If I were to ask you to think about a defining moment in your life—what would it be? For some it would be a graduation. For some it might be a promotion or a career move. For others it might be when you met that special someone who became your spouse. Defining moments can be a whole host of things. Yet—whatever they may be, there’s one thing for certain…it marks a significant change in your life.

Today—as we continue down the road to the resurrection…we’re going to stop for a few moments and examine a defining moment in the life Jesus. We’ll be looking at His baptism.

When we think of baptism we usually associate it with repentance that leads to salvation. A person comes to understand they have sin their life and need forgiveness from God. By faith they call out to God for forgiveness and then, as an act of obedience, they are publically baptized signifying that have died to their old way of life and now are going to live a new life in Christ. Yet—we know the Bible says that Jesus had no sin (2 Cor. 5:21). If that is true—then why is Jesus baptized?

1. Jesus' baptism provides identification.

When you put everything that’s happening here in Matthew’s gospel, along with other parts of Scripture into context…it leaves you with the expectation of someone special coming. The Lord’s promise to David, the prophets speaking of a Messiah and Elijah coming back, a virgin birth, Magi looking for the king of the Jews, and John the Baptist preaching about the “coming One”(v11)…expectations are high. Who is it?

John is at the Jordan River baptizing people when out of the crowd steps Jesus. He’s come to the river to be baptized. John tries to deter Him but Jesus insists that this is the right thing for them to do in order “to fulfill all righteousness” (v15).

Twice we see John deterring people from being baptized. The first time is in verses 7-8 when Sadducees and Pharisees show up and he basically says they are not worthy of baptism. And then here in verse 14 John is saying I’m not worthy enough to baptize you…Jesus.

But notice what Jesus says to John in verse 15—let it be so, now…it is proper for us to do this. Jesus is saying to John—in light of God’s plan for the salvation of humanity…this is the right thing for us to do. Jesus baptism will provide identification.

First of all—John had been preaching that judgment was coming…”repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” (v2). The long awaited kingdom of God is about to be re-established—the king is coming…get ready. Repent of your sins. Turn your hearts back to God. Those who believed the message were baptized. When Jesus was baptized, He had no sin, but—He identified Himself with both John’s ministry and message.

The second thing is this—when Jesus was baptized He identified Himself with us. It’s hard for me to completely get my arms around what the Bible teaches about Jesus being both fully God and fully man at the same time…but praise God this truth doesn’t hinge my ability to fully explain it. We know the Bible teaches that Jesus is God’s Son (v17), born of a woman (Gal 4:4) and He was here in the appearance of a man (Phil 2:8).  

What an awesome picture we have here in the baptism scene. As humans we are in need of salvation—but God doesn’t send us a get out hell free card from heaven, or simply allow pixy dust to fall on us from the sky…He sends His one and only Son to live among us and eventually die for us. This is why the writer of Hebrews can say we have a Savior who can sympathize with us completely (Heb 4:15). Jesus identifies with the people He came to save through His baptism.

2. Jesus' baptism offers confirmation.

We’ve already mentioned a great sense of expectation among the people for the coming of the Messiah. From our perspective—we know who the Messiah is…yet almost no one in Jesus’ day did. Jesus baptism will offer conformation that He is the one they’ve been waiting for.

In verse 16 we see 2 things that happen in order to confirm the identity of the “coming One” that John had been preaching about. First of all when Jesus came up out of the water “the heaven was opened.” This is a common phrase used in the Bible to speak of a special event taking place. A defining moment. ILL: John 1:51, Acts 10:11, Rev 19:11.

The second thing we see is “the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him.” As you read through Matthew’s gospel—you’ll see that he likes to interpret events in light of Scripture. ILL: Mat 1:22, 2:15, 17, 23, 3:15. Matthew sees the Spirit descending on Jesus as a fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1. That passage says you’ll know the servant of the Lord who is to come by the presence of God’s Spirit on Him.

For Matthew—Jesus baptism and the presence of God’s Spirit confirms that He is the One to come, the Messiah…the Christ of God. The reason we need to be in the Word of God should be more obvious now than ever before. The events in Scripture that mark defining moments like Jesus’ baptism have been recorded to help us confirm our faith in Christ.

3. Jesus' baptism reveals affirmation.

The period of time between Malachi and Mathew is believed to be over 400 years. During that time the people of Israel had not heard from the Lord. God had basically been silent. It’s into this background we see the prophet, John the Baptist, come upon the scene. And now—add to that a voice from heaven…the line of communication between God and His people is open once again.

Matthew says the voice tells us 3 things that affirms who Jesus is. 1) The voice says, “This is my Son” (Ps 2:7). The task of man’s salvation will require a special servant. 2) “Whom I love.” The relationship between God and His Son is one of love. In Isaiah 42:1 we’re told that God will delight in His chosen servant. 3) “With Him I am well pleased.” God the Father is pleased to entrust His plan of redemption into the hands of His Son…His most trusted servant (Mat 20:28).

Could there be a greater statement of affirmation than this? The servant of God identified (this is My Son), the relationship of the servant of God is confirmed (whom I love), and ministry of the servant of God is also affirmed (in whom I am well pleased).

This is what God has done for all who place their faith in Him by trusting His Son for salvation as well. When a person is born again and then they follow-up their conversion with baptism it signifies they are now a servant of the God. 1) They are identified as His child. 2) They are confirmed by His Spirit living in them. 3) They are affirmed by His love that made it possible.

The baptism of Jesus was a defining moment in His life that marked the beginning of His ministry of salvation. In just a few weeks we’ll be talking about another defining moment in His life when we look at the resurrection. But for today—in the baptism of Jesus I believe we see a picture of surrender.

We see Jesus surrender His life to the plan of God for the salvation of man. The most important question for us to consider this morning is…”Have you surrendered your life to God’s plan of salvation?”

            Have you identified with Him by trusting Him with your life?

            Has He confirmed your decision by placing His Spirit in your life?

            Have you been affirmed by experiencing God’s blessing for being obedient?