Declaration of Sonship: The Baptism of Jesus - GraceLife Church of Pineville

Introduction

Baptism is the visible symbol of our immersion into our new identity in Christ—the water representing the cleansing of sin through the washing of His word. That’s a celebration of our faith because “Faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Water also represents a grave for us—a plunging into the depths. But it’s a good death: a death to sin. It’s also a temporary death, because we emerge from the waters, symbolizing our new birth in Christ and resurrection from the dead. Our past sins are paid for, our present life apart from sin is made possible, and our future life immune from death is secured. What a reason to celebrate!

That celebration is sometimes dimmed because there are those who would charge that our celebration is empty because it lacks power. Namely, these other groups would contend that baptism does more than symbolize—it saves. Why would they say that? Well, because the Bible says it! First Peter 3:21 (italics added):

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ …

How do we answer that?

First, we do so charitably (to those who take different positions, because there will be disagreements). Second, we do so carefully (just because we have to be charitable doesn’t mean “anything goes”). And thirdly, we do so … in the next sermon!

Before we discuss how baptisms relate to salvation (as we will do in the next sermon), let’s address the important subject of Jesus’s baptism.

But first, let’s review where we’ve been on the topic of baptisms.

Baptisms: A Quick Review

So far in this series on baptisms, we’ve learned a few things.

Multiple Baptisms: There are baptisms, plural, in Scripture. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is distinct from—and greater than—water baptism. Holy Spirit baptism is a spiritual reality that dignifies the physical ritual of Christian baptism. Christian water baptism is a physical ritual that denotes a spiritual reality. The spiritual reality is what places us into the body of Christ; the visible ritual is a testimony to our position in Christ.
Water Baptism: We’ve learned that baptisms are God’s chosen method for establishing His church on earth. And His chosen order was to establish the church through His chosen vessel, Israel; thus the Holy Spirit fell, first upon the Jewish people (Acts 2), secondly upon the Samaritans (those who were half-Jew/half-Gentile; Acts 8), and lastly upon the Gentiles (Acts 10). With all the nations incorporated into the church, we now no longer see the physical manifestation of the Spirit, but we are left with the gift of physical water baptism as a declaration of our identity in Christ.
John the Baptist’s Baptism: Prior to the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent Christian water baptism that typically follows, we learned that there was another type of water baptism—the water baptism performed by John the Baptist. That baptism by John was:

- For Israel
- For the preparation of the introduction of the Messiah
- A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

Now for all we’ve discussed and learned, there is one gaping omission. We’ve declared that baptism identifies us with Jesus; however, the one thing we haven’t discussed in detail is Jesus’s own baptism (that is, Jesus being baptized).

Baptism of the Son of God: An Overview

Jesus received John’s baptism (mentioned above), and so, from the start, you can see there seems to be a problem. Why would He who knew no sin—He who needed no repenting—participate in a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins?

There’s a reasonable answer to this question, but like many of the answers we seek in Scripture, we only arrive at the solution through the encountering of more problems. As we answer this question—and consider John’s baptism of Jesus—we’ll cover the following:

Problems (a better word might be puzzles) associated with the baptism of Jesus (things that seem awry with His baptism)
Patterns observed when we study the baptism of Jesus
Purpose discovered when we study the baptism of Jesus

I hope this is an edifying exercise and sermon in that it:

Offers an opportunity to wrestle with theological questions, sharpen your Bible study skills, and walk away stronger and encouraged in your faith.
Provides a system of approach that you can use in other studies: (1) identify problems, (2) search for patterns, and (3) discover purpose.

Problems

Problem 1: There Are Some People Who Shouldn’t Be Baptized

The first problem or puzzle about Jesus’s baptism is something that bothered John the Baptist. John had a problem with some of the people coming to be baptized. We see the issue come up in Matthew 3:

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”

Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. (vv. 1–9)

From this passage, we see clearly that the first sort of person who shouldn’t be baptized is the unrepentant, self-righteous person. But there’s a second sort, also found in Matthew 3:

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You. What are You doing coming to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. (vv. 13–15)

The second sort of person who doesn’t need to be baptized is the righteous person who needs no repentance.

Problem 2: There Are Some People Who Shouldn’t Be Baptizing

In the above passage from Matthew 3, John the Baptist is essentially saying, “Wait a minute, we’ve got this backwards. You [Jesus] should be baptizing me!”

