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Good morning to everyone. You can turn in your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 3. Here we have before us the ministry of John the Baptist. And as it brings to us the inauguration of the public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we want to look this morning at the narrative concerning the baptism of Jesus Christ. in Matthew 3, 13-17, but to set the context, we'll begin reading in Matthew 3 at verse 1, as we get introduced to the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist. Matthew 3, beginning in verse 1, the word of God.

In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him. and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. And do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me? But Jesus answered and said to him, Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him.

When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Amen. Well, let's go to God in prayer. God, we thank you for this time in worship, the preaching of your holy word. We do pray that you would be with us now, help us to glory in your truth, help us to avail of it. We pray that you would give us your spirit, that we might be attentive in the proclamation of the word. We pray for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in sending forth that spirit, that we would be lifted up to high thoughts of our God and glorious reflections upon Jesus Christ, our blessed savior, and we pray in his name, amen.

Well, it's a wonderful scene that we have before us, the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, a significant event in the life and times of Jesus Christ. And because the life and times of Jesus Christ, or we may say his person and work, are the intent reason for the creation of the entire universe, it's a significant event in the history of the universe, the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. And hopefully we'll explore in 47 and a half minutes the glories of Jesus Christ going into the waters of baptism. And we're going to look at the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ under four headings.

First, the humility of the righteous one in verses 13 and 14. Secondly, the fulfillment of the righteous one in verse 15. Thirdly, the anointing of the righteous one in verse 16. And then finally, the approval of the righteous one in verse 17. So first, the humility of the righteous one.

Notice first what we see here regarding the scene in verses 13 and 14 and what we'll try to do as we work through these is look at the scene itself and then look at the theology that we have in the scene as it's presented to us and according to the richness of biblical redemption that's wrapped up in this baptism.

So first the scene, we see here Jesus came from Galilee. Then Jesus came from Galilee, verse 13. How do we see the humility in this? You know, this isn't just a reflection upon the geography. The writers of the Gospels are very good, though, at framing the story of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true story concerning Him and His redemption wrought, framing it within geography, archaeology, history, the various capturings bearing forth the truthfulness and the veracity that these things did take place, there's something to the humility here as well. Jesus comes down from Galilee to John. He's the creator of all things. He's the one who upholds all things by the word of his power. He's the one by the perfection of his redemption who will bring forth many sons and daughters to glory.

And yet in His assumed humanity, according to His assumed humanity, He travels just short of three days to go down to John to be baptized. It's an expression of the humility, the condescension of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Creator of all would come down to assume our humanity and walk three days to meet his cousin at the Jordan to be baptized by him. It's a three days journey, or just short of that, three days from Galilee to Jerusalem, but because the Jordan is a little bit north of Jerusalem, the journey is a little bit less than three days.

And so we see here Jesus Walking, most likely. It doesn't say that he walked. Perhaps there was a beast of burden that helped him along the way, but nevertheless, he travels in his condescended humanity to be with John. and to be baptized by him. At this time, Jesus Christ, Luke tells us, was about 30 years old. And this is significant as well.

Jesus Christ, his first entrance into public ministry, the Bible does capture a couple things concerning his pre-public ministry life. Of course, his birth, his birth and the blessed things regarding the nativity, his condescension and the assumption of humanity to be found as a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. We do have a small snippet of himself as an older child engaging with the doctors of theology at the temple, but largely speaking this is the entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into public ministry, and he's about 30 years old, which comports with what prophets, priests, and kings, how they started their religious and civil service in the Old Testament.

We see, for example, Joseph becomes king of Egypt at the age of 30. We see David becoming officially king of Israel at the age of 30. Ezekiel entering into his prophetic ministry at the age of 30, and the Levitical priests joining the priesthood at that same age. And so Christ in harmony with that particular reality, enters into his public ministry at the age of about 30.

