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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, this morning 
our message will consider baptism, but we'll approach it from a 
bit of a different angle. I think it'll be evident as we 
move through the material this morning. But Matthew chapter 
3, I'll begin reading in verse 1. 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 
baptized you with water under 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 open 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. Now you can turn to Matthew chapter 
20. I'll read verses 20 to 28. Matthew 20 beginning in verse 
20, then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, 
kneeling down and asking something from him. And he said to her, 
what do you wish? She said to him, grant that these 
two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other 
on the left in your kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, 
You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup 
that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism 
that I am baptized with? They said to him, We are able. 
So he said to them, You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized 
with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right 
hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those 
for whom it is prepared by my Father. And when the ten heard 
it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus 
called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the 
Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise 
authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among 
you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your 
servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him 
be your slave. just as the Son of Man did not 
come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom 
for many. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word and we pray 
now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We know that all scripture 
is given by inspiration of God and that it's profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. We pray that the Spirit would 
take that word and apply it to our hearts. which would cause 
us to reflect upon what many in the church have called the 
active and the passive obedience of our Lord Jesus, cause us to 
see this as the very ground of our standing with a holy and 
glorious God. May these things be clear as 
we study these baptisms of our Lord Jesus. And may You indeed 
cause us to appreciate the work that He went through and the 
lengths that He went to in order to save His people from their 
sins. Again, forgive us now and wash us from everything that 
would darken our understanding. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen. Now, baptism is certainly a good 
time for us to ask the question, why do we baptize? Why does a 
person, in a few moments after the sermon here, will step inside 
that baptistry, why does a person go underneath the water and come 
back out again? Why do Christians do that? Well, 
there's a whole host of reasons that can be given in terms of 
an answer. Covenant theology certainly drives 
our understanding of why we baptize the way that we baptize, as well 
the command of Jesus Christ as a good operating rule. When Jesus 
commands something to the church, the church needs to obey, and 
Jesus in Matthew 28 says to his church, go therefore, make disciples 
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe 
all that I have commanded you, and lo, I'm with you, always, 
even to the end of the age. So certainly we could get at 
the question, why do we baptize? Through a study of the covenants? 
through a study of the command of Christ, but this morning I 
want to consider the two baptisms of Jesus that I read in your 
hearing. His first baptism was a water 
baptism, and there is a particular significance that we need to 
appreciate about that event that we'll look at in just a moment. 
And then the second baptism has a reference to his death. When 
he talks there in chapter 20 about a cup that he needs to 
drink and a baptism that he undergoes, he is talking about his death. 
And so when we look at these two baptisms, I think they show 
us or demonstrate for us something called the active and the passive 
obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is conventional Christian 
terminology to reference the fact that Christ, by His life, 
His life of obedience to the Father's law, won for His people, 
or secured for His people, a perfect righteousness that avails with 
God. Some call that the act of obedience. In fact, our confession 
calls it that. A passive obedience refers to 
His death at Calvary. And so when Jesus offers himself 
up as a sacrifice and as a substitute, that is the passive obedience. 
Doesn't mean he's passive in the sense that he's not involved 
in fully suffering, but it has reference to the fact that this 
is passion, this is his death, this is his suffering. And so 
the active and the passive obedience of Christ is absolutely essential 
for any and all who would come to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. 
We need that, because you see, we not only need our sins forgiven, 
but we also need to be clothed with the righteousness not our 
own. And the gospel of Christ answers to that. It's a wonderful 
illustration of this reality in the prophet Zechariah. In 
Zechariah chapter 3, we get a glimpse of the high priest Joshua. And Joshua is standing there. 
It's not Joshua the son of Nun, the conqueror of Canaan. This 
is a latter Joshua. And he was the high priest in 
Israel after the exile. And Joshua is there representative 
of all of Israel. And we get this view of Joshua 
standing before the Lord Most High, and Satan is there to accuse 
him. And Joshua is filthy before God. Joshua is dirty before God. He doesn't have a bit of of toast 
crumbs on his shirt, but rather he is covered. The language that 
is used with reference to the filth that is applied to Joshua 
has parallel usage in the Old Testament to feces and to vomit. 
So when we see Joshua standing there before the Holy God, Satan 
there to accuse him, the Lord rebukes Satan. He doesn't even 
let Satan say a word. God knows Joshua's condition. 
