Text: Matthew 3:13–17
Preacher: Pastor Brian Sauvé

Through Jordan’s Waters

Our text this morning is one of those parts of the story of Jesus that seems really mundane and familiar, maybe, to us—but which if we stop for a moment and think, turns out to be actually both bewildering and then glorious.

Let’s get it in front of us to begin our time. Look with me at Matthew 3:13–17. This is the Word of the Living God:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

-Matthew 3:13–17

Thus ends the reading of God’s Word. May he write it on our hearts by faith.

We will do something this morning that we do with some regularity in taking up the Scriptures together at Refuge, and that is to interrogate the text—to ask it questions. Actually this morning, we will ask of these five verses just one question, and it’s essentially the same question that John asked in verse 14: Why would Jesus be baptized? 

Remember what John is preaching. Remember what his baptism is all about—it’s a baptism of repentance! John comes out of the wilderness as the one prophesied in Isaiah, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” 

He comes preaching the arrival of the Kingdom of God, and the need for Israel to repent and be washed in baptism. And maybe, if you were with us last week, you remember just how radical and radically offensive that message was to Israel. At this time, only pagan converts to Judaism were baptized.

And so it’s astonishing, it’s scandalous, because John is saying that Israel is fundamentally pagan and needs to convert to the worship of the true God of Israel! He’s saying, “Israel, you’re not actually Israel. You’re more like Babylon, Assyria, or Egypt. Come join us.”
John is saying that Israel has become like a pagan nation. It needs baptism and repentance. John is telling pagan Israel that—as the pagan converts of old had to pass through their own Red Sea baptism, through their own Jordan, to come to the Promised Land—so now do they. He's saying, “Israel! You need to leave this little Egypt you’ve made of my city and come to the true Promised Land!”

This baptism is, then, a deep identification with sin and sinners. This baptism of John’s is a proclamation of exodus—leaving wicked Israel through the waters, as Israel had left wicked Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. This baptism preaches, “I need freeing. I’m not free. I’m a slave. I’m a sinner.”

This should be utterly bewildering to us who know Jesus, who have read the rest of the story, who understand who this Jesus is. Who is he? He is the God-Man! He is the divine Son. He is God, incarnate, God in the flesh. He is truly God and truly Man.

He is God, who left heaven, added humanity to his deity, and came for us. And what do we know about him? Well, for starters, we know that he is perfect both in his humanity and his deity. 

As the book of Hebrews, chapter four and verse fifteen tells us, he was tempted at every point as we are, yet without sin—meaning that he experienced the external temptation to every category of sin, yet that those external temptations met with no corresponding internal evil desire, and so he didn’t sin; not even once!

Do you understand why the question at hand in this text is simply the question: Why was Jesus baptized? Why was sinless, perfect, totally free Jesus baptized? This is obviously a question John struggled with: “Why would I baptize you? You should baptize me!” 

And if you’ll permit me to do some application here in my introduction, something that’s not the main point of the text, but that struck me this week, notice how John carries himself in this text. I love it.

He says, “Jesus, you should baptize me, not the other way around.” And Jesus essentially replies with a kind of cryptic answer that doesn’t really clear things up, not a lengthy explanation, but rather, “Do it, John, so we can fulfill all righteousness.”

And maybe John could have said, “Go on…?” But he doesn’t do that. It just says, “Then [John] consented.”

He just did what Jesus said. We need to cultivate this same instinct. When Jesus speaks, we obey. When the Scriptures speak, we obey. We can work and read and meditate and often find many of the “whys” behind his commands—as we will find with this command to John—but we obey even if we don’t get it, even if we don’t get the “why.” And listen: All of his law is freedom.

But this morning, we will ask that why question, because Matthew invites us to, and he gives answers.

Six Reasons for the Son’s Baptism

As we ask this question—the question that John essentially asked of Jesus—we will find glories to behold as Matthew shows us at least 6 reasons for the Son’s baptism. First, we should start with the reason Jesus gives, because all the other reasons in the text are just facets of this controlling reason. That is, that…

1. Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness.

Look at the first three verses of our text again, starting in verse 13,

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented.” 

-Matthew 3:13–15

Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. What does that mean? 

We know  that Jesus came to live a law-obedient life, fulfilling the Old Covenant through perfect obedience to its commands—but is there a command in the Old Testament to be baptized? 

The answer is no and kinda. Let me explain.

