The Revelation Of The Messiah

“The Revelation of the Messiah” (Matthew 3:13-17)

Introduction: Last week, we were looking at how the Lord prepared the way for the coming of His Son through the preaching of John the Baptist. Whenever a great dignitary is about to appear somewhere, he typically sends a messenger before himself to tell the people of his coming, so that they will be ready to receive him. If such an important person as the President of the United States was to come to Modesto, he wouldn’t just show up one day unannounced. He would tell our city officials that he was coming, so that his trip wouldn’t be wasted. The same thing was true at the time of Christ. God sent John before His Son to announce His arrival, so that His people would be ready to receive Him when He came. It is interesting to note that throughout the earlier part of Christ’s ministry, He didn’t want anyone to know that He was the Messiah. It wasn’t until later that He began to make it more plain. Perhaps it was because He did not want to appear to be a self-proclaimed prophet. He wanted His own works to bear witness to the fact that He was the Messiah. But yet He was revealed to some at the very beginning, by John and by the Father, mainly to those whose hearts were prepared, but also to others. By the time Jesus arrived, John had already been ministering for about 6 months. This would have been enough time for most of those who were not really serious about their repentance to fall away. Those who would have remained steadfast to John and followed his teaching would have then been better prepared to greet the Messiah when He came. This morning, we see the revealing of this One who was heralded by John, as He finally arrives at the culmination, the fulfillment, of the times to begin His ministry. And what we see here is a two-fold witness to the identity of the Messiah: the testimony of John and the testimony of the Father. I. First, we see the testimony of John. A. Matthew writes, “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John, to be baptized by Him” (v. 13). 1. Jesus, you will remember, spent the first thirty years of His life in Nazareth, being raised by Joseph and Mary. a. Luke writes, “And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli” (3:23). b. When Matthew says that Jesus arrived from Galilee, we understand this to mean that He was coming from the area in which He was raised, for Nazareth was in Galilee. 2. John had appeared in the wilderness of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of the Messiah. a. Remember that this was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, through whom the Lord said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!” b. Perhaps John was out in the wilderness because God was wanting to show what sin does. Going out toward the east toward the border of the Promised Land was a sign of curse to them, just as it was when they were exiled to Babylon for their

2 disobedience to the covenant. c. Perhaps it was because God wanted the people coming for repentance to separate themselves from sinners and to show that they did by going out to the Jordan, into the wilderness by themselves. d. But it is also very likely that he was there so that Jesus might more easily go out into the wilderness, which is where the Spirit next will lead Him, so that He might fulfill all righteousness in continuing to live out what His fallen people did, and yet with perfect success. We will learn more about this next time. 3. But this is where God had appointed John to preach, and now Jesus was appearing before him for baptism. B. But now look at John’s response, the very response which we might give if we were faced with the same situation. Matthew writes, “But John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me’” (v. 14)? 1. Jesus apparently had waited until John had baptized the last person there before He presented Himself. a. Luke tells us in 3:21, “Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also was baptized.” b. Perhaps it was because Jesus didn’t want to appear as just another fact in the crowd. After all, He presented Himself in order that He might be revealed to John. 2. And John knew who he was. It was for this purpose that God had sent him. a. John had been announcing the coming of the Messiah. He preached to the crowds, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:26-27). b. And John tells us, “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, “After me come a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me”’” (v. 30). c. And then he declared, “In order that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water” (1:31). “And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (v. 34). 3. But it was also because John knew who He was that he tried to prevent Jesus from coming to him for baptism. a. He said, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” b. “Jesus, you are the Messiah, the One who is high and exalted far above the Creation. I am not worthy to untie Your sandals or even to carry them as a slave. You are the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. I need your baptism, you don’t need the baptism that I bring.” c. John recognized the infinite majesty of Christ. He recognized that he was the servant and that Jesus was the Master. He recognized that he had need of purification from sins, not Jesus! d. This is very similar to the reaction that Peter would have a little more than three

