Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, 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 it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him 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, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Baptism is a vital rite of the Christian church and it is universally celebrated as a special occasion in the life of a congregation. Of course, that does not mean that every baptismal service is flawlessly conducted. Awkward moments can occur.
For example, we have all probably seen the on-line video of the child who does a cannon-ball into the baptistry, resulting in a tidal wave of water cascading onto the choir sitting below.
On another occasion, a pastor who was baptizing a man much taller than he smashed the man's head into the side of the pool during the baptism. The new believer came to the surface sputtering words more suitable for his former way of life than for church.
These incidents demonstrate that even the most sacred of our church rites can sometimes become awkward moments. One might say this almost occurred during the baptism of Jesus as well, but the actual outcome pleased His Heavenly Father. Let's look at that together:
Jesus Pleased the Father by His Humility:
Few who read the account of the ministry of John the Baptist would doubt that his was a powerful ministry. He preached captivating sermons which touched many lives. He confronted evil and sin without hesitation. Masses of people came to him to repent of their sins and be baptized. Yet, despite all of this, he knew that one was coming who would be far greater than he.
Like John, Jesus had a powerful ministry, He, too, preached captivating sermons which touch many lives. He confronted evil and sin without hesitation. Masses of people came to him to repent of their sin but also to be healed of their diseases and be fed with physical bread as well as the Bread of Life. Jesus was a prophet, like John, but unlike John He was God incarnate, who raised the dead and who defeated death and hell on the Cross. John had no doubt that Jesus was superior to himself, and we should have no doubts about that also.
Despite Jesus's obvious superiority to John, Jesus humbly submitted to baptism by him. Jesus's humility began even before the primitive circumstances of His birth, but in Heaven, when He humbled Himself to be born in the form of a man so that He could be the Savior of the world. This humility on the part of His Son pleased God the Father, and when His people choose humility today it pleases Him as well.
Taking the path of humility on the part of a child of God is never a bad choice for it pleases the Father
Jesus Pleased the Father by His Desire for Righteousness:
God is perfect, which, among other factors, means that He has perfect balance all the time in all His attributes and all His actions. Righteousness is a key attribute of God and it balances with other qualities like benevolence
Dr. Fisher Humphreys, a retired professor of theology, has taught for years that God is both good and loving, that is, "We can trust in One who does what is right, in One who loves and is concerned about us."* Part of this goodness, to my way of thinking, is the characteristic of righteousness. Jesus the Son, cared about upholding righteousness, and this pleased His Father in Heaven.
Why is upholding righteousness important? Some people's concept of God is that He forgives all people all sin without any standards at all. In Romans 6:1-2 Paul rebukes that thought strongly, saying "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" The Scriptures are clear: although God is Love, He also clearly hates sin! How then can we find a way out of this conundrum? Through Christ!
Jesus is the One who fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf. It was He who came to fulfill the Law. As Paul went on to say in Romans 6, "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
The righteousness of Jesus has provided for our salvation. The children of God please Him when they live out the righteous life given to us at such great cost to Him.
Jesus Pleased the Father by His Baptism:
In the present day we are proud of our use of audio-visual techniques to share the Gospel and to worship God. We project hymns onto screens and we frequently show promotional or motivating videos as well. We incorporate drama, dance, and even puppets into church services. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and the whole galaxy of social media outlets are viewed as vital, and even indispensable, tools for ministry. Yet, we are not the innovators that we think we are.
Centuries before we were even born God was using audio-visual means to declare His presence and His plan for us. He used pillars of smoke and fire to guide the Israelites in the wilderness and assure them of His presence. The Ark was a physical reminder of His covenant with them and the fire from Heaven on Mt. Carmel demonstrated His power. The star over Bethlehem and the Spirit descending as a dove graphically illustrated God's engagement with humanity. The Lord's Supper is not only audio-visual, but it is also tactile and olfactory as well. God was way ahead of us in using these techniques to communicate His love and truth to us. This should not surprise us since God is Creator and we are His creation, and we should approach the use of these tools with humility.
Baptism, of course, is a powerful audio-visual sermon which testifies to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and the transforming effect that this has on the lives of His people. In the case of Jesus it was a prophecy of what was yet to come. In the case of a believer it is a testimony of what Jesus has done for them and a declaration of their trust in faith in Christ. As Romans 6:4 says, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
When a child of God is baptized, they are preaching a powerful sermon about redemption and God's love for us. This also pleases the Father.
Conclusion:
The task of servants is to please their master. As servants of God we should always endeavor to please Him. As we live humble, righteous lives, and as we obediently follow the commands of Christ our Savior to be witnesses for Him (including following Him in baptism), we please our Lord. May we all live so that we meet Him in person we will hear our Lord say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
Every Blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
* Fisher Humphreys, Thinking About God, page 68.
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