Matthew 3: 11- 17 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
A major theme in this passage and throughout the gospels is repentance. Both John and Jesus disciples, baptised to the repentance of sins before the crucifixion of Jesus. Repentance is not something that is preached as strongly in our time as it was by our Lord and Saviour.
To repent according to Miriam Webster is: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life or, to cause to feel regret or contrition. Concisely, it is to turn from sin unto righteousness. It could be said that to repent is to make an 180° turn from walking in the world and to walk toward Jesus Christ. In its simplest form it is as Jesus said to the adulterous woman in John 8:11 “Go and sin no more.” This is true repentance.
Another theme is humility. Jesus came to John as the Son of God and yet also as the Son of Man. In his capacity as the Son of Man he was required to be baptised, ceremonially cleansed, by immersion in the waters of the river Jordan. John was the Prophet of God at this time and the one who prepared the way for the Messiah. Thus it was only appropriate that Jesus the Messiah should come to be baptised by John. This was a great honour for John but, it was also a model to us all that it is desirable before God to humble ourselves and to be obedient to the will of God in order to fulfil all righteousness.
As Jesus said in Mark 9:33-35 “And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
So even though Jesus was the King, he was a humble servant to all men, completely obedient to the will of His Father in Heaven
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The third and final theme is the need to believe on Jesus (John 3:16), and to be baptised as it says in Acts 2:38 “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
As we accept the gospel of repentance in Jesus name so we need to be baptised. Jesus had no sin as the Son of God. When He was baptised the Holy Spirit alighted on Him as a dove. This signified His empowerment for His three year ministry to the nation of Israel as their Messiah.
For us salvation comes when we hear the gospel, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. We have a need to believe on the redemptive work of Christ Jesus on the Cross, that we might be washed clean in His shed blood. Then as it says in Acts 2:38, we must receive baptism for the forgiveness, of sins and to receive the Holy Spirit. This anointing with power enables us to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as his disciples.
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