Sermon Title: Why was Jesus baptized?
Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17
Discipleship Target: We love God by obeying His Word (We must carry out all that God requires…)
Hook
Here are some funny and actual news headlines that might leave you asking, “Why would they have done that in the first place?”
- “Man Tries to Rob Bank with Watermelon on His Head as Disguise“ – Apparently, he hollowed out a watermelon, cut eye holes, and thought it was the perfect mask. Spoiler: It wasn’t.
- “Florida Man Arrested for Trying to Get Alligator Drunk“ – Because nothing says fun like handing a bottle of beer to a gator. It didn’t go well.
- “Woman Calls 911 After Her Fast Food Order Takes Too Long“ – Obviously, the police are the ultimate drive-thru timekeepers.
- “Bank Robber Writes Holdup Note on His Own Pay Stub“ – He left behind evidence and gave police his name and employer.
Each of these makes you wonder, “Why?”—but at least they provide some comic relief! 😆
Transition
As we turn our attention to Matthew 3:13-17, we find an ancient news story that leaves us asking, “Why,” as well. The redeemed and changed tax collector reports the event of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Since John baptized people after they repented of their sins and because an essential belief of Christianity is the sinlessness of Christ, why was Jesus – willingly – baptized in the first place? We will answer this question and discover what Jesus’ baptism means for us today as His followers.
Book
Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John (3:13)
After Matthew reports on the ministry and message of John the Baptist, he transitions to a surprising scene. John 3:13 says,
Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.
Jesus traveled 80 miles from Nazareth in Galilee to the Jordan River. No one walks that far without purpose; Jesus had a purpose for such a trek. Jesus was going to the iconic Jordan River to be baptized by John.
The Jordan River flows from Mount Hermon into the Sea of Galilee from the north, winding its way for 135 miles before emptying into the Dead Sea. The river’s average depth is between 2 and 10 feet and 100 feet wide for most of the year.
The Jordan River is mentioned over 180 times in the Old Testament and 15 times in the New Testament. Its first appearance is in Genesis 13:10, where Lot admires the land, comparing it to “the garden of Yahweh.” This description establishes the Jordan as a symbolic boundary between the promised land and the outside world—a theme also reflected in Genesis 32:10 and Genesis 50:10–11.
The river’s role as a defining border of the promised land is emphasized in Numbers and Joshua. When Joshua led Israel across the Jordan, it signified:
- The completion of the exodus,
- The beginning of the conquest, and
- God’s continued presence with Joshua, just as He had been with Moses.
To commemorate this momentous event, Joshua set up memorial stones at Gilgal (Joshua 3–4).
The Jordan also plays a key role in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah crosses it before his ascension, while Elisha performs several miracles there, including:
- Parting the waters (2 Kings 2:14),
- Healing Naaman (2 Kings 5:9–14), and
- Making an ax head float (2 Kings 6:4–7).
Elisha’s healing of Naaman further solidified the Jordan’s association with purification, a theme that carried into John the Baptist’s ministry and later, into Jesus’ (John 3:22–4:3). The idea of cleansing aligns naturally with the Jordan’s role as a threshold to the Holy Land—symbolizing that one must be purified before entering sacred space.
Matthew leaves us without a shadow of doubt about why Jesus made this journey to this iconic river; He would be baptized (immersed) in its flowing waters. We know what Jesus would do, but why would He be baptized?
Why did Jesus come to be baptized by John? (3:14-16)
Jesus was not baptized as a sign that He had repented of any sin.
An essential belief of true Christianity is that Jesus lived a sinless life. If Jesus broke God’s law even once, He could not have been an acceptable substitute on our behalf and appease the wrath of God on us for our sins.
In John’s gospel, the apostle says that John the Baptizer said the following about Jesus in 1:29-30,
“Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.”
When Jesus is called the Lamb of God in John 1:29, it signifies Him as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin. To fully grasp Christ’s identity and mission, we must look to the Old Testament, which prophesied His coming as a guilt offering (Isaiah 53:10). The entire sacrificial system established by God in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ—the perfect sacrifice God would provide for the atonement of sin (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 10:1-18).
Lambs played a central role in Jewish religious life and sacrifices. When John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), his Jewish listeners would have immediately recalled significant sacrifices from their tradition. Since the Passover feast was near, they likely thought of the Passover lamb, which was sacrificed as a remembrance of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The blood of the Passover lamb applied to the Israelites’ doorposts protected them from judgment (Exodus 12:11-13). This foreshadows Christ’s atoning work on the cross—His blood covers those who believe in Him, protecting us from eternal separation from God. And just like a lamb had to be free of any physical defect to cover the sins of the people, Jesus had to be free of any spiritual defect – of any sin – for His substitutionary sacrifice to cover the payment to a holy God for our sins (1 Peter 1:18-21).
Further evidence for Jesus not being baptized as a demonstration of repentance like all the others who went under the water (Matthew 3:5-6) is John’s response to Jesus’ request to be baptized. As second cousins Jesus and John were able to spend time together as the entire family met in Jerusalem for the feasts of the LORD during their lifetimes (Luke 2:41-42). Even though God had not yet revealed Jesus’ identity to John at the time of Jesus’ spoken desire for baptism, John knew there was something unique about his relative, as seen in his response to Jesus in 3:14.
But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
Since baptism typically signifies repentance, John hesitates to baptize Jesus. While Matthew does not explicitly state Christ’s sinlessness, he strongly implies it. In verse 11, John has already expressed his unworthiness before the Messiah, and now he acknowledges his own sinfulness in contrast to Jesus, recognizing that the roles should be reversed—Jesus should be baptizing him.
