Matthew 3:13-17

THE KING DESIGNATED AND ANOINTED

It was meet that there should be some public recognition of the King; some pointing of him out by truthful witness among men, and some indication from the Father in heaven that he was indeed his beloved Son.

13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

In due time, when all was prepared, the Prince quitted his obscurity. Putting himself in a lowly place, he did not summon the Baptizer to come to the Lake of Galilee, but went down the country along the banks of the Jordan to him, seeking baptism. Should any of the servants neglect what their Lord so heartily attended to? Do any say, “It is not essential”? Was it essential to our Lord Jesus? He said, “It becometh us” and what was becoming in him is not unbecoming in his followers. If it should cost us a journey, let us attend to the command which is binding on all believers.

14. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

This was very natural. John knew Jesus to be eminently more holy than himself, and therefore he protested against appearing to be his purifier. John was strong in this protest: he “forbad him”: it seemed to him to be out of order for him to baptize one so supremely good. Although he was not yet assured from heaven that Jesus was the Messiah (for he had not yet seen the Spirit descending and resting upon him), yet he shrewdly guessed that Jesus was indeed the Christ. He knew him to be a very special favorite of heaven, superior to himself, and he therefore expected that sign by which he had been assured the Christ would be known.

John never shirked a duty, but he declined an honor. He would not even seem to be of any consequence as compared with his Lord. Blessed Jesus, teach us like humility!

15. And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Jesus answered John so completely, that he ceased his opposition at once. It was becoming both in John and in Jesus that our Lord should be baptized of him. This assurance satisfied the Baptist so far that, still under protest, “he suffered him.” Baptism was becoming even in our Lord, who needed no personal purification; for he was the Head over all things to his Church, and it was becoming that he should be as the members should be. Baptism beautifully sets forth our Lord’s immersion in suffering, his burial, and his resurrection. Thus typically, it fulfills “all righteousness.” The ordinance is most full of meaning when rightly observed; and it is to be most reverently regarded, since our Lord himself submitted to it. Shall I refuse to follow my Lord? Shall I think that there is nothing in an ordinance of which he said, “Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness?”

16, 17. And Jesus, when he was baptized went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from I heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Our Lord went down into the water, for “he went up out of the water.” He did not tarry, in he had fulfilled the river; but when one duty he straightway went on his way to carry out another. In Baptism, our Lord was openly attested and sealed as the “beloved Son “, both by the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. What more witness is needed? It is often so with his people: their sonship is made clear during an act of obedience, and the Word and the Spirit bear witness with their consciences.

Our Lord Jesus had now to enter on his public life-work, and he did so in the best manner. The world was opening before him, “and the heavens were opened unto him.” As his need appeared, his source of supply was set open before him. On him also the divine anointing descended. Like a swift-winged, pure, and quiet dove, “the Spirit of God” came, and found a resting-place in him. When he had been immersed into the element of water, he was immediately surrounded by the divine element of the Spirit. Then, also, was his ear charmed with the Father’s audible acknowledgment of him, and with the expression of that good pleasure which the Lord God had always felt in him. It was a glorious moment. Our King was now proclaimed and anointed. Would not his next step be to take the Kingdom? We shall see.

Our Lord and King is now fully before us. He has been preceded, predicted, and pointed out by John the Baptist; he has been dedicated to his work in baptism; he has been anointed by the Spirit, and confessed by the Father; and therefore he has fairly entered upon his royal work. May none of us in the service of the Lord run before our time, or go forward without a sense of the Father’s approval, and without that spiritual unction which is from above!

O my Lord, let me be anointed and approved in my measure, even as thou wast in shine. In order to this, I would behold shine anointing of the Spirit with the full belief that I am anointed in thee, as the body receives unction in the anointing of the Head.