaff (unbelieving people) with fire.
Matthew 3 has Jesus coming to John with a surprising request. He wanted to be baptized by him. John's baptism had been all about repentance and forgiveness of sins. John was surprised because he knew Jesus and he knew that the Son of God had no sins in his life and there was no reason for him to repent.
But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:14-15
Jesus had no sins to be forgiven, but he needed to fulfill all righteousness. That day Jesus established baptism as an integral part of receiving God's offer of grace. Jesus' baptism was obedience to the plan of God. He was setting an example for all to follow.
Almost every Christ follower believes it is important to follow the example of our Lord and Savior. If Jesus who had no sin needed to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness, then shouldn't all of us who have sinned need it too?
Now, listen to what happened next...
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17
What does it mean that Jesus went up out of the water? The example Jesus set was one of being immersed. He went down into the water, was baptized and came back up out of the water. Each example of baptism in the New Testament is done by immersion.
The symbolism of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove is a powerful demonstration of what happens to us when we are baptized into Christ. He comes into our lives and empowers us to resist temptation, gives us gifts for ministry and grants us encouragement and comfort to deal with the struggles of life. It is no accident that immediately following His baptism Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days and nights of fasting and intense temptation. He needed the Holy Spirit to help him succeed.
God's declaration of approval was crucial to showing the world that Jesus was who he claimed to be. When we have God's approval we need no other.
Let's fast forward to a few years later. Jesus has ascended into heaven and the day of Pentecost has come. The Holy Spirit pours out power on the Apostles and they speak in the languages of the many nations represented on this important religious holiday. Tongues of fire appear over their heads and there is the sound of a rushing wind. Peter preaches to the crowds and presents the good news of Jesus to the crowds. When he finishes his sermon the people are emotionally moved and ask "What shall we do about this?" Peter's response to their question, motivated by faith in Christ, was pivotal. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
Peter's command to these believers parallels closely with the incident in the life of Christ. While Jesus didn't need to repent or have his sins taken away, he was baptized for the purpose of fulfilling all righteousness. The only way we can fulfill all righteousness is to have our sins forgiven. Jesus received the Holy Spirit and those of us who have our sins forgiven will receive that same gift from above.
Baptism alone saves no one. The Bible teaches us that we must believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, confess him before others as the Son of the living God and repent, or turn away, from our old way of living and, in addition, be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
We have not covered all aspects of baptism today, but hopefully, we have given you some food for thought. If you haven't been baptized, perhaps you should pray about doing it. If you haven't been immersed, you might consider doing so. If you want to know more about this subject, please come and talk with me. I'll help you study further.
It was late October and about 9:00 PM. Pastor, Rick Stacy had been talking with Myron and his wife about following Jesus and sealing that decision with baptism. Myron was hesitant for a long time and then finally said, "Yes, I want to accept Jesus -- and I want to be baptized tonight -- right now in Lake Superior. In case you don't know, Lake Superior is very cold even in October. The average temperature, year-round, is about 38 degrees. This was late October and the gales of November had come early. The waves were running 3 feet high.
The water was very cold. They were going to wade out waist deep into the water, but only made it about knee deep. Rick laid Myron down and the waves washed over him as he was baptized into Christ. When they went back to Myron's home for some hot cocoa and a hot soak for their cold feet, Rick asked him why it was so important that he do this that night in Lake Superior.
His answer: "I was in the army, an officer in the infantry during Vietnam. I saw and did things that no man should see or do. I wanted my sins buried in the deepest and coldest place..."
Do you need fulfill all righteousness just like Jesus did?
Come to him. Surrender your life to him and bury the old self in the watery grave of baptism so that you can be raised to a new life through Christ's resurrection from the dead. You too can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This Sunday we will look at another one of the wisdom passages in Proverbs. This message will be titled Guard Your Heart and based on Proverbs 4:20-23. This could be a life-changing study.
Fulfilling Righteousness with you and Jesus,
Jon
Fulfilling Righteousness
Based on Matthew 3:13-17
When I was a teenager, we had an amazing Vacation Bible School at the Panther Creek Church in the Kiamichi Mountains of Southeastern Oklahoma where my dad was the pastor. At the close of Bible School, one 10-year-old country boy came to my dad and said, "I want to be baptized." My dad asked him why he wanted to be baptized and his answer was special, "If Jesus was baptized, then I recon I oughta' be baptized too."
Jesus' ministry was preceded by the ministry of his older cousin by six months. John was preaching that the kingdom of God had come near. The Jewish people knew that he was talking about the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one of God who had been promised since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. The Messiah would be God's correction for the mess that sin had brought into the world. John was also preaching repentance and baptism for all. He was baptizing people in the Jordan river, not the cleanest stream in the middle east, but it was available. He was a colorful preacher. Because he had taken the same Nasserite vow that Sampson and others had made, he had extremely long hair. He wore a camel hair cloak and held it together with a leather belt. Because he was baptizing people he received the nickname, "The Baptist" or "The Baptizer."