God knows Israel's state. God knows that they are a filthy 
people. So God says to his angel to strip 
away those garments, to take those filthy rags off of him. And this is representative of 
the forgiveness of sins. but then he orders that a beautiful 
garment be placed upon him. This is representative of the 
imputation of Christ's righteousness. You see, in order to get to heaven, 
if you are not a believer here this morning, if you're not a 
Christian, you have the very good question, how do I get to 
heaven? There is one way, and it's through 
Christ the Lord. And that Christ the Lord not 
only brings forgiveness for sin, but He gives you that garment 
that you need. He gives you that righteousness 
that you need. Because we need to be forgiven, 
but we also need a righteousness that avails before a holy God. This is why Paul, in 2 Corinthians 
5.21, says that God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be 
sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. In sum, brethren, I understand 
this first baptism of Christ, this water baptism, as representative 
of His active obedience. And then that second baptism 
in Matthew 20, that death, that brings the forgiveness of sins, 
that passive obedience that does answer to our particular needs. So let's look first at this first 
baptism of Jesus in chapter 3, verses 13 to 17. John the Baptist is out preaching 
in the wilderness of Judea. Verses 1 to 12, I mean, he's 
a very intriguing fellow, isn't he? In fact, the author here 
is conspicuously trying to show him as an Elijah-like figure. In fact, he is the Elijah prophesied 
by Malachi. But he is like that, and he is 
out there preaching, and he is calling sinners to repent. And 
then in verse 13, it says, 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? It's an intriguing statement, 
isn't it? John understood something about Jesus. In a parallel account, 
when Jesus came to be baptized by John, John says, I did not 
know him. I don't think he means, I did 
not know who he was. But I did not know he was the 
Messiah. I did not know he was the Son 
of God. I did not know he was the one 
the prophets had testified concerning. But he did know something about 
this Christ here in verse 13. He sees Jesus coming and he says, 
are you coming to be baptized by me? I have need to be baptized 
by you. John is right to appreciate the 
reality that Jesus is most high. Jesus is most excellent. Jesus 
was not a sinner and therefore not called to produce fruits 
worthy of repentance. Notice as well. He not only attempts 
to prevent him, he asks this question. Now note what the Lord 
says in response in verse 15. Jesus answered and said to him, 
permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill 
all righteousness. There's that idea of Christ's 
fulfilling all righteousness. Why does Christ fulfill all righteousness? Because it is a term of the covenant 
that He is within with reference to His Father. In other words, 
the Father sent Him to be the obedient servant of the Lord, 
to engage in that covenantal mediatorship that demanded He 
obey the Father. But as well, it is for us. He 
obeys for us. Praise God for what is called 
the active obedience of Christ and the imputation of Christ's 
righteousness to sinners. Because we're not righteous. 
We are sinners. We have all violated the living 
and the true God. We've all raised our fists at 
Him from Commandment 1 to Commandment 10. God says to have no other 
gods before Him, and we do that. We have other gods. It may not 
be Baal. It may not be Molech. In our 
culture, it's more commonly mammon or money, or it's more commonly 
ourselves. We worship at the altar of self. God says we're not to be idolaters. If we do identify with the living 
and the true God, we're to worship him the way that he prescribes. 
We don't do that. Not even as churches. We do all 
sorts of things that make Nadab and Abihu's strange fire look 
like perfect orthodoxy. God says we're not supposed to 
blaspheme His holy name. We all do that. You say, well 
I've never taken the name of the Lord in vain. By your actions. Remember when David is reproved 
by the prophet Nathan for having committed adultery and murder. 
Nathan says to him, by this act you have given cause to the enemies 
of Yahweh to blaspheme. We are told not to break the 
Sabbath day. We're believers that affirm a Sabbath day. Everyone who enters the membership 
of this church says that they hold allegiance to the scriptures, 
to be sure, and then our secondary standard is the Second London 
Baptist Confession of 1689, which is a Sabbatarian document. And yet, we find ourselves breaking 
the Sabbath. God says we're supposed to honor 
our parents. Children, obey your parents and 
the Lord. Why? For this is right. Honor 
your father and your mother, for this is the first commandment 
with promise. But you see, it's not just the 
children who are guilty of violating this particular command. It applies 
to all lawful authority. We're not to be insubordinate 
to the governing authorities. Of course, we do when they tell 
us to sin, but if they don't tell us to sin, Paul's statement 
is, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. 