We see here that he comes to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. Christ comes willingly to the water here in order that he might identify with sinners and, as we'll see, in effect, consecrate the waters of baptism, preparing it for all those who believe in him who follow after Him in saving faith by grace.

We see here that John, and we're going to look at something significant here with the theology of water in a moment, so we'll come back to the Jordan, but notice here John the Baptist in a way opposes the Lord Jesus Christ here, not with any sort of wickedness, but notice verse 14 after we read of Jesus coming down to the Jordan to be baptized, and John tried to prevent him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?

John understood something of the significance of the one that is coming to him to be baptized. This isn't the first time that John the Baptist met Jesus. They were cousins, remember, so they were familiar with each other. But notice the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ, as it's stated in verses 11 and 12, of Matthew 3 that we read, So this one who is coming, who John confesses is mightier than him, is greater than him, comes to him now and is asking to be baptized. So we can understand a little bit of John the Baptist saying, wait a minute, You're the Lord who was promised to come to his people to redeem them, and you're asking me to baptize you. It should obviously be the other way around, Jesus. Well, he comes to realize through the response of the Lord Jesus Christ something of the weight of Micah 3. And you can turn there with me, because this is what's in the background with regards to this baptism.

In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the words of John the Baptist and the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in Micah 3, this is what John the Baptist is referring to when he says that the one who is coming is mightier than I. Notice in Micah 3 at verse 1. Here now, and I said, here now, oh heads of Jacob, and excuse me, not Micah, Malachi. It's another book that starts with an M. I'm glad I found that out before I started reading. Malachi 3, the coming messenger. It's the book immediately before Matthew. Malachi 3, 1. Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.

And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.

And so, finding our way back to Matthew 3, we can understand first why the John the Baptist opposes, in a sense, the Lord Jesus Christ because of the prophecy concerning the fact that he is the very Lord who comes down from on high to his temple in order to purify and redeem.

And so Jesus, though, answers him with a fitting response. But before we get there, what is some of the theology that we find here in only verses 13 and 14? Well, first we see the mission of the Son of God. This is the inaugural step, or the first step, by Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnated, to execute upon His mission to save a multitude of sinners. He comes to John from Galilee at the Jordan, in order to be baptized by him. And we see here the bringing together of the offices of prophet, priest, and king into one single glorious mediator. How do we see that? Where are you getting that from?

Well, in the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings would engage in either a washing or an anointing. And so you would have, for example, priests engaged in a washing in order to consecrate them unto service to God. You would have prophets and kings as well, not so much washed with water, but anointed with oil, which is symbolized by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. coming down upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the significance here of the theology is that in the Old Covenant you had a multitude of priests, you had a multitude of prophets, you had a multitude of kings, and very rarely did they serve the same office. You had a multitude of prophets, multitude of kings. priests and a multitude of kings. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the one mediator, very God and very man, is taking upon himself the office of prophet, priest, and king, entering into the waters of baptism and being anointed by the Holy Spirit.

We want to consider something of an introduction here as he comes to the Jordan, the River Jordan, an introduction to the significance of Christ in the water. Christ in the water and a theology of water and its significance here. And as we capture each scene, as we move through here, we'll see how it touches upon certain Old Testament instances of the history of redemption and how those things serve to point forward to this time where Christ enters into the water. Remember a number of months ago when we looked at the great commission of Jesus Christ, where he comes to his disciples on a mount And He announces that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. We noted the theology of mountains.

The Garden of Eden was on a mountain and the waters flowed down from that mountain. Moses goes up Mount Sinai and receives the commands from a holy God. Abraham is brought up on a mountain before that instance with Moses to look out upon the nations of the world and see that the seed of Abraham will be the one who brings a multitude of nations to the God of Abraham. Jesus Christ is crucified upon a mountain. The sin came into the world on a tree on a mountain, at a tree on a mountain. Christ answers the fall of that transgression on a tree at a mountain. Well, the same sort of theology obtains with water. It's a symbol of divine action, cleansing, judgment, life, and spirit.

