Matthew 3:13

Matthew 3:13

There are things in the Bible that are not totally explained. It is both interesting and necessary to compare scripture with scripture in order to make the best conclusions that we can. Some things are very clear and very obvious: such as, the virgin birth of Jesus, His divine attributes, His sacrificial death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, and the forgiveness of sins that He offers to all who repent. The things that He has clearly revealed are the things that He wants us to know, and to believe, and to emphasize. Be careful of emphasizing private and personal interpretations that are not the clear and obvious teachings of scripture.

One of the reasons that God probably made things this way is because our search for more and more truth is meant to be a lifelong search. No one has arrived at the point where they know everything that they need to know. Paul said in Philippians 3:12-13 "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended..."

This life-long quest to know more about God will last even longer than a lifetime; it will stretch into eternity. How long will it take a human to know all that there is to know about the infinite? No one has all the answers. How could a mere man know all that there is to know about the love and the wisdom and the majesty of the great God and His Christ? That’s why you should be careful of studying and adhering to a system of theology. A system of theology is no more than the attempt of some human or group of humans to express the details of their own beliefs in their own words. They don’t know everything because they are not God. The only writings that are 100 percent accurate and reliable are the writings of the Word of God. When you copy someone else and their theology, you might end up copying their errors as well as their good points, and you might end up emphasizing their weaknesses and inaccuracies in a way that even they would not have done.

Matthew 3:13-17 says, "Then came Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Permit it to be so now: for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he permitted him. 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 heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Here in Matthew chapter 3 there is some question as to why Jesus was baptized. After all, John called his baptism, the baptism unto repentance; but Jesus had nothing to repent of, because He had never sinned. Even John did not understand why Jesus came to him to be baptized, because he said to Jesus, "I have need to be baptized of you, and do you come to me?" Perhaps Jesus received this baptism as a symbol of identifying himself with our sins. He would take our sins upon Himself at the cross. No wonder the Father was pleased with Jesus: Jesus agreed to identy Himself with sinful man.

This was a significant event. It was the public presentation of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. God the Father made it very clear what He thought about this public presentation of Jesus. He spoke from heaven and said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It would be a tremendous event to actually hear God’s voice as it was heard that day. Perhaps the voice seemed to come from the sky, in that we often symbolically depict heaven in this way in order to show heaven as being other than this world. Or perhaps the voice seemed to come from all around them because God is everywhere and heaven is less than a step away from any one of us. But the voice must have created the perfect effect there with Christ standing by the Jordan river, captivating the scene as only He could do by His very presence, His hair drenched from the recent baptism, the crowd gathered around with John the Baptist, and the spirit of God having just descended upon Jesus. God said about Him, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Did you ever wish that you were pleasing to God, and then realize how great the gap is between your desire and the reality of who and what you are: a sinner? That is the problem of the entire human race. Believers have rest and comfort to realize that Christ is our righteousness. Because Jesus pleased the Father, all believers are allowed to enter into that same relationship, and are given the status and the condition of being pleasing to the Father, not because of who they are or what they have done, but because of who Jesus is and what He accomplished. We know that God is happy with us and that God is pleased with us because of Jesus. Others may look at us and see our faults and weaknesses, but God looks at us and sees the righteousness of Christ. That’s why Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..."

As Jesus began His public ministry, the Bible says in Matthew chapter 3:16 that "the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him." There is a definite significance to the fact that the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus at the start of His work. When Jesus came into the world to live as a man, in a certain way He set aside His divine prerogatives and He lived as a man on this earth. It says of Jesus in Philippians 2:6-7, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." One of the reasons that Jesus lived as a man on this earth was to show us that it could be done, and to show us how to do it. If you want to know how life ought to be, then look at the life of Jesus Christ. The secret to how Jesus followed the will of the Father and how Jesus served God faithfully can be found right here at the beginning of His public ministry. Jesus lived His life on the earth as a man led and filled by the Spirit of God. He proved that it can be done.

Once we become believers, our only hope to doing the will of God is to be led by the Spirit of God and to be filled by the Spirit of God just like Jesus was. We must remember that we cannot serve God by our own strength, our own efforts, or our own abilities. We can only serve Him as we are led by and empowered by the Spirit of God. We need to wait upon and seek the leading and the filling of the Spirit of God. Ephesians 5:18 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."