We're told not to murder. Now I suspect most of you here 
can claim, notice most of you can claim, I've never actually 
ended a human life. This one doesn't fall on me, 
Butler, because I don't have a butcher knife and I don't have 
a 30-06. I've never gone and sat up on 
the clock tower and picked people off in Chilliwack. What do the 
New Testament authors say? What does our Lord say with reference 
to the Sermon on the Mount? If you hate your brother in your 
heart, you're guilty of the sixth commandment. Seventh commandment, 
God says you're not supposed to commit adultery. Hopefully 
we saw last week that that doesn't just apply to adultery, but all 
manner of sexual sin, all manner of sexual immorality. But before 
you start raising your hand and say, well, I've never done that 
physically, again, Christ applies it to the heart. He who looks 
upon a woman to lust has already broken the commandment. The eighth 
word, we're told not to steal. Say, well, I don't go to Walmart 
and pinch candy bars, but what do you like at work? It's been 
my observation at times that Christians who boast of their 
fastidiousness with reference to the law of the Lord can be 
time thieves when it comes to their employers. What about bearing 
false witness? Are you a man or woman who tells 
the truth? What about covetousness? Oh no, 
that's not me. It's every single one of us. Do you see why we need a champion? 
Do you see why we need a Redeemer? Do you see why we need the Lord 
Jesus Christ? Because He never committed adultery. He never committed blasphemy. 
He never broke the Sabbath. he was never insubordinate to 
his parents or to the civil authority, he never murdered, he never committed 
adultery, he never stole, he never lied, and he never coveted. See, the Christian gospel says 
that the righteousness that he fulfills, the righteousness that 
he accomplishes, is given to those who believe. It's a blessed 
judicial transaction. It doesn't mean I'm transformed 
and I become the best guy on the face of the earth. Paul uses 
the language in Romans 5 that we are constituted. Again, it's 
forensic, it is legal, it is declarative. Roman Catholicism 
sees an actual change in the sinner. Protestantism rightly 
maintains, no, it's a judicial process. It has the idea of a 
courtroom. We are forensically given this 
righteousness of Christ. Paul's language specifically 
in Romans 5.19, so also by one man's obedience many will be 
made, constituted is the better rendering there, righteous. By 
one man's obedience, many will be constituted righteous. Paul's 
whole argument in Romans chapter five hinges on two men in the 
history of the world. Two men that actually matter. 
I know that that might make you want to run to your safe space, 
but hopefully you're not a snowflake this morning. He told me I didn't 
matter. Well, in the grand scheme of 
things, you don't. The two men that matter in the 
Bible are Adam the first and Adam the second. And Paul says 
in Adam the first, Romans five, all die. That's our lot in life 
as a result of Adam's transgression. You see, he sinned as a representative. He sinned as a public figure. 
He sinned as our federal head. And because of that sin, we all 
die. But that's what Paul goes on 
to outline in chapter five of Romans. But in Christ, all shall 
be made alive. You see, Adam brings death, Christ 
brings life. And Paul's words here highlight 
the blessed aspect in view here. For, or so also by one man's 
obedience, many will be constituted righteous. You see, I think with 
reference to the gospel of our Lord Jesus, we're all pretty 
well attuned to the idea that we need to be forgiven. We need 
to have our sins washed away. But we don't equally hear that 
we need a righteousness that avails with God. We need to stand 
clothed in His presence. We need to be washed and purified. We need, like Joshua, the high 
priest there in Zechariah, not only to have our sins removed, 
but we need that blessed righteous garment given to us so we can 
stand before a thrice holy God. You see, God has never relaxed 
his demands for a perfect righteousness. So in order to stand before this 
holy God, we are clothed in the righteousness of another. We 
are given this in the gospel. We are blessed beyond blessing. 
We are given this spotlessness of the Lamb himself, because 
as Adam was a public figure, As Adam was a representative, 
as Adam was our covenant head, this is how Christ functions. 
He's a public person. He's a representative. He is 
our covenant head. And this is the very beginning 
of His life of perfect obedience. Not the beginning He obeyed from 
the moment of conception, but this is the public demarcation. When the Spirit comes in the 
form of a dove upon our Lord Jesus, this isn't His first reception 
of the Spirit. There is something going on here. 
Christ is being identified. Christ is being singled out. 
Christ is having a light shone upon Him that He is the Messiah 
of God. He is the mediator of the New 
Covenant. He is the beloved Son of the Father. Heretics teach 
that this is when Jesus became the Son of the Father. No, the 
second person of the Trinity has always been the Son of the 
Father. He is the eternally begotten 
Son. He is God from God, light from 
light, true God from true God. He doesn't become the Son of 
God in Matthew 3. He's identified. He's affirmed. That divine approbation rests 
upon Him. And the revelation is given to 
us to appreciate that this is God's man. for God's time, for 
God's people. He is a public man, he is a representative 
man, and he is our covenant head. That's what he means when he 
says, for thus, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. He lives in perfect obedience 
to the law and will of God. This act was the first public 
demonstration of the obedience that would characterize Christ's 
life and provide his people with the righteousness that we most 
desperately need. Now, let me just try to make 
sure I'm not leaving anybody behind. Does everybody get this? 