And a quick survey of the history of the Bible with regards to some of those things, we see divine sovereignty in creation where we could say, if we could use the language of the primordial chaos of the water that God creates, And then from that he brings forth creation. We see divine sovereignty in creation with regards to water in Genesis 1-2. We see judgment and salvation as it pertains to water in Genesis 6-9 with the epic concerning Noah and the great flood. We see redemption through the Red Sea in Exodus 14, that the Apostle Paul calls baptism in 1 Corinthians 10. interestingly and significantly. We see cleansing and consecration in Exodus 29 and Exodus 30 with regards to the priests and with regards to the temple, which is interesting. Jesus Christ is a priest and he is the true temple. And so like the priests in Exodus and like the temple in Exodus, He is cleansed and consecrated, not from sin, but in order to represent Him and symbolize Him as the One who came in to bring in everlasting righteousness.

We see refreshment in life concerning water in Isaiah 55, come to the waters, and in John 4.14, Jesus himself, saying that he is the living water. We see the baptism of Christ that we're looking at right now, the ultimate fulfillment of water typology in the Bible, here in Matthew 3, in the book of Acts, whenever we see baptism, and in Romans 6, we see the ultimate fulfillment of the whole scope of water in the Bible coming to its intended terminus. And we see, lastly, judgment and healing with regards to water in Revelation 8 and in Revelation 22.

So water is significant. And this coming of Jesus to the waters of baptism is very significant. And this first scene then, what are we seeing with regards to the significance of the Jordan? Because remember, it's not only geography that Matthew wants us to see here Jesus coming to John at the Jordan River.

There's something more significant to that and you can turn back with me to the book of Joshua to see the immediate significance of water as it pertains to the River Jordan, Joshua 3. Many of you will be familiar with the story of Israel crossing the Jordan into Canaan to conquer the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, according to the promise of God to enter the promised land and to conquer it. And notice in Joshua 3, will begin reading at verse 10. And Joshua said, By this you shall know that the living God is among you, that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing before you into the Jordan. This will be significant. Let's just pause here for a moment. The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. Let's put on our biblical theological minds here for a moment.

The Ark of the Covenant is a type of Christ. Remember what a type is, something that points forward to something more grand and more significant. almost all the types in the Old Testament are types, things that point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, whether an event, a thing, a person, a place. Here, the Ark of the Covenant is going before, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. Jesus Christ, who is the true Ark of the Covenant, in our text this morning, goes into this same river before us in order to consecrate the waters for his people.

Let's read on for a moment. As the souls of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap. So it was when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, And as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water, for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest, that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So, priests go into the water, the Ark of the Covenant goes into the water, and the waters part.

Here, back in Matthew 3, The priest, the great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, goes into the same river, himself who is the Ark of the Covenant, not typified, but fulfilled, and notice, instead of the waters parting, the heavens open up, and a voice comes down from heaven. This is speaking to us a number of things, but one of the things is that the episode concerning Joshua is with respect to a physical conquest. He goes through the Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, the water's part, and this is an inaugural event to usher in this time of conquest that Joshua goes forth to conquer the Canaanites. Well, here a greater than Joshua, now in a spiritual conquest, enters in the same river as the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant in order that he might inaugurate the conquest, not of a physical land, but of the devil of sin and of the death curse.

Brothers and sisters, hopefully you see the glory of this. What an amazing Word of God that we have, the genius of the Scriptures. No man could contrive such a thing. This is the infallible, inerrant, and inspired account of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all that had come before Him. What a beautiful scene we have here at the River Jordan.

The Geneva Bible notes note, Christ begins his ministry at the Jordan to declare himself the true deliverer typified in Joshua. We see secondly the fulfillment of the righteous one. The fulfillment of the righteous one in verse 15. Notice, but Jesus answered and said to him, John the Baptist, permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness than he allowed him.