The Old Testament Scriptures contain many baptisms, especially if we understand the divinely inspired, inerrant commentary of the New Testament on the Old, which explains that both Noah’s Flood and the Red Sea crossing were “baptisms.” But it doesn’t command individual Israelites to be baptized in water.

However, we shouldn’t forget who John is and what John is—a prophet in the Spirit of Elijah, fulfiller of the final prophecy of the Old Testament and of Isaiah’s prophecy of the voice crying out to prepare the way for the Lord. 

John is essentially the final prophet in the spirit of the Old Covenant prophets before the final Prophet—the Lord Jesus Christ, as Hebrews 1 teaches us—came. And part of his message, part of his command to Israel was baptism. He commanded Israel to be baptized.

So Jesus is obeying this prophetic instruction of John to Israel to be baptized. But even right there, we get into the deeper and more important way in which Jesus is “fulfilling all righteousness” in this baptism—he is identifying with Israel.

In fact, he is presenting himself as a new Israel, as the true Israel. Remember, Matthew’s gospel already has, and will continue, to present Jesus as reliving the story of Israel—except where they fell and sinned, he stands and keeps covenant.

Jesus is baptized to fulfill all righteousness—a new, living, obedient, covenant-keeping Israel from the stump of the old. He is baptized to identify with sinful Israel and sinful us, because in his identification of us, we will be brought to identify with him. He is baptized, then, for the same reason he was crucified—not because he was a sinner deserving death and needing cleansing, but because we do. Number two,

2. Jesus was baptized to show that heaven and earth will no longer be estranged. 

We read, verse 16, that “…when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him.”

By the end of Matthew’s gospel in chapter 28, Jesus will claim all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the one who leaves heaven, comes to earth, and reclaims dominion over it as a second Adam. We will see this battle take place in the very next chapter of Matthew, as Jesus goes into the wilderness to fight the Serpent’s temptation, standing where Adam fell, and showing that he will take what Adam ceded to the Serpent back.

Jesus comes, in other words, to reconcile what was estranged at the Fall: Heaven and Earth. He is like Jacob’s ladder, on which angels ascended and descended from heaven to earth. He is the great reconciler, Paul says in Colossians 1:19–20,

“…in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Jesus brings all things together, reconciles all things, through his coming, his life, his death, his blood, his resurrection, his ascension, and his enthronement. He makes the peace of forgiveness and the peace of victory over his enemies. He does this, we see next, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 61. Number three…

3. Jesus was baptized to proclaim liberty to captives, good news to the poor, and salvation for the lost.

Look again at what Matthew records in verse 16,

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him…” -Matthew 3:16

What is the significance of the Spirit of God alighting on Jesus like a dove? More on the dove part in a minute, but first, we see that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 61, which reads,

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.”

-Isaiah 61:1–4

Now, in Luke’s gospel, we find that Jesus told a synagogue of Jews that this prophecy was about himself. But here in Matthew 3, we hear the whisper of it, right? “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me!”

And it is. It is upon Jesus here at his baptism, as he is anointed for ministry. What ministry? The ministry of liberty to captives, of good news to the poor, of binding up of the brokenhearted, of opening prisons to the bound, of the LORD’s favor, of comfort to mourners of beautiful headdress to those with ashes on their face, of gladness, of praise, of oaks of righteousness planted, of ancient ruins rebuilt.

The ministry Jesus receives at his baptism is the ministry of the arrival of the Kingdom of God and the gospel of that Kingdom. It is good news for mourners and sinners and captives like we all once were. It is good news for you if you are a captive to sin, if you have been sinned against.

It is good news if you are a coward, a whore, a thief, or a liar. It’s good news for you if you need grace and restoration. It’s good news for you if you live in the ruins of the good world God made—and if you have in your sin taken a sledgehammer to that world yourself.

Jesus comes to save his people from their sins. But listen: This prophecy also makes plain, number four, that…

4. Jesus was baptized to proclaim the vengeance of God.

He is anointed to proclaim the year of God’s favor, but also the day of vengeance of our God—and this is all wrapped up in the sign of water baptism. See, baptism is a sign—not only of salvation—but also of vindication. Also of judgment. Also of vengeance. Baptism is a sign of water judgment.

Here’s the theme of water judgment: God deliverers his people through the waters even as he sends those waters to judge his enemies. We see it throughout the Bible:

In Genesis 1, the Spirit of God hovers over the waters, creating Creation from water chaos and crowning it with man, his image on the land. But in Genesis 6, the world of man is so corrupt, so evil, that Moses records that the thoughts and intentions of the hearts of men was only evil all the time. And so God sent the flood to judge the world, cleanse it from the evil that covered his world. 