The goal is always to have the proper behavior. One of the problems of the abuse of alcohol is the manner in which it affects the behavior. Humans sin easily enough out of their own basic weaknesses. The abuse of alcohol only magnifies the problem, and causes sin upon sin and woe upon woe. One of the worst things that America ever did was to repeal prohibition. The problems that came with prohibition from the speak-eases and the gangsters were only a drop in the bucket compared to the behavior problems that resulted when men began stopping at taverns and bars every night on their way home from work. If you think that there are problems with drugs now; God help us if they are ever legalized. Instead of legalizing drugs, there should be more programs to help and to educate the offenders.

The great resource that a believer has to be equipped to do the will of God is the Spirit of God. The same Spirit that came upon Jesus has come upon us at our salvation. It says in Ephesians 1:13, "...in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy spirit of promise." Do you remember before the crucifixion of Christ how that Peter claimed, "Though all men shall be offended because of you, yet will I never be offended." He had good intentions, but it was totally impossible for Peter to keep his promise; because he made the promise out of his own will. It was not the will of God, because the will of God was for Christ to suffer alone for the sins of the world. No matter how good are our intentions, if we are not led by the Spirit of God, we will be failures. It is critical that we become sensitive to the leading of the spirit of God, because we can do nothing without Him.

That’s the difference between the flesh and the spirit. If you attempt to serve God by the will of the flesh and by the strength of the flesh, then you will have the same results that Peter did; or you can learn to be filled and led by the Spirit of God the way that Jesus was. Jesus said to the apostles in the book of Acts, "But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you..."

It says in Matthew 18:1-6. "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

One of the things that we know about the ministry of Jesus was that He greatly loved children. Jesus was well aware of the sweetness and the innocence of children, and He also reminded us of their vulnerability. Jesus never advised or approved of the physical punishment of children. You will never find in the teachings of Jesus a recommendation to hit or to spank children. Jesus Christ was a man of peace and not of violence. This includes family relationships as well as any dealings between humans.

Beware of teaching that you should spank children. If it was so important to do so, certainly Jesus would have taught it. It is important to punish and correct children when needed, but not to hit or to strike or to spank. The few verses in the Bible that people sometimes use to justify striking children can easily be given a different interpretation.

In speaking about God’s dealings with us, His children, Hebrews 12:6 says, "For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives." God chastens us and scourges us when we need it, but he doesn’t strike us with a stick. God gives His children the rod of correction, but it’s not a literal rod. It is figurative. If you spank your children, aren’t you sending them the wrong message? Aren’t you setting the example that it is okay to strike someone when you do not approve of their behavior? And then we wonder why there is so much violence in our society. It can’t all be blamed on Hollywood. Some of it can be blamed on misunderstanding and misapplying scripture.

When the disciples asked Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?", they showed how little they understood about the things of God, and how much they were still entwined in the philosophies of the world. Humans who are without God are in a constant contest over power and position and status. This unending lust for power is one of the most predominant characteristics of the world in which we live. War and revolution, hatred and division are the ever-present offspring of these power-hungry ones. But their time will end quickly compared to the millenniums to come. Jesus made it clear in the Sermon on the Mount who would win in the long run, when He said "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."

In order to instruct the disciples on the important characteristics of the kingdom of God, Jesus took a little child and used the child as an example and an illustration. Jesus did not answer the disciples’ question directly. Instead of talking about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus talked about how to get into the kingdom of heaven, which is a much more important question.

Anyone who is concerned about who is the greatest might be in danger of missing heaven, because they are motivated by the philosophies of this world, and they are likely to be full of themselves and full of their own will. Jesus said in verse 3, "Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The word "converted" literally means to be turned around. If you are not headed towards heaven, then that means that you are headed towards hell. If you are headed in the wrong direction, then you need to change directions, and you need to humble yourself as a little child. Pride can have a powerful influence over the heart of a human. Pride will often be your worst enemy, and it can even keep you out of heaven. By its very nature a child trusts and depends upon someone else who is bigger and stronger than they are to take care of them. To enter into the kingdom of heaven a person must be able to have the same kind of attitude towards God.

Every Christian is given a gift of some kind with which to serve God. If you have a gift to work with children, then you have a great gift indeed. It is obvious from this passage alone that Jesus loves children very much. He probably loves them because He knows each of them individually: after all, He formed them and gave them life for a reason. Their lives were no accident. Jesus loves the children no doubt because of their innocence, and He loves them because of their potential. Each child has the potential to know God, and then to grow and flower and bloom into something strong and good and pure. Anyone who has harmed or abused or led a child astray may have committed one of the greatest of sins. Jesus did give a very serious warning about the matter in Matthew 18:6, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." The Greek word that is translated "offend" really means to cause to stumble or to entice to sin.

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