The condescension, the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ is further amplified here in going into the waters of baptism. Remember here, importantly, Jesus Christ doesn't go into the waters to be cleansed of original sin and to be cleansed of sins actually transgressed. He is holy, harmless, and undefiled. He is the sinless Son of God, perfect according to his everlasting and majestic deity, sinless according to his assumed humanity, but he goes into the waters of baptism in obedience to the Father, in obedience to his messianic task, in obedience to his mediatorial investiture, that he might save a multitude of sinners from their sins.

We have the glorious humility, and the obedience of Christ set before us here. Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, and notice John the Baptist now, then he allowed him. John the Baptist, two things are in view here.

First, he allowed him because he is the Lord. The one, as John the Baptist has already said, he is mightier than I. So by virtue of that Lord who is mightier than him saying, we're gonna go ahead with this baptism. It's required for us to fulfill all righteousness. John the Baptist, of course, agrees.

I think also John the Baptist, in the moment, understands the weight of the glorious theology connected to, it is fitting, John the Baptist, for us to fulfill all righteousness. We see the theology then in here first with regards to the servant of Yahweh who will bring forth righteousness.

You can turn with me to the book of Isaiah and chapter 42. Or you can hear, listen as I read it in Isaiah 42 at verse 1. Notice what's in the background here regarding the prophecies connected to this Christ going into the waters of baptism. Isaiah 42 verse 1.

Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect one, in whom my soul delights. Just pause for a moment. At the end of our verse, the end of our text, what does it say? The God from heaven announces, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The language is essential or is almost exact with this particular verse. in the middle of verse one, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break and smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth. That's the language of fulfilling righteousness. And the coastlands shall wait for His law.

As well, moving forward a little bit in our Bibles to the next book, Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 23, we have the same language concerning the same servant, this time delivered in the language of a king and a branch of David. Notice in Jeremiah 23 at verse 5, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. A king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is his name by which he will be called, the Lord our righteousness. a glorious reality that we have the Lord our righteousness.

Why? Because none of us are righteous. In order that anyone can see God, in order that anyone can enjoy the bliss of communion with God, in order that anyone can enjoy the blessing of a covenantal connection to the Creator of heaven and earth, one must have a righteousness. And the Apostle Paul tells us clearly, and God tells us clearly then through His Word, that there are none who are righteous, no, not one. And so we need one to come. We need to have the Lord our righteousness who comes to fulfill all righteousness for us.

And Jesus Christ does that in His life, death, and resurrection. One final Old Testament text on this point. You can turn to the book of Daniel in chapter 9. a section here of Holy Scripture that has nothing to do with the end times, nothing to do with our future, as the dispensationalists may steal away a portion of this text and plant it somewhere in the future. We see nothing of Apache helicopters and nuclear bombs and weird people coming out of Libya or anything like that.

We have here an announcement with regards to the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and notice the language as it pertains to righteousness in Daniel 9 at verse 24. 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.

So as Jesus Christ is speaking these words before He goes into the waters of baptism, when He says, permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, the ringings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel ought to have been bouncing around in the ears of the audience. This is the promised servant of Yahweh. This is the promised the Lord our righteousness. This is the promised one who will bring in everlasting righteousness.

And we ought to note as well Psalm 40. I said one last Old Testament verse but that was preacher language for there's actually one more. In Psalm 40 we have the reality of Christ's delight in the law of his father. Remember that Pastor Butler has noted well in his starting to preach through the Psalms that these are the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice in Psalm 40, excuse me, at verse seven, then I said, behold I come, in the scroll of the book it is written of me, I delight to do your will, oh my God, and your law is within my heart.