If you're not a Christian today, you do need the forgiveness of 
sins. I'm not going to lie to you. Your sins have come as a 
stench in the nostrils of a holy God, that he has nostrils. The scripture uses such language. 
God is spirit. But if you have sinned against 
this God, Scripture says you are under His wrath. Scripture 
says that God is angry with the wicked every day. God has no 
delight, no pleasure whatsoever in those who reject His holy 
law. So most desperately, you need forgiveness, but you also 
need this righteousness. You need all that Christ accomplishes 
for His people. You need the forgiveness because 
of His death, but you need the righteousness because of His 
life. Because you haven't kept those commandments, and Christ 
did always keep those commandments. This is the Protestant doctrine 
of justification. A famous catechism asks the question, 
what is justification? Justification is an act of God's 
free grace wherein He pardons all our sins. Isn't that beautiful? He doesn't pardon some of our 
sins. He hasn't pardoned 90% of our 
sins, but you go out and fix the rest. He pardons all our 
sins. I don't know how much better 
this could sound to anybody who is not a believer. If you are 
dead in your sins, if you are in your sins and God is angry 
with you today, what better news could you hear than He pardons 
all our sins? But the catechism goes on and 
says, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to them. It's another one of those legal 
words that sort of means something like constituted, or given, or 
handed over, or reckoned. and received by faith alone. 
This is the blessed doctrine of justification by faith. And Christ is our head who accomplished 
all righteousness. Let's just finish looking at 
this passage briefly before we move on. There's a couple of 
things we ought to appreciate. We notice Jesus had been baptized, 
verse 16. He 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. I read at the outset of worship, 
Isaiah 61.1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because 
the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He 
has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Again, 
this isn't Christ's first reception of the Spirit. He is being marked 
out as the Messiah. Not, again, becoming, but He 
is being identified. This is revelation. This is confirmation. This is affirmation. The Spirit 
of God descends like a dove and alights upon Him. Isaiah 11, 
the spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom 
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit 
of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh. Isaiah 42, 1, behold 
my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. 
I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to 
the Gentiles. The way the spirit of God broods 
over the waters in the old creation. The Spirit of God comes in the 
form of a dove at these waters of new creation. The Lord Christ, 
in the coming that He has instituted, is a recreation. It is a new 
creation. Is there any accident between 
the way the book of Genesis and the way that John's Gospel begins? In the beginning, God created 
the heavens and the earth. John 1.1, in the beginning, the 
Word was with God and the Word was God. You see, brethren, there 
is connectivity, there is continuation going on. We don't have a disjointed 
book, but we have what is anticipated in the old, is realized and fulfilled 
in the new. And then notice this divine proclamation 
from heaven. Verse 17, and suddenly a voice 
came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am 
well pleased. Again, he doesn't become the 
son in this instance. He is not becoming something 
He was not, but this is for our benefit. This is an announcement 
that the covenant promised by God in terms of redemption for 
His people has come to pass. It's come to fruition. This is 
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. I think several passages 
are behind this. Remember the biblical type in 
Genesis 22. It's a beautiful passage when 
we see how Jesus is the only begotten son of the Father. Genesis 
22, God commands Abraham to take his son, his only son, the son 
whom he loved, take him up to Mount Moriah and there sacrifice 
him. It's a beautiful system of theology 
at work there too. Mount Moriah is where the temple 
would be built. First, Aaronah's threshing floor 
and then the site of the temple. So Abraham takes his son, his 
only son, the son he loves, up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice 
him. And just as he's bringing the 
knife to bear upon his son, the angel of Yahweh stops him. You 
see, we have this theology in the New Testament that the angel 
of Yahweh doesn't stop when the knife comes down upon the Holy 
Son of God. His Son, the Son whom He loves, 
the One who has His approval and His approbation. As well, 
Psalm 2, we see this theology of God's Son coming to conquer, 
coming to reign, coming to rule. We see this in Isaiah 42, this 
reference to My Beloved or My Elect One. This is the theological 
point of the passage. In essence, we are meeting face 
to face with the Lord Christ, who is going to be that public 
person, that representative, that covenant head who does fulfill 
all righteousness, who ultimately goes to the cross and gives his 
life a ransom for many. But we ought to at least acknowledge 
one more thing before we move to the passive obedience in Matthew 
20. Note the Trinitarianism here. Note the Trinitarian witness 
at this particular passage. We have Jesus, the Son of God. We have the Holy Spirit in the 
form of a dove. This does not mean the Holy Spirit 
is a dove. It doesn't mean that a hypostatic 
union occurred and that when we get to heaven, there will 
be a dove that is the Holy Spirit. No, he used the dove to manifest 
his presence in this particular instance. There was no hypostatic 
union such as occurred between Jesus' divinity and the humanity 
or the human nature. We've got the Son of God, we've 
got the Spirit of God, and we hear the voice of the Father 
say, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. I've 
always loved this quip I found in Turretin's Institutes of Atlantic 
Theology. He says, hence the saying of 
the ancients, Arian, reference to Arius, the heretic that denied 
that Christ was in fact God and denied the fact that the Spirit 
was in fact God. Arius taught that there was a 
time when the Son was not. The Orthodox taught the Son has 
always been. Athanasius repudiated him. But Arius taught a denial of 
the Trinity. So Turrenton says, hence the 
saying of the ancients, Arian, go to Jordan and there you will 
see the Trinity. Beautiful, isn't it? This wasn't 
developed by Constantine or the Council of Nicaea. This wasn't 
hatched by some of the early church fathers who lived out 
in deserts. This is what the Bible teaches. There is one God, 
the true and the living God, who exists eternally in three 
blessed persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. We have one substance 
or one essence, three persons. There's not a contradiction. 