3 years later, when Jesus would stoop to wash his feet. Peter said, “‘Lord, do You wash my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter.’ Peter *said to Him, ‘Never shall You wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’ Simon Peter *said to Him, ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head’” (John 13:6-9). e. John knew who Jesus was. He declared this to the crowds with his words. But he also did by his actions. He was very reluctant to baptize the Savior with a baptism of repentance, for he knew full well that he was sinner, not Jesus. C. But notice now the interesting response of Jesus. “But Jesus answering said to him, ‘Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he permitted Him” (v. 15). 1. Obviously, Jesus was not a sinner. a. He was the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. If He had sinned, He would not have been qualified to be your Savior or mine. b. And yet Jesus submitted Himself to this baptism. Why did He do this? c. Whatever the reason, it was not because Jesus had sinned. Whereas the others who had come for baptism had confessed their sins when they were baptized (v. 6), Jesus had none to confess. 2. Jesus actually gives to us the answer here. a. He says, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” b. Some say that the us here is used the same way that it is in John 3:11. There, Jesus says to Nicodemas, “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness.” Jesus would then be saying that it was fitting for Him alone to fulfill all righteousness. c. Of course, if this was something that John needed to do, it would also be fitting for him to fulfill what was right by doing it to Jesus. d. But what does it mean that it is fitting for Jesus, or Jesus and John, to do this to fulfill all righteousness? e. It is really very simple. God had sent John to baptize those who were truly repentant. He sent him to baptize those who earnestly and sincerely professed that they wanted to follow the Lord in everything that He commands them to do: to put off the evil works of the old man, and to put on the works of the new. Jesus, by submitting Himself to the Law, in order to fulfill it for His people, was obligated to fulfill all of it, not just some of it. If this is an ordinance of God, it must be done. Everything that Christ did, He did in our place. f. Think about what baptism represents, even the baptism of John, and then think about what it was that Christ came to do. Baptism represents the same thing as circumcision. It signifies the removal of the foreskin of the heart, the new birth by which a person’s inclination is changed. It represents the putting to death of the old man and the putting on of the new. It represents the dying to sin, in order to live to righteousness. A person who presented himself for baptism was declaring that he was intent on serving the Lord with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength. But

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this is exactly what Jesus came to do, and to do it perfectly. Jesus, then, submitted Himself to baptism both because it was a God-ordained ordinance for His people, and because it symbolically portrayed what it is that He had come to do. This is, of course, the same thing that our baptism summons us to. Our Book of Church Order reflects this, where it says, “And since baptized persons are called upon to assume the obligations of the covenant, baptism summons us to renounce the devil, the world and the flesh and to walk humbly with our God in devotion to his commandments” (Directory for Worship, IV.B.1, p. 145). The obligations of the covenant include faith and repentance, and the keeping of God’s Law. This is true for you children, as well as for all of us adults. We cannot receive the blessings of the covenant, which include eternal life and the everlasting inheritance in the heavens, unless we believe in Christ and turn from our sins. (i) This is the condition which anyone of us must meet before we can be saved. (ii) But no one of us in our own strength or power can ever meet these conditions. No one of us without the grace of God can believe. (iii) Oh, we can believe the facts. We can believe that Jesus is who He said He is, and that He did what He said He did. (iv) But we cannot savingly trust and rest in Him alone for salvation and receive His benefits apart from the grace of God. The simple reason, again, is because we will not really want to. In our hearts we will not be able to come and submit to the One that we really hate. (v) But God is able to overcome this natural hatred, this hostility against His holiness. And God actually does this in the lives of His people in His appointed time. It is called the gift of the new birth, which everyone for whom Christ died will receive, when God is pleased to give it. (vi) God has done this for you, if you are truly trusting in Christ this morning. And if He has, you ought to never stop thanking Him for it.

k. But there is something else which God requires of us as members of His church, and that is that we keep His commandments. (i) God redeemed us that we might be zealous for good works. (ii) Good works are only those works which are done in obedience to the commands of God, and in the way which is honoring to Him. (iii) Here again, the unregenerate person can do the things outwardly which God requires. A man can love his wife, love his children, provide for their needs, obey the laws of the land, help his neighbor when he is in need, and many other things which are commanded by God. (iv) But the one thing he can never do in his own strength, is to do these things out of a love for God and for His glory alone. An unconverted person does not love God, he cannot love God, and therefore he can never do anything solely for God’s glory. Therefore he can never do anything really pleasing to God. The most he can do is not make God as angry as he otherwise would by not even doing the things He commands. (v) But the Christian has a changed heart. He really does want to honor and serve