This same sort of question will be put to John by the Pharisees and Sadducees, as we’ll see later on. They will be asking him, “Why are you doing all this baptizing, John? Who do you think you are—the Christ? Elijah the prophet?”

Problem 3: Who Saw the Dove?

We’ll find a third problem if we keep reading in Matthew 3:

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (vv. 16–17)

This problem is perhaps not as big as the others, but the question is, Who saw the dove that descended on Jesus? The pronoun used is “he.” Who is the he who saw? Was it Jesus seeing the Holy Spirit descending upon Himself? (Other Gospels hint toward that.) Was it John seeing the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus? Or was it both?

The Synoptic¹ Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) see this scene very similarly, but the apostle John (author of the four Gospel) saw it a bit differently. We’ve already seen Jesus’s baptism through the eyes of Matthew (the first of the Synoptic Gospels), but let’s get a sample from John’s Gospel.

First, though, you need to know that while John (the apostle) is going to have the most to say about John the Baptist’s testimony, he doesn’t actually record the baptism. This makes sense, given that the three Synoptics already recorded the event and may have even been in circulation by the time John the apostle wrote his Gospel (much later). John the apostle, instead, would record what John the Baptist said after the baptism:²

This is the testimony of John [the Baptist], when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.³ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (John 1:19–28)

Verse 29a marks a shift in the passage: “The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him …” We’re used to reading about the baptism of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels, so we’re inclined to think Jesus is coming to be baptized by John. But that’s not the case here. He’s already been baptized. This is a time period in which Jesus is hanging around John and John’s disciples, because he’s going to call some of them to leave the tutelage of John and to come, follow Him, and be His own disciples instead.

Verses 29b–31 in John 1 will bring us to our fourth problem. John writes:

… and [John the Baptist] said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize⁴ Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” (vv. 1:29b–31)

Problem 4: John Says He Doesn’t Recognize Jesus!

The fourth problem is an interpretive problem. Your translation might read “know” instead of “recognize.” The forerunner to the Messiah did not himself recognize the Messiah! What?!

Continuing in the passage, John (the apostle) writes, “John [the Baptist] testified saying, ‘I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him’” (v. 21). From this verse, we at least get the clarification that John the Baptist saw the Spirit (as a dove) descending on Jesus. But John (the Baptist, again) is going to double down on this idea that he didn’t recognize (know) Jesus:

I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, “He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.” (John 1:33)

I’ll be honest, this a verse that I really wish I could say of it, “Here is exactly what it means.” But after much wrestling, I found that just about the time I settled on a meaning, some other explanation would look a little more attractive. You can enter a sort of circular interpretation game with a verse like this. So we’ll just entertain a few of the possibilities.

If you draw on what you know about other passages of Scripture, you could go so far as to say that John the Baptist knew Jesus before either of them was even born: John leapt for joy in his mother Elizabeth’s womb at the presence of Jesus in His mother’s womb (cf. Luke 1:41).

You could also appeal, on the other hand, to the fact that Jesus grew up as a small boy in Egypt, and then He went to Nazareth. We have a description of John going away into the wilderness—being raised in the desert. So perhaps, even though they were related, they were never really near each other much. And just as you might get to a family reunion and not recognize a cousin, it’s plausible that Jesus, amid a crowd of Israelites, wouldn’t have been recognized by John. But that sort of argument is really only attractive if you consider John’s Gospel alone. It seems quite clear in Matthew’s account that John recognized Jesus. Remember, John said, in effect, “Wait a minute, You [Jesus] should be doing the baptizing!” (Matthew 3:14).

A possible solution is that there were separate manifestations of the Spirit descending like a dove. Jesus saw what He saw immediately following the baptism; John saw that, too, but maybe John also saw a separate and previous vision from heaven and was able to know it was Jesus coming to him (though the Scriptures don’t tell us that he had such a vision).

It’s also possible that John is using the word “know” or “recognize” in a slightly different way than just being able to point someone out in a lineup or a crowd, or than just knowing something about someone. John could be referencing a closer knowledge: “I didn’t really know Jesus that well.” Or, “In comparison to this baptism experience, I didn’t really know Jesus that well, but this baptism event—this revelation from God—has changed things for me. Now I know Him even better.”

It could be that John is emphasizing the superior relationship between Jesus and His heavenly father—a relationship that, in human comparison, leaves John the Baptist saying, “I had not known Him, because He existed before I ever existed—and before any other human ever existed; He was with the Father in the beginning, and they know each other far better than any of us do.” This explanation fits with the opening of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” (1:1), and, “No one has seen God … [but Jesus] has explained Him” (1:18).

It could be that the word carries more the idea of recognizing as in acknowledging or honoring rather than knowing. If that’s the case, John could be saying, “I didn’t publicly acknowledge Him as the Messiah to come, until God gave me the sign to do so.”

It could be that John is indicating a shift of focus away from himself, which would fit in with his statement, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). The emphasis in each statement, “And I did not acknowledge [recognize] him” (John 1:31, 33, italics added) may mean, “I didn’t do the honoring, the acknowledging; instead, I left that up to God.” Specifically:

God is the One who sent John the Baptist ahead of the Messiah as a forerunner
God is the One whose voice came from heaven
God is the One who descended upon Jesus

In other words, “I’m not the emphasis,” John the Baptist could’ve been saying. “The emphasis is on God, and I am testifying to what I see God do and God say.”

Those are just some options for why the text says John didn’t recognize Jesus. Which is right? I don’t know. We shouldn’t just pick a favorite explanation—as though we’re in a candy store, picking the one we like best (or the first one we see). There is a truth to be revealed, discovered, and held on to. Therefore, my recommendation is to see if there is any consistent pattern across all of the Scriptures. If one prevails, you might have landed on the answer.

Pattern

What are the patterns in Scripture as they relate to Jesus’s baptism?

The pattern is fairly obvious. Every single Gospel writer records the climactic moment of the baptism of Jesus as this: the confirmation and declaration that Jesus is the Son of God. More specifically, His baptism is a confirmation and declaration from the word of the Father, the abiding of the Spirit, and the obedience of the Son.

Every single Gospel writer records the climactic moment of the baptism of Jesus as this: confirmation and declaration that Jesus is the Son of God.

The core declaration across all three Synoptics is, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Now, let’s look at these Gospel accounts in more detail, including some of the surrounding context.

In Matthew, we see Sonship declared immediately following baptism:

Matthew continues:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:1–3)

Notice, Jesus is still abiding in the Spirit (who led Him into the wilderness). Then comes the emphasis on Sonship with the phrase, “If you are the Son …” (Matthew 4:3), which is repeated by the tempter in verse 6 (“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down …”). At the very end of Matthew, we find the Trinitarian reference again with the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit …” (28:19, italics added).

Let’s look at Mark next. The author of this Syntopic Gospel also picks up on the theme of Sonship. In fact, he starts his Gospel with these words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Again, there’s the emphasis on Jesus as the “Son of God.”

Luke, likewise, references Sonship. His Gospel begins with a huge history on John the Baptist and his parents, Elizabeth and Zacharias, followed by the story of Jesus’s birth; in Luke 3, we finally get to the baptism of Jesus. Luke tells us:

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying.⁵ heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” (Luke 3:21–22)

Following this declaration of Sonship, Luke then launches into a genealogy—the genealogy of Jesus. The genealogy goes in reverse order, tracing Jesus’s family line from His earthly father, Joseph; and notice how it finishes: “… the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38, italics added). Then Luke, like Matthew, follows with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan [where He was baptized] and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:1–3, italics added)

Again, you see the reference to Sonship (in a similar manner to Matthew’s account).

Now, let’s look at one more reference to sonship, and in this case it’s a negative reference by Luke:

So he [John the Baptist] began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’⁶ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” (Luke 3:7–8)

In that last verse, the issue of sonship arises again, but it’s in relationship to Abraham and his offspring—sons and daughters, children. Let’s hold on to this concept as we consider the purpose of the baptism of Jesus.

Purpose

What purposes do we find in the aforementioned problems or puzzles concerning the baptism of Jesus? Namely, why did Jesus get baptized, and what does our exploration of these issues teach us about our own baptism?

First here’s a simplified version of an answer to that question: I’ve said from the start that baptism is identity. The reasons why Jesus was baptized all have to do with identity.

Baptism is identity. The reasons why Jesus was baptized all have to do with identity.

Jesus had to be baptized for at least three identification reasons:

The baptism of Jesus identifies Jesus as the satisfactory payment for sin
The baptism of Jesus identifies Jesus as the chosen Messiah
The baptism of Jesus identifies Jesus as the obedient Son of God

Let’s flesh some of that out.

Purpose 1: Identification as Satisfactory Payment for Sin

The baptism of Jesus, according to Jesus Himself, was necessary to fulfill all righteousness.⁷ Jesus, in fulfilling righteousness, became sin for us:

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In some sense, then, one purpose of Jesus’s baptism was to identify with the sins of the people. You are identified with whatever you are baptized into.⁸ Jesus identified with the sins of the people by being baptized into a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

But in that moment of identifying with sin, the Father declared: This is my Son, in whom I am well-pleased (Matthew 3:17). I think this declaration by the Father signifies two things in regard to Jesus’s dignity and sin:

It’s a hint at that satisfactory sacrifice of Jesus on behalf of human sinners. Jesus’s identification with our sin is a payment that pleases, or satisfies, the Father.
It also identifies Jesus as One who Himself has no sin. In that moment of His baptism, Jesus was participating with the sinners, but God says, “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased.” It speaks to Jesus’s sinless origin (He is from the Father) and His sinless life (a life pleasing to God).

Purpose 2: Identification as Messiah

The baptism of Jesus was also necessary because it signaled the imminent ministry of the Messiah.

This was a most special moment in the history of Israel. The One they’d been waiting for was finally in the world, and He was going to be made known. God chose baptism as the inaugural activity. In His identification as Messiah, Jesus participated in that inauguration.

God chose baptism as the inaugural activity [of the Messiah’s imminent earthly ministry].

Purpose 3: Identification as the Obedient Son of God

God commanded all of Israel, through the prophet John, to be baptized. Just as Jesus participated in the law of God as handed down in the prophets, He would have participated in obedience to this prophetic word (command) as well.

And ironically, this obedience for the Jewish people was missed by many because they didn’t understand the new thing that was taking place. They were blinded by the wrong sonship. We’re sons of Abraham! they insisted. Instead, their concern should have been whether they, like Jesus, were sons of God.

[The Jewish people of Jesus’s day] were blinded by the wrong sonship.

Obeying Him in Baptism

In conclusion, I want to make an appeal to you. I’ve given the purposes of Jesus’s baptism and what it identifies with. Now I want to appeal to you to be identified with Jesus in baptism; learn from His example.

Here are three truths of Jesus’s baptism that inspire and instruct us:

God is present when we obey Him in baptism.
God is pleased when we obey Him in baptism.
God is proclaimed when we obey Him in baptism.

Baptism is the chosen method of beginning our public identity and ministry as Christians. It’s the first thing we’re asked to do.

God is proclaimed in us when we are baptized in accordance with His will.

Whether John the Baptist meant to say, “I didn’t know Him as well as I do now,” or, “I didn’t previously declare Him as Messiah,” our baptism accomplishes both of those things (knowledge and declaration). For the believer in Jesus, baptism is the next step in knowing Him better, and it’s the next step in acknowledging or declaring Him the Son of God, the Messiah.

Baptism is the next step in knowing Him better, and it’s the next step in acknowledging or declaring Him as the Son of God, the Messiah.

And as with John the Baptist, our relationship with God is different post-baptism. It’s our opportunity to say, “This is the sign that I am participating in God’s plan.” It’s our chance to declare publicly, “There was a time when I did not know Him, but now I do. … And I know Him because the Spirit of God has revealed to me that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Baptism emphasizes the sonship of God because it is a symbol that God, through His Son, is declaring Himself to be the Father not only of God the Son, but also the Father of those who believe in the name of His Son. He is the Father of the new creation.

If you haven’t seen it yet, the baptism of Jesus is a picture of creation, in which each member of the Trinity is involved.

Genesis 1 says:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. (vv. 1–4)

Reminiscent of those first words of the Bible, in the baptism of Jesus, we read that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (the waters of the Jordan River), and there was a voice from above, cutting through the heavens; John testifies that the Light of the world emerged from the dark deep, and the result would be a new creation: mankind in the image of God. John the apostle says it likes this:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend⁹ it.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He [John] was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children [sons/daughters] of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:1–13)

If you have never declared yourself to be part of this new creation, testify to the Light; testify as a child of God; be baptized.

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