But here’s the great gospel glory of the theme of water judgment in Scripture: God delivers his people through the waters of judgment. So God preserves Noah through the ark. See the pattern? God’s enemies, judged in the waters; God’s people delivered through the waters. 

We see this pattern repeat in the Old Testament. In Exodus, wicked Pharaoh tries to be a god, commanding his own mini flood of judgment. He orders all the male Israelite babies to be drowned. 

But God turns Pharaoh’s great flood on its head. First, he saves his people through the waters of Pharaoh’s flood. How? By having his faithful servant build an ark! When Moses’ mother builds a basket of reeds, the language of Exodus calls it a tevah, which our English translates “a basket of reeds.” But in Hebrew, it is nothing less than the word God used to describe Noah’s boat: An Ark. Moses floats safely through Pharaoh’s imitation flood in a little ark.

But the irony doesn’t end there! No, when Moses grows up and leads  his people to freedom from Pharaoh’s slavery, God again plays out the water judgment theme. This time, it’s at the Red Sea. 

God parts the sea, and the people of God pass safely through. As Pharaoh’s army attempts to follow, God drowns them all in the waters of judgment. Do you see it? God delivers his people through the very water that he uses to judge his enemies. 

The Jordan crossing, the Jonah story, and here in Matthew with the baptism of John—all of it is water judgment. 

Jesus’ baptism preaches the salvation of God’s people—identifying with true Israel!—and the judgment of God’s enemies, the coming day of vengeance, which would come on Israel in 70 AD, and which will come at the return of Christ on the whole world who rejects him.

But there’s another link to the Old Testament, to Genesis particularly, in the text. Do you see it? Number five…

5. Jesus was baptized to show that the Spirit is bringing a new creation from the waters.

The Spirit of God doesn’t just come on Jesus to show us Isaiah 61, he comes in the form of a dove to show us Genesis 8.

As Noah drifts on the waters of judgment in the Flood, he sends out a dove to see if the waters have dried up anywhere. And eventually, the dove returns with an olive leaf in its mouth, showing that new life has come from judgment.

Jesus is baptized to show us that he has come to bring new life from the flood of judgment—the dove alighting on him as in the days of Noah, to show that new life had come through the deluge of vengeance. As the Spirit brooded over the waters of creation in Genesis 1:2, so he broods now over the Son in the waters of new creation. The work of Jesus, what he has come to do, is to be a work of new creation through the Spirit’s work.

That’s why Paul could later say that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Jesus died and rose, the firstborn from the dead, and the firstfruits of the new creation, so that he could bring us through our own death, burial, and resurrection by faith and in baptism, and make us new creations. 

The point is glorious! It means that the work of the new creation of the new people, new Israel, new Jerusalem, new heavens and new earth—that all of it has already been started in Christ. It is already, and it is not yet. It is here, and it is coming. 

You can participate in it right now by faith and through repentance. You can leave the Kingdom of Darkness and join the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son right now. And see this all come together, lastly, in number six, that…

6. Jesus is baptized to show that he is the beloved Son of Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42.

The passage ends with this, verse 17,

“…and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” -Matthew 3:13–17

Now, important side note, here: Only three times is the audible voice of God heard in the New Testament, and in each case it is God testifying to Christ. Stop saying, “The Lord told me,” when you really mean, “I had a feeling/thought/emotion/impression.”

That out of the way, this voice is the Father’s voice, and it is the voice of a Father who is well-pleased in this beloved Son. This language evokes the stern warning and glorious song of Psalm 2, that the kings of earth are to kiss the Son, lest he be angry and they perish along the way. 

It is clear that Jesus is that Son, the Son of Psalm 2. But this language also evokes the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 42:1, where God says, “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom my soul delights!”

Jesus was baptized to show that he is the Royal Son, the Davidic King and new Adam of Mount Zion—the Son the nations must kiss, the Son in whom the Father is well-pleased, the Son whom we are reconstituted as beloved adopted sons.

Beloved Sons, Well-Pleased Father.

That is why this voice is such good news to us, because when we come to faith in Christ, we come to adoption as sons. Are you in Christ? The Father is pleased with you. Don’t take my word for it. Let me close by reading to you from Ephesians 1:3–14,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

-Ephesians 1:3–14

World without end. Amen.