If we said one in one sense and three in the same sense, that 
would be contradictory. But we have one in one sense, 
three in another sense. No contradiction. Blessed Trinity. The scriptures teach it, and 
as Turretin reminds us, the ancients say Arius, go down to the River 
Jordan. There, you'll see the Trinity. 
That's his active obedience. Notice, secondly, his passive 
obedience. Again, please get it out of your 
head that passive means passivity in the way that some people act. 
Sometimes men are passive in their relationships. They just 
sit and hope everything gets done. You might be passive in 
your workplace. You're hiding under your desk 
when your boss comes to demand you to do a particular thing. 
We all know what passivity means. It's not a virtuous trait that 
we all would want to have. But the passive obedience of 
Christ has as its fundamental sense his passion. That means 
his death. His sufferings, His atoning work, 
wherein He satisfies divine justice by His sufferings and death. 
And I think that this passage illustrates it for us very well. 
Notice the context here in Jesus' interaction with the apostles. At 20 verse 17, then Jesus, or 
now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside 
on the road and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, 
and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the 
scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him 
to the Gentiles to mock and discourage and to crucify, and the third 
day he will rise again. That's the context. That's what's 
in view. Going to Jerusalem to die. Now 
notice in verse 20, then the mother of Zebedee's sons came 
to him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from 
him. And he said to her, what do you wish? She said to him, 
grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right 
hand and the other on the left, in your kingdom. Now you probably 
remember my illustration with reference to this. I might just 
change it up a little bit. But this would be akin to me 
saying to my sons, sons, I'm gonna die. And them saying, can 
we have your books? Can we take your library? I get 
his car. Sons, I just announced to you 
that I'm going to die. Certainly I said I'm going to 
be raised again, but if history is interpretive, the apostles 
didn't seem to get that fact when he announced that he would 
not only die, but he would be raised the third day. Do you 
see the connection? Jesus says, I'm going to Jerusalem 
to die, and these men say, we want to sit on your right hand 
and on your left. Now, it expresses faith. A man 
who's going to die has a kingdom nevertheless, but it does seem 
a bit presumptuous to say the least. He is going to engage 
in his passion. He is going to the cross. He 
is going to suffering in such a way that these men haven't 
even begun to think about. And that is precisely how he 
addresses the situation. Notice verse 21. You do not know 
what you ask. You don't understand. In other 
words, you want the crown, but you haven't entertained the cross. 
They are very symptomatic of the rest of us, aren't they? 
They're very typical of God's people, all in all. In fact, 
I suggest to you, verse 24, when the ten heard it, they were greatly 
displeased with the two brothers. Why do you think they were greatly 
displeased? Oh brothers, you shouldn't have 
such carnal aims when our master has just announced that he's 
going to die. Oh brothers, you shouldn't tip your hand like 
that and show that you're simply in this to sit on his right and 
on his left. They were greatly displeased 
because if they were on the right and the left, the ten wouldn't 
be. This is us, brethren. This is how we are. We want crowns, we don't want 
crosses. Hence the popularity of the prosperity 
gospel. How else can you explain a world 
in which Benny Hinn is actually popular? The guy is nuts. It doesn't take a rocket scientist 
to figure that out. 30 seconds by most pagans write 
these kinds of guys off. and multiply the Benny Hinns, 
multiply the sorts of guys that will stand under so-called Christian 
pulpits and preach a gospel without a cross. Oh, you can have everything 
right now. Consider America's pastor, Joel 
Osteen. I'm American, he ain't my pastor. How do you explain the great 
success of a guy like Joel Osteen? Because everybody wants their 
best life now. We don't want the cross. We don't 
want sorrows. We don't want hardship. We don't 
want pain. We don't want travail. We certainly 
don't want to be identified as one of those weirdos who served 
Jesus. So Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn 
and count the numbers of others are making their way in this 
world because they're telling sinners what they want to hear. 