To the Jewish people baptism had limited purposes. It had been done to the priests, especially the High Priests to prepare them for their ministry. There were ceremonial washing places in the Temple for this purpose. Gentiles who converted to the Jewish faith were also baptized as a part of their conversion. John baptizing repentant Jews for forgiveness of their sins was a whole new concept. It was highly irregular, but it caught on like a wildfire.
Because of his dynamic ministry and charismatic style many thought he, himself, was the Messiah. John explained that he was not the One. In fact he said that he wasn't even worthy to tie the sandals of the One who was coming. He even said that the baptism of the One coming would be more powerful than his. He would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He clarified this by telling about how the Messiah was bringing his winnowing fork and would separate the wheat from chaff, gathering the wheat (real followers) into his barn and burn the chaff (unbelieving people) with fire.
Matthew 3 has Jesus coming to John with a surprising request. He wanted to be baptized by him. John's baptism had been all about repentance and forgiveness of sins. John was surprised because he knew Jesus and he knew that the Son of God had no sins in his life and there was no reason for him to repent.
But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:14-15
Jesus had no sins to be forgiven, but he needed to fulfill all righteousness. That day Jesus established baptism as an integral part of receiving God's offer of grace. Jesus' baptism was obedience to the plan of God. He was setting an example for all to follow.
Almost every Christ follower believes it is important to follow the example of our Lord and Savior. If Jesus who had no sin needed to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness, then shouldn't all of us who have sinned need it too?
Now, listen to what happened next...
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17
What does it mean that Jesus went up out of the water? The example Jesus set was one of being immersed. He went down into the water, was baptized and came back up out of the water. Each example of baptism in the New Testament is done by immersion.
The symbolism of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove is a powerful demonstration of what happens to us when we are baptized into Christ. He comes into our lives and empowers us to resist temptation, gives us gifts for ministry and grants us encouragement and comfort to deal with the struggles of life. It is no accident that immediately following His baptism Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days and nights of fasting and intense temptation. He needed the Holy Spirit to help him succeed.
God's declaration of approval was crucial to showing the world that Jesus was who he claimed to be. When we have God's approval we need no other.
Let's fast forward to a few years later. Jesus has ascended into heaven and the day of Pentecost has come. The Holy Spirit pours out power on the Apostles and they speak in the languages of the many nations represented on this important religious holiday. Tongues of fire appear over their heads and there is the sound of a rushing wind. Peter preaches to the crowds and presents the good news of Jesus to the crowds. When he finishes his sermon the people are emotionally moved and ask "What shall we do about this?" Peter's response to their question, motivated by faith in Christ, was pivotal. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
Peter's command to these believers parallels closely with the incident in the life of Christ. While Jesus didn't need to repent or have his sins taken away, he was baptized for the purpose of fulfilling all righteousness. The only way we can fulfill all righteousness is to have our sins forgiven. Jesus received the Holy Spirit and those of us who have our sins forgiven will receive that same gift from above.
Baptism alone saves no one. The Bible teaches us that we must believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, confess him before others as the Son of the living God and repent, or turn away, from our old way of living and, in addition, be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
We have not covered all aspects of baptism today, but hopefully, we have given you some food for thought. If you haven't been baptized, perhaps you should pray about doing it. If you haven't been immersed, you might consider doing so. If you want to know more about this subject, please come and talk with me. I'll help you study further.
It was late October and about 9:00 PM. Pastor, Rick Stacy had been talking with Myron and his wife about following Jesus and sealing that decision with baptism. Myron was hesitant for a long time and then finally said, "Yes, I want to accept Jesus -- and I want to be baptized tonight -- right now in Lake Superior. In case you don't know, Lake Superior is very cold even in October. The average temperature, year-round, is about 38 degrees. This was late October and the gales of November had come early. The waves were running 3 feet high.
The water was very cold. They were going to wade out waist deep into the water, but only made it about knee deep. Rick laid Myron down and the waves washed over him as he was baptized into Christ. When they went back to Myron's home for some hot cocoa and a hot soak for their cold feet, Rick asked him why it was so important that he do this that night in Lake Superior.
His answer: "I was in the army, an officer in the infantry during Vietnam. I saw and did things that no man should see or do. I wanted my sins buried in the deepest and coldest place..."
Do you need fulfill all righteousness just like Jesus did?
Come to him. Surrender your life to him and bury the old self in the watery grave of baptism so that you can be raised to a new life through Christ's resurrection from the dead. You too can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This Sunday we will look at another one of the wisdom passages in Proverbs. This message will be titled Guard Your Heart and based on Proverbs 4:20-23. This could be a life-changing study.
Fulfilling Righteousness with you and Jesus,
Jon
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