Christ didn't come begrudgingly to fulfill all righteousness. Christ came with delight of heart to do the will of the Father in order that He might please the Father and in order that He might bring many unrighteous to righteousness by virtue of His life, death, and resurrection. What a glorious thing we have here in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And there is as well a typological connection here to Adam. If we think about the chronology of creation, Adam is, in a way, brought up from out of the water. He's brought up from the dust of the earth, but remember that the water in its, if we can use that language again that some theologians use, the primordial chaos of water prior to order being brought forth from And by God, God created that. God created all things in the space of six days, and all very good. From out of the water, He creates dry land, and from out of that, He brings forth man.

The Lord Jesus Christ comes to the water as the inaugurator of the second creation. He comes up from out of the water. and he perfects righteousness. We have Jesus Christ as the second Adam, the true Israel, and the obedient son. Where Adam and Israel failed to uphold righteousness, Christ fulfills it in his act of obedience. And his baptism, as we find our way back to Matthew 3, his baptism is a public declaration that he identifies with sinners and will fulfill the law for them.

Thus it is fitting for us now to fulfill all righteousness. Francis Turretin wrote, the righteousness fulfilled by Christ is both legal and mediatorial. It is the ground of our justification. For those who have been with us in the studies in Galatians, this sort of reality ought to have captured the souls of the Galatians as they were being tempted to entertain the fact that justification comes through the completion of Christ's work by our own deeds and our own obediences. That Christ's work is not enough, but we also need to fill the gap, if you will, with our own obedience to the Mosaic Law, circumcision, and the various times and seasons, and those sorts of things.

Well, the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ is a standing testimony to the exclusivity of His work for us. that we can't add to the righteousness of Christ, this Lord, this condescended Lord goes into the waters of baptism in order to perfect it for us. And that's what we come to now, the anointing of the righteous one. The anointing of the righteous one in verse 16.

When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him." What a beautiful scene that we have here. We have it jumping from before the baptism to the baptism sort of having happened. We jump from Christ announcing what this baptism is for, the purpose for it, and then Verse 16, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. But what a glorious scene that we see here. And one of the things that we ought to note is again, and again, the condescension of Jesus Christ. I love what Spurgeon says at this point. At the point of verse 16, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water.

Spurgeon said something like, we have reason to suspect that the conscious water trembled by the knowledge that it contained the deity. You know, of course water can't contain deity, but insofar as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, assumed our humanity by virtue of the hypostatic union, Spurgeon can use that poetic language and say, imagine that. If we could personify the water and say that it knew what was in it, we had reason to suspect that the conscious water trembled from the knowledge that it contained the deity. When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. I love what John Gill says with regards to him coming up immediately from the water. And if we have time, we'll note this with regards to our own baptism when we get to that point. believers baptism, but notice what Spurgeon says, excuse me, Gill says, regarding Jesus coming up immediately from the water.

He went up straight away out of the water. One would be at a loss at first sight for a reason why the evangelist should relate this circumstance. For after the ordinance was administered, why should he stay in the water? What should he do there? Everyone would naturally and reasonably conclude, without the mention of such a circumstance, that as soon as his baptism was over, he would immediately come up out of the water. However, we learn this from it, that since it is said that he came up out of the water, he must first have gone down into it. must have been in it, and was baptized in it, a circumstance strongly in favor of baptism by immersion. For that Christ should go down into the river, more or less deep to the ankles, or up to the knees, in order that John should sprinkle water on his face, or pour it on his head, as is ridiculously represented in the Prince, in other words, Pato Baptist making an argument based on that, can hardly obtain any credit with persons of thought and sense. But the chief view of the evangelist in relating this circumstance is with respect to what follows and to show that as soon as Christ was baptized and before he had well got out of the water, Jesus Christ is immersed in the water and he comes up immediately from the water, an inaugurating pattern for Christian baptism.

Baptism is to be for a believer who goes down into the water and comes up from out of the water. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his baptism, is signaling the pattern for all those who will follow. The scene here that we have captures a number of things. It's glorious.