5 his God, and that is in fact what he does. God gives to His children His Holy Spirit to make us willing and able to obey and serve Him all our days, because we love Him. And that is what our baptism summons us to do, as well. And in order to do it we must renounce the devil, the world and the flesh. We must put these things off, and walk humbly with our God. (vi) But even our very best efforts are tainted with sin, and even with this gift of the Holy Spirit, because of our corruption, we could still never live well enough to enter into heaven. And that is why Jesus had to live for His people, that is why Jesus had to fulfill all righteousness on their behalf, so that when they would believe, He could give to them a perfect and flawless righteousness, one which would pass the righteous judgment of God. (vii) This is why every one of us here this morning need that which baptism signifies. It signifies the new birth by which we are made new creatures. It signifies our union with Christ by which all of our sins are removed and His perfect righteousness is imputed to us. It signifies our reception of Christ and everything that He is for us and for our salvation. (viii) Have you received Christ? Are you a believer here this morning, whether you are young or old? Then Christ has fulfilled the perfect righteousness of the Law for you. He has died to take away all of your sins. He has a daily provision laid up in heaven for you, to give you the strength you need to serve Him. (ix) But have you not received Christ? Then you need to come to Him now! You need to turn from your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! You need to rest in Him alone for salvation! If that is what is in your heart to do, then do it now. Christ will not turn anyone away who comes to Him in faith. But if it is not in your heart, then pray that God will put it there! For without that changed heart, you will never believe in Christ and perish forever in your sins! II. Well, I said this morning that there are two testimonies here: that of John and that of the Father. Let us look briefly now at the testimony of the Father. A. After Jesus was baptized, immediately He came up out of the water. 1. He had gone out to John who was standing in the Jordan to baptize, and now He was returning to shore. 2. Luke adds, “And while He was praying, heaven was opened” (3:21). a. Jesus was not just returning to shore, but He was praying at the same time. b. What was He praying for? We don’t know exactly. But it wouldn’t be too much to assume that He probably was praying for God’s provision for the work that He was about to begin. c. What was that provision? It was the ministry of the Holy Spirit. B. We next read that “the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him” (v. 16). 1. We mustn’t forget that Jesus Christ was true man, as well as true God. a. It was the Son of God who was the person within Christ, but that doesn’t mean that Jesus was not a true man. b. He was a real man with all of the limitations of manhood.

6 c. And could a mere man do all that Jesus needed to do? No. He needed power, He needed strength. Therefore, the Father anointed Him with the Spirit of God above measure. John the Baptist testified of Him, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34). The implication here, of course, is that He gives the Spirit to the Son without measure. 2. The baptism of Christ was the time at which the Father anointed Him for His work of redemption. a. The psalmist writes of Christ, “Sacrifice and meal offering Thou hast not desired; My ears Thou hast opened; burnt offering and sin offering Thou has not required. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do Thy will, O My God; Thy Law is within My heart” (40:6-8). b. And Isaiah wrote concerning Him, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified” (61:1-3). c. The Spirit of the Lord was that anointing. He descended upon Christ in the form of a dove, probably because a dove is a symbol of purity, harmlessness, and peace, all of which characteristics the Spirit has. d. Where did He come from? He came forth from heaven. It is not that the Spirit isn’t everywhere at once as the Father and the Son, but this special revelation of the Spirit was seen coming down from heaven itself. Jesus saw Him. John the Baptist did as well. They saw heaven itself open up and the Spirit coming forth! This is surely something worth meditating on! But it was also further evidence to John that this was the Messiah, for the One who sent Him to baptize said to him, “He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). e. This baptism, this anointing, is also that which we need to honor and glorify the Lord. Christ is the One who gives Him. He is the One through whose work the work of the Spirit was earned. And so we must seek Him from Christ. Much could be said about this, but there isn’t time right now. C. But not only did the Spirit issue forth from heaven, the voice of God was also heard, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” 1. What more evidence could you want to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. God Himself spoke on His behalf straight out of heaven. 2. But He not only declared that He was His Son, He also made sure that at least Jesus and John knew what He thought of Him, “In whom I am well-pleased.” a. “Well-pleased” is too weak a word to express what the Father meant by this. It is more accurate to say, “In whom I delight.” b. The Lord said through Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will

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bring forth justice to the nations” (Isa. 42:1). And why did God delight so much in His Son? It was because His Son reflects perfectly His own infinite holiness and excellency. It was because the Son “is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Heb. 1:3). God delights when He sees His own beauty and excellency. He does so, not only in His Son, but in His people as well. This is what He has predestined you to reflect as His child. Paul writes, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). And the more you become like Christ, the more you become like God, the more the Father, the Son and the Spirit of God all take delight in you. This should be a strong motivation to each one of us here this morning to pursue Christ-likeness. This was the beginning of Christ’s ministry. But there was one thing more that He needed to do before He could begin His public ministry. And that we will see next week. Let us pray.