This is our default setting, isn't it? I mean, we don't want 
crosses. We want crowns. We don't want 
suffering. We want pleasure. We don't want 
pain. And I'm not saying you wretches, 
I hope you hear there the third person plural, we, I'm not out 
there saying, boy, don't I like to suffer. Oh, boy, honey, let's 
get rid of the toilet so that we have to use an outhouse. Because 
that just sounds like the better way to, I'm not like that. I 
don't think any of us are like that. Especially in North America, 
we like our stuff. We like our stuff when all is 
said and done. So I think in some respects, 
what we see in this passage is us. Christ says, I'm going to 
die, and we say, can we sit on your right? Can we sit on your 
left? I'm going to die. Can I have your car? Can I have 
your books? I'm going to die. Can I have your golf club? I'm 
going to die, and you need to ponder that reality. And this 
is what Christ presses upon him, and he uses two metaphors that 
they would have understood, because there is a rich biblical heritage 
for the youths. First, cup. He says to them in 
verse 23, you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized. First of all, this idea of cup. 
The cup here is referred to in the Old Testament in Psalm 11, 
Psalm 75, Isaiah 51, Jeremiah 51. It comes up again in Matthew 
26, 39 when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember that 
situation when Jesus says, Lord, if it is possible, or Father, 
if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. You know what he's 
referring to there? The wrath and fury of God. That's 
what it means in Psalm 11. That's what it means in Psalm 
75. That's what it means in the prophets. It means the cup of 
God's wrath that he's going to pour upon Babylon, that he pours 
upon Israel. It's the cup of suffering. That's 
why Jesus prays thus, Father, if it is possible, let this cup 
pass from me. He's speaking according to his 
humanity. He is speaking according to the 
form of a servant. And he says to the Father, if 
it is possible, let it pass. Why? Because it's wrath, it's 
fury, it's judgment. And he tells these men, you don't 
know. You don't understand what the 
cup of wrath is. You don't understand the degree 
of suffering that's involved here. You don't understand what 
it is to save my people from their sins. And then he refers 
to this baptism. This is why I call this the second 
baptism of Jesus. You will indeed drink my cup 
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. I don't 
want to get polemic. I don't want to argue with infant 
Baptist brethren. I know you're out there and I 
love you and I esteem you and hopefully you appreciate that 
this message was never intended to be that way. I didn't make 
anything out of the fact that Jesus came up out of the water. 
I guess I just did, but. Baptism. If it was translated 
instead of transliterated, it would have been immersed. You 
see, there's a metaphorical use by our Lord Jesus Christ that 
sprinkling and even pouring doesn't capture. It's the image of immersion. It's the image of plunging. It's 
the image of being overwhelmed. The word baptized is used outside 
of the Bible concerning a battle wherein a ship was baptized. It doesn't mean it was sprinkled. 
It doesn't mean it was poured. It means that it was capsized. 
Christ is using this term loaded with theological freight to refer 
to the cross. In fact, it comes out in Luke 
12.50 in a similar usage. Luke 12.50, the Lord Jesus says, 
I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am 
till it is accomplished. John Gill says, but the baptism 
of his sufferings is meant. See why I call this the two baptisms 
of Jesus. There was the physical, the water 
in Matthew 3. The fact that he says it is necessary 
for us to fulfill all righteousness. answers to the act of obedience 
of the Lord Jesus. Here is His second baptism that 
He is referring to, and it's the death on the cross. It is 
that overwhelming influence of pain, suffering, and misery heaped 
upon the person of the Son of God to save us from our sins. You see, our salvation is free. Our salvation is gracious. But it costs Christ everything. Theologians have rightly understood 
that the covenant of redemption was a covenant of works for our 
Lord Jesus. The covenant of grace is ultimately 
the covenant of works kept for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. But Gill, defining the nuance 
of the word baptism here in Luke 12.50, he says, but the baptism 
of his sufferings is meant, which are compared to a baptism because 
of the largeness and abundance of them. He was, as it were, 
immersed or plunged into them. You see, this is a reference 
to his impending death. This is a reference in the context 
of verses 17 to 19, where he is announced that he must go 
to Jerusalem, he must suffer at the hands of these godless 
men, he must be crucified, and he must be raised the third day. 
