The Baptism of the Blameless

Scripture: Matthew 3:13–17

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Questions

1. Why did Jesus come to John for baptism?
2. What was the purpose of John’s baptism?
3. What does Jesus mean when he says “to fulfill all righteousness.”?
4. What is the purpose of the vision after Jesus is baptized and what do the words mean?

Background

Related Scriptures: Isaiah 42:1–9; Acts 10:34–43; 2 Corinthians 5

In saying “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus is saying that his mission and purpose will in a way continue John’s own work and that it will bring about right relationships on earth.

The words from heaven seem directed toward the angels and other witnesses in heaven and Jesus is overhearing them.

Matthew has already identified Jesus as the Son of God the voice in this passage is meant to connect Jesus’ sonship with his obedience and desire for righteousness, not that these things make him God’s son but that being God’s son is shown in his desire to do what God does.

Incomplete Work on Matthew: John went about preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus came that he might receive John’s witness and confirm his preaching: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Thus, when some saw the sinless Christ baptized as if he were a sinner, they said to one another: “If he whose innocence the Baptist gave witness thought it necessary to have himself baptized, how can we who are covered with sins scorn repentance?” Here we must recall that John himself testified that “I baptize you with water for 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 with fire.”^[1]

Origen: Christ was baptized for our sake, in order to sanctify the waters. The Spirit descended in the form of a dove, since wherever there is reconciliation with God there is a dove, as in the case of Noah’s ark … announcing God’s mercy to the world and at the same time making clear that what is spiritual should be meek and without wickedness, simple and without guile^[2]

Reflection

Why does the sinless need to participate in baptism for the repentance of sins? This is what many Christian thinkers who have come to this passage have asked. There are numerous answers to this question. I really like that this action demonstrates Jesus’ humility. Jesus is condescending to take part in our story, he is empathizing with us in order to lift us to his level (this is the story of Philippians 2:6-11). John’s response to Jesus says that he recognizes Jesus’ position and authority. His reaction is “why are you here, you don’t need this?” and that is the kind of reaction we expect to authority, we expect people to hold to their status. We tend to want a seat that is commensurate to our position. Not so with Jesus. Jesus humbles himself to a level that is beneath his dignity and takes on a status that less than who he is. The voice from heaven confirms what John has said, “This is my son…” is establishing that Jesus had no need of repentance. The statement also confirms that Jesus is doing what God would do. Jesus is bringing himself to our level even though his level is higher. He is doing this first to understand us. Baptism is meant demonstrate how sin leads us to death, and to cleanse us from that sin so that we can walk in God’s paths and live in God’s holy community. Jesus king of that community identifies with the outsiders so that he can empathize with us when we are on the outside. He can know our hearts and minds. He humbles himself to know us. But Jesus does not simply get acquainted with our sorrows and then reascend to his rightful seat. He is not content with merely understanding humanity as an intellectual exercise. When he is baptized he is joining with us in our despair to walk us through that despair to God. When he says to John that he is “fulfill[ing] all righteousness” included in that is taking humanity from the darkness of our self-centered and power hungry ways of relating to others and leading us into right relationships with God and others. Jesus was baptized because it united him to our story, he placed himself alongside us to walk with us from darkness to light.

Think about this for a minute Jesus who “knew no sin” (2 Cor 5:21) willingly decided to participate in our sin and guilt so that he could walk alongside us and help us escape. Not simply to create the path that leads us from death to life, but walk with us. Jesus could have easily not humbled himself or he could have simply created the path but he chooses to walk it with us teaching us righteousness. Not only this but as Isaiah tells he promotes justice while caring for the weak, hurt, and vulnerable (Isaiah 42). Have you been hurt by sin—obviously—Jesus does not condemn you, instead he brings forgiveness, comfort, and healing. Even the self-inflicted wounds of sin, Jesus humbled himself to participate with us in healing the wounds and the sins that cause them.

This is how Jesus is completing righteousness in being baptized he is working to take us from our death in sin to life in God through righteousness. And this is why we continue to join with him in baptism. We understand that when we are baptism (even if we do not understand it) we are starting this process with Jesus and the church. We understand that when we participate in baptism we are joining in this journey to righteousness along with Jesus. Baptism is about saying God is going to change me so I participate in righteousness. And righteousness is never a completely individual task. Righteousness is having good relationships with others so much as it depends on you. This is why E. Stanley Jones said, “Christianity that doesn’t begin with the individual doesn’t begin; Christianity that ends with the individual ends.” Christianity is about seeing the humble Jesus who lowered himself to help walk with others and raise them up in their struggles and doing the same. Our calling in baptism is to see the hurts and wounds others live with, to emphasize with them and to journey with them to the life that God wants for us. We are called to complete our own righteousness in baptism by uniting with Jesus to eliminate our own sins, to live in right relationships with God and others, and to help others and walk alongside them when they struggle.

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^[1] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 1–13, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 50.

^[2] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 1–13, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (53.