Jesus is baptized not because He is repenting of sin but to fulfill all God required.
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.
Jesus responds to John’s hesitation by affirming the necessity of His baptism, not as a confession of sin but as a fulfillment of righteousness (integrity, virtue, purity of life, uprightness, correctness in thinking, feeling, and acting). This phrase means that Jesus is fully obeying God’s will. His baptism aligns with both prophetic fulfillment and moral obedience, affirming John’s ministry as divinely ordained and his message as one to be heeded. Matthew has focused on Jesus fulfilling messianic prophecy since he put his pen to writing; his recording of Jesus’ words to John the Baptist is not void of meaning.
What did Jesus mean by saying, “We must carry out all that God requires”?
Jesus’ Baptism Transitioned God’s Plan of Salvation to its next Phase. Baptism is how Jesus steps into His role in God’s redemptive plan, a plan centered on righteousness within the community He gathers (Matthew 5:6, 17–20; 6:33). By baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist plays a crucial part in advancing the way of righteousness, which his own ministry had begun (Matthew 21:32), paving the way for its ultimate fulfillment in the work of Jesus, His successor (John 3:30-35).
Jesus’s baptism by John transitioned God’s redeeming plan from the Messiah’s forerunner to the Messiah Himself, a necessary next step for both Jesus and John to fulfill what God required of each of them.
Jesus’ Baptism Indetified Him with Sinners
Jesus, though sinless (Hebrews 4:15), came to be “counted among the rebels” (Isaiah 53:12). Just as we identify with Him in our baptism—being united to Him in His death and resurrection—His baptism is an identification with us. He, who had no sin, stood among those who had no righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. (Isaiah 53:12)
Jesus’ Baptism Sets the Example for His Followers. Jesus’ baptism also serves as an example for His followers. Later, He would command His disciples to baptize others (Matthew 28:19–20). By submitting to baptism, Jesus affirms its importance—not as a human invention, but as a divine command. His baptism marks the beginning of His ministry just as baptism marks the beginning of a believer’s walk of faith.
Jesus’ Baptism Pictures Salvation
Baptism symbolizes death and resurrection, foreshadowing what would be the climax of Jesus’ mission. His immersion in the water anticipates His death, and His rising from the water anticipates His resurrection. Likewise, believers are baptized as a visual declaration of dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ.
I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
Jesus’ Baptism Revealed Him to All as the Messiah, Son of God.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
Following Jesus’ baptism, the heavens open, and the Holy Spirit descends like a dove (Matthew 3:16). This moment does not mark the beginning of the Spirit’s presence in Jesus’ life—the Holy Spirit was with Him from conception (Matthew 1:18, 20). Instead, this is a public confirmation of Isaiah’s prophecy:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed. (Isaiah 61:1)
While the Spirit had always been with Jesus, His baptism marks a unique moment where He is publicly anointed for His ministry.
I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God. (John 1:31-34)
The baptism of Jesus was the start of John the baptist’s desire for Jesus to increase and him decrease (John 3:30-35).
Look
Is Baptism really that important for me as a follower of Jesus?
Balthasar Hubmaier: Baptized Unto Death
Hubmaier was a former Catholic priest who embraced believer’s baptism after encountering the Swiss Reformation. In 1525, he was baptized as an adult in defiance of the state church, fully aware that rejecting infant baptism and promoting believer’s baptism would mean persecution and likely execution.
As a leader of the Anabaptist (one who baptized again) movement, he passionately preached that baptism should be a conscious decision of faith, not a state-imposed ritual. This stance enraged both Roman Catholic and Protestant authorities, as Anabaptists were seen as radicals who challenged the unity of church and state.
In 1528, after being arrested and tortured, he was burned at the stake in Vienna for his faith. His wife, Elisabeth Hubmaier, was drowned in the Danube three days later—execution by drowning was a common punishment for Anabaptists, mockingly called the “third baptism.”
Hubmaier’s steadfast faith in the face of certain death makes him one of the most notable martyrs in Baptist and Anabaptist history, demonstrating the ultimate commitment to Christ and biblical baptism.
“I have never taught Anabaptism…. But the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ.” — Hubmaier, Balthasar (1526), Short apology.
Throughout church history, baptism has been a mile marker, a defining moment in the lives of believers. For many, identifying with their Savior as meant being rejected by family and friends, persecution, and even death. For us, especially in our Western setting, identifying with Jesus still requires sacrifice yet, we still have it easier than many today and others throughout history.
Jesus isn’t ashamed to identify with us so we shouldn’t be ashamed to identify with Him through baptism.
Took
Be Baptized – Identify yourself with the One who identifies Himself with you, proclaim the gospel which you have received through the symbolism of baptism to others, and follow your Lord’s example.
Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. (Acts 2:37-41)
Be obedient – A follower of Jesus Loves God by Internalizing His Word. Not just obedient through baptism but in every way. Jesus wasn’t just obedient to being baptized because the Father said so but in every way, even to during for sinful humanity on a Roman cross. Thus, we are to pick up our cross daily, we are to surrender each area of our lives to God’s Word continually.
We internalize God’s Word through obedience but a spiritual discipline often overlooked by believers is memorizing Scripture which helps us be obedient.
Finally, though we ought to see more and more victory over sin as we pursue Jesus, we will need to practice confession and repentance for at times we will give in to temptation. By practicing confession and repentance we demonstrate the authority of God’s Word and thus His as its author in our lives. By admitting our short comings, we admit that His ways are good and our desire is to obey them out of love for Him, our Good Father.
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