They come saying, can we be on your right? Can we be on your 
left? He says, you don't know what you ask. He says, notice 
in verse 22, you don't know what you ask. Are you able to drink 
the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism 
that I am baptized with? They said to him, we are able. 
Note, he does say, you will indeed drink my cup and you will indeed 
be baptized. The pages in the New Testament 
show this to be the case. Who are the sons of Zebedee? 
They are James and John. The James that is here looking 
for position loses his head in Acts chapter 12 under Herod. The John here that is looking 
for position is the one that is exiled on the island of Patmos 
for the word of God and the testimony of Christ in Revelation chapter 
one. History tells us that he was 
plunged in a boiling oil, somehow lived, and ultimately ended up 
exiled on the island of Patmos. Now, when we read that language, 
it might seem somewhat appealing. I'd like to be exiled on an island, 
especially in the winter in Chilliwack. Send me to an island. It was 
a rock out in the Aegean Sea. There wasn't golf courses and 
buffets or anything like that. He was exiled for the word of 
God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. So you see, Jesus does 
say to that, you will suffer, identifying what the Son of God 
will, in fact, bring suffering. In other words, there will always 
be a cross associated with the crown. Jesus set the paradigm. If you think, as a believer, 
you will never be a man of sorrows or acquainted with grief, just 
wait. Unfortunately, the Christian 
life oftentimes is punctuated by trials, by adversities, by 
hardships, and by difficulties. It's all worthwhile. It's all 
most blessed. It's all wondrous to be sure 
no one would ever change it in or exchange it and say, I'd rather 
go back to the city of destruction. I'd rather be a child of wrath. 
No, the people of God bear up. They persevere under trial. They 
pray instead of whine. They worship instead of complain. They do what they're supposed 
to do by the grace of God, and they count it all worthwhile. 
But to say there's no suffering or hardship or trial or adversity 
connected to the Christian life is more akin to Joel Osteen and 
Benny Hinn than any of the New Testament or Old Testament authors. Now note, Jesus ends this section, 
verses 25 and following. He essentially says, look at 
the Gentiles, don't be like them. Don't be like Gentiles. Don't 
lord things over others. You want to be great? Be a servant. You want to be first? Be last. And then verse 28, he uses himself 
as the example. He says, just as the son of man 
did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life 
a ransom for many. The willingness of the son of 
man to undergo this for the glory of his father and the good of 
his people, the substitutionary character of his work. Notice, 
the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to 
give his life a ransom for many. Christ doesn't come to give His 
life as an example to all. He comes to give His life as 
a ransom for many. Notice He doesn't help men ransom 
themselves. He doesn't make men ransom a 
bull, but rather He actually ransoms them. When Christ goes 
to the cross, He pays their debts. When Christ goes to the cross, 
He secures their salvation. When Christ goes to the cross, 
He satisfies divine justice on their behalf. So that when Christ 
finishes His work, when Christ is raised the third day, when 
Christ is ascended on high, when Christ is ruling from the right 
hand of God Most High, when anyone, by the grace of God, believes 
in Him, they receive at that moment the forgiveness of sins 
and the righteousness that avails with God, which was accomplished 
by Christ. And I love the way, I love the 
location of verse 28 here. The location is telling. Where's 
Jesus going? He's going to Jerusalem. Verse 
28 explains it all. See, verses 17 to 19, he announces 
the facts, right? Machen made this observation, 
in scripture we get the presentation of the facts, but we also get 
the interpretation of the facts, right? 1 Corinthians 15, Christ 
died, it's a fact, for our sins, that's theological interpretation. 
Christ was buried, Christ was raised. Romans 4. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses. He was raised up for our justification. You see, he's both delivered 
and he's raised, but the Bible tells us why. So in verses 17 
to 19, Christ gives us the facts. So he called Jack Webb, just 
the facts, ma'am, just the facts. That's verses 17 to 19. Verse 
28 is the theology. If you start to have trouble 
when you're reading the Passion Narratives, you come with the 
Savior into the Garden of Gethsemane, and there you hear him cry, Father, 
if it is possible, let this pass from me. Let verse 28 of chapter 
20 ring in your ears. Oh, this is the way. This is 
the means. This is the how. This is the 
interpretation. This makes sense of the Roman 
soldier's slap on his face. This makes sense of the reality 
that the mob says, away with him, away with him, crucify him. 
This makes sense of his own cry of dereliction on the cross, 
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Verse 28 answers, 
He gave His life a ransom for many. We've got the facts, we've 
got the theological interpretation. And may I encourage you to get 
this Christ. May I encourage you to hear these 
words this morning. And may I encourage you to look 
unto him in whom alone there is both forgiveness and the righteousness 
you desperately need. You will see a baptism in a few 
moments. We as a church ought to happily 
receive Sylvie into the membership of our church. We ought to pray 
for her. We ought to encourage her. We ought to exhort her, 
trusting that she in turn will do the same for the church as 
a whole. We, as the people of God, ought to be reminded what 
happens there in baptism. It is unto the party baptized. It is a sign. It is a symbol. There's no magic in that water. 
You don't go in a sinner and come out a saint. There's no 
magic. If that were the case, we would 
just open our doors during the week and plunge everybody in. 
It's no magic, but it's representative. It is symbolic of what God Almighty 
has done inwardly. It's an external sacrament of 
what God has done internally. He has changed our hearts. He 
has made us alive together with His Son. He has engrafted us 
into Him. He has remitted or forgiven us 
of our sins. So that baptistry ought to remind 
us as the people of God, if we've grown lazy, if we've grown apathetic, 
if we are not pursuing that newness of life conveyed to us by our 
Savior, then we should repent. We should get our acts together 
when we see this sister identified publicly with the Lord Christ 
in baptism. But if you're not a believer 
and you're not a member of this church, baptism doesn't save. 
It's Christ who saves. He answers to the two particular 
needs that you have. You're a sinner. You're outside 
of God. You have no heart for God. There's 
rebellion in your heart. There's rejection in your heart. 
You may not be as bad as, say, those people that marched, you 
know, a week ago, or you may not be so bad as that guy who 
governs the country, or you may not be so bad as those thugs 
that run the streets selling crack cocaine, but you're bad. The scripture tells us that all 
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none 
righteous, no, not one. You may keep your lawn cut, you 
may pay your taxes, you may be the best employee at your particular 
business, but if you are not in Christ, you're a sinner. And 
what does Christ answer to in the gospel? Forgiveness. I have 
long thought, long believed, and long preached that that's 
one of the chief bones of Christianity. That is one of the chief bones 
of Christianity. Is there anything better? If 
we were in a black church in LA, I'd say, give me an amen. 
Don't do that. But is there anything better than as a sinner to be 
forgiven? to be able to sing with the hymn 
writer, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My 
sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I 
bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Is there anything 
better? Is there anything better? I mean, right now, you may have 
issues in your life. You may have trials, you may 
have difficulties, you may have pains, you may have suffering. 
When you lay your head on your pillow tonight, you know what 
you've got? You have the forgiveness of sins. This is it, isn't it? Isn't this what Jesus told us? 
There is a problem bigger than paralysis. That scene in Matthew's 
gospel, in Matthew chapter nine, when Jesus is preaching in a 
particular house, and the house is filled with people, and a 
man has several friends that want him to hear the truth, and 
so they open up the roof and they lower the man down. The 
man's on a mat, by the way, because he's paralyzed. What does Jesus 
say when he sees the man? He says, son, your sins are forgiven 
you, What? He's paralyzed, Jesus, and you're 
talking about the forgiveness of sins? Can't you see his problem? Yeah, Jesus knows his problem 
specifically. Of course, when Jesus makes that 
pronouncement that your sins are forgiven you, the scribes 
and the Pharisees all reasoned among themselves, who does this 
man think he is? Who does he think he is? Only 
God alone can forgive sins. So Jesus asks the question, which 
is easier, to say to the man, take up your bat and walk, or 
your sins are forgiven you? Think about it, brethren, it's 
easier to say your sins are forgiven you, isn't it? If I tell you 
your sins are forgiven you, we don't know that. I mean, I can 
tell you and assure you and affirm you and confirm to you that when 
you believe on Jesus, your sins are forgiven. But in the context, 
you can't tell, right? In other words, there are those 
in this church whose sins are forgiven. We don't have light 
bulbs over our heads. We don't have shirts that have 
sin with a cross, a red mark going through it. We don't know, 
do we? So Jesus says, which is easier, 
to say your sins are forgiven or take up your mat and walk? 
And then he says, but that you may know that the Son of Man 
has power on earth to forgive sins. He looks at the man, he 
says, take up your mat and walk. And the man did. And again, the 
Charismatics and the Pentecostals, and unfortunately a lot of people 
say, wow, he healed him of his paralysis. The healing of the 
paralysis was a demonstration of the greater miracle, that 
he forgave him of his sins. If you are here this morning 
and you can't walk, you've got a bigger problem. If you are 
here this morning and you've got cancer, you've got a bigger 
problem. If you are here this morning