Table Talks: The Baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3)

Table Talks, Synoptic Gospels 2

The Baptism of Jesus

Matthew 3

Jesus was “about thirty years of age” (cf. Luke 3:23) when he came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. John himself saw this event as extraordinary.  In fact it represented a commitment already at this beginning of his public ministry to take the road to the cross.  John’s hesitation to baptize Jesus will be understood if we consider the purpose of his baptism.

It was a baptism for sinners, “the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.” People “were baptized of him ..., confessing their sins” (Mark 1:4f; cf. Matt. 3:5f; Luke 3:3).

John tried to restrain Jesus.  He said, “I have need to be baptized of you, and do you come to me?” (Matt. 3:14). It would have seemed natural if Jesus had come to assist John in baptizing others. But it was surprising to see this sinless person identify himself with sinners and ask to be baptized.  He thereby expressed recognition of his role as a bearer of sins, understanding that he must be “reckoned with transgressors” and fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy about Jehovah’s suffering servant who was to be “numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12; Luke 22:37).

“Permit me now,” Jesus said, “for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). The explanation likely alludes to Isaiah’s prophecy and his own role as the servant of Jehovah who would suffer and die not for his own sins but for the sins of his people. Jehovah had explained in advance:  “By the knowledge of himself (or: by his knowledge) shall my righteous servant justify many,” or as the margin puts it, “make many righteous” (Is. 53:11).  The explanation continues: “and he shall bear their iniquities.”

Jesus understood his mission from the beginning in terms of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. Baptism was not for him as for others. It was the first step toward a death in which he would bear the sins of mankind and make it possible for them to be righteous.

The cross was not a defeat, the end of a failed ministry. It was the fulfillment of a divine purpose entertained in the mind of Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry.