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Matthew 3:13-15 I’ve been baptized twice. Once as an infant when I had no clue what was going on and once when I was in college. I did it again because I felt like I wanted to go public with my relationship with Jesus after I knew more what a relationship with Jesus meant. It was an outward demonstration of something that had happened on the inside… the old me died and the new me was raised to life.
I bring all of this up not to refute the validity of infant baptism or to open that up for debate. I simply mention it here because I know why I was baptized. It was a symbol telling the world that I am a sinner in need of Jesus Christ as my Savior.
With that in mind, have you ever wondered why Jesus got baptized? I know the traditional response is that He was setting the example for all Christians to follow. That may be true. However, that’s not the reason Jesus gave. His reason seems to be bigger than that. Although, to me, it’s more vague (I’m not the only one, one of my commentaries says that Jesus’ explanation is “cryptic”).
I could understand it a lot better if Jesus would have just said that He was getting baptized because he wanted to set an example to follow. He did that when He washed the disciples feet in John 13:14-15. But, that’s not what He said. He said He was doing it to “fulfill all righteousness.” What?!
First of all, you’re not laying this reason out there unless you’re the Son of God. Can you imagine giving this response to anything you have done no matter how great it was? If you found the cure for cancer and somebody asked you why you worked so hard to get it done, can you imagine the reaction you would get if you said, “I did it to fulfill all righteousness.” Priceless. Try using that one sometime today for a good laugh.
What did Jesus mean exactly? Let’s break it down and try to find out.
“Fulfill” can mean ”complete” such as in fulfilling a prophecy. The first part of the prophecy is the prediction, the fulfillment of the prophecy is when the event occurs. It completes it. “Fulfill” can also mean “make full” as in Matthew 5:17 when Jesus says He has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. In other words, He’s giving a more full picture of the law. A picture not merely concerned with following rules and standards but aligning with the very heart and spirit of the law. It is a more full understanding of what the law was intended to be.
“Righteousness” includes a sense of justice. A righteous person would be a just person. It’s the triumph of right over wrong.
So, if you put those two concepts together, it seems that Jesus is indicating that His baptism completes the act of justice being served.. for everything. That doesn’t sound right to me. I’m not doubting Jesus, but my understandng must be off a bit.
I could see if He was speaking of His death on the cross or perhaps His resurrection. That would, to me, be an act that would fulfill all righteousness. Evil took it’s best shot and lost. If someone places their faith and trust in Christ’s work on the cross and His resurrection then sin is truly defeated. However, Jesus’ baptism does not seem to have that same weight. So, what is going on?
I’ve actually been chewing on this and doing some research for the last couple of days and here is my best shot. In the past, I’ve thought of Jesus’ baptism as the single act that would fulfill all righteousness. However, like I’ve said before, this one act doesn’t seem to be able to be significant enough to do that. Perhaps no one single act does.
What if it’s this… what if Jesus’ whole life, death, and resurrection is what “fulfills all righteousness” and His baptism is simply one link in the chain that helps accomplish it? His baptism is still necessary. Jesus could not fulfill all righteousness without it. Yet, it’s not the event that accomplishes it all.
So, what would the significance of His baptism be? Why was it necessary? I think it’s because if He truly would take on the sin of the world, He needed to identify with the people who would go through the repentance process. Of course, He didn’t need to repent. He was sinless. However, if He is our High Priest who can identify with all of our sufferings and human experiences then baptism would be an event He would need to partake in.
How do we apply this to our lives?
Jesus never lost sight of His mission. His life had a purpose and He would not be deterred when others (in this case John the Baptist) would try to steer Him from that purpose. The links in the chain to accomplish the purpose are just as important as the overall goal. You can’t have one wthout the other.
Do you know what your purpose is? How easily are you deterred from it? What are the “links in the chain” that need to occur in order for you to accomplish your larger purpose?
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