What we see here in verses 16 and 17, first off, with regards to the blessed theology of the scene, is we see the Trinity here. We see Son, Spirit, Father. Jesus coming up from the water, the Spirit of God descending, and a voice coming from heaven, this is my beloved Son. Matthew is a Trinitarian, writing with regards to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one and only living and true God. We have a blessed Trinitarian theology brought to us here.

We also see Jesus as the new creation. Two very interesting things here with regards to Jesus as the new creation and connecting back to the book of Genesis. His baptism signals the beginning of a new creation with the Spirit as in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1-2, we see the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And so here at the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus goes into the waters, he comes up from out of the waters, and the Spirit of God descends on him like a dove alighting upon him.

Make no mistake, it's not a happy accident. This is the new creation. The old physical creation is brought forth into reality by the living and true God. It serves the end of this new creation. a savior in the waters of the Jordan, going down into it, coming up out of it, that he might bring many sons to glory in the new creation.

You can also turn with me to Genesis 8 for a moment. Genesis 8, another water connection connected to the flood, the great flood of all the earth. Noah and his family, and we see something here with regards to the connection to Christ's baptism. This is the post-flood reality, the flood subsisting, and we notice in Genesis 8 at verse 8, he also went out from himself, he also, excuse me, sent out from himself a dove. Remember, the dove, or the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon Christ, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground.

But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and drew her into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth. And no one knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore." Hopefully you see the significance here. In the new creation, the spirit of God descends like a dove, similar to this scene with regards to Noah and the waters of the flood. The dove brings back an olive branch, an olive leaf in her mouth.

This is a symbol of peace. historically and biblically. Well, Jesus Christ is called our peace. He himself is our peace. And so this dove alights upon him. Well, the Spirit of God, like a dove, coming down and alights upon him, emphasizing again the new creation. In this case, the antitypical fulfillment of the Genesis post-flood blessing of peace being brought by God to humanity. Jesus Christ in the waters, inaugurating a new creation for his people. What a blessed thing we have.

The dove signifies peace, purity, divine approval, showing Jesus is the eschatological temple. Athanasius says, the descent of the spirit is not for him, but for us, that we might know he is the anointed one. The dove from Noah's Ark returns with an olive leaf signifying peace and new beginnings.

This is the language of Christostom on this particular point, the old silver-tongued preacher. But why in the fashion of a dove? Gentle is that creature and pure. For as much then as the spirit too is a spirit of meekness, he therefore appears in this sort. And besides, he is reminding us of an ancient history.

For so when at once a common shipwreck had overtaken the whole world, and our race was in danger of perishing, this creature appeared and indicated the deliverance from the tempest, and bearing an olive branch, published the good tidings of the common calm of the whole world, all which was a type. of things to come. Blessed Savior bringing forth peace, bringing forth everlasting salvation, bringing forth that blessed righteousness for his people. We see lastly then the approval, the approval of the righteous one. back in Matthew chapter 3, we see this voice coming from heaven, this voice of approbation, this voice of delight coming from heaven with regards to the Son of God incarnated. Notice the language that we see in verse 17, and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is This is significant for a number of reasons. The most important one is Jesus Christ as the representative, as the substitute, as the savior for his people.

Adam had failed in the garden. God was displeased with him, that disobedient son. Israel, charged with covenant obedience, charged with the task of maintaining covenant obedience, swearing their fidelity to their God, they break covenant, and they are called the disobedient son, and God did not delight in them. Well, Christ comes as the second Adam. Christ comes as the true Israel, and he fulfills righteousness. He is the obedient son in whom the Father is well pleased. And praise God, we have for us an obedient son.

In Psalm 2, 7, Deacon Steve there cited Psalm 2 with regards to the text read, Luke 19. In Psalm 2-7, the same psalm, we see the father saying to the son, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And we see and we saw in Isaiah 42 at verse 1, my servant in whom my soul delights. Praise God because we are all disobedient sons and daughters that we have one who is obedient and who rendered obedience in our place.

We see here, in closing, some theological blessings that come from this. Remember, not just a historical occasion, not just some geographical references and an interesting story, but the very sum and substance of biblical revelation and the blessed reality of the Saviour coming into our lower world, sinners to save.

We see Jesus as the Davidic King, anointed. Psalm 2 was coronation language for kings. Jesus is now publicly acknowledged as the Messianic King. We see Jesus as the suffering servant. The pleasing of the Father aligns him, of course, and connects him with the servant songs, the one who will bear our sins. And Jesus is the greater Isaac, the beloved son who is now prepared for the altar of Calvary. Stephen Charnock wrote this with regards to this scene.

He was declared from heaven to be the righteous one in whom the divine perfections found full delight. We ought to see here the reality that in this language, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We ought to see the divinity and the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Son of God by nature, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father, and that one who assumed our humanity in order that he might submit according to that nature to the Father to bring in everlasting righteousness.

What a glorious scene we have in the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ought to see here some, and this is the last two minutes and 33 seconds, we ought to see some important connections to our own baptisms as we either A, think about our own baptisms that have obtained in history or looking forward to our baptisms that we may have in the very near future. The theological conclusions for baptism, and then we close. Jesus Christ. fulfills the pattern for baptism for all who follow.

Of course, he not being baptized for the cleansing of original sin, baptism doesn't do that anyway, but he not going into the waters of baptism to symbolize the cleansing of sin because he's wholly harmless and undefiled, but he fulfills and consecrates the waters for His people.

And so, those who follow Christ in baptism are in humble obedience coming to the waters, just like Christ in His humility went into the waters of baptism. So, one who goes into the waters must have that particular ability and disposition to engage in humble obedience, to go to the waters. One who is the recipient of a substitutionary righteousness is to be going into the waters of baptism. Not one who may have the possibility of obtaining that or availing of it, but rather one who is the blessed and undeserved recipient of the righteousness of Christ goes into the waters of baptism.

One who is fully immersed in water, and so who comes up from out of the water. That is the proper pattern for baptism. Full immersion, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. If we see anyone as the pattern for the proper mode of baptism, being full immersion in water, the Lord Christ our Savior Himself.

One who, one who goes into the waters of baptism is one who, with that symbology of coming up out of the water after going into it, one who is crucified and buried with Christ and raised with Him. Remember the language of Romans 6. In baptism, we are crucified with Christ, we are buried with Him, and we are raised again with Him because we're in union with Him. And so one who is to be baptized can only be one who is covered by the crucifixion, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Two more.

One who is the recipient of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God descended and alighted upon the Savior in the waters of baptism. So those who are baptized are only to be those who are the recipients of the saving action of the Holy Spirit. And lastly, one who has the approbation of the Father by virtue of their union with Christ. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Only those who go into the waters of baptism are only to be those who are the recipients of that representative and substitutionary obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are beloved sons, by adoption, well pleasing in the sight of the Father because of our union with Jesus Christ. and only these are to be baptized and to engage in that blessed ordinance patterned by our Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you're here this morning, the answer to the problem of sin and the inevitability of condemnation and judgment is not first to be baptized, it's to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And then the waters of baptism are yours. This Christ came down from heaven to our lower world in order to save sinners from their sins. There are none who are righteous, no, not one, but if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will have that righteousness, which is His, that avails with the Father of glory. Believe on Him, and you will enjoy everlasting life.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your truth. We rejoice in your word to us. We thank you for this narrative concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We do pray that you would impress upon us the glories of Christ, you would help us to appreciate with great reflection and solemnity yet also joy the reality of His coming into this lower world, sinners to save, His humility in entering in the waters of baptism and everything else that follows after that in the perfection of His obedience. We do pray that you go with us into this week, help us to honor this year's Sabbath day, help us to return this evening where we might once again rejoice in worship and bring our honorings and praisings and all of our thanksgivings to the triune God of heaven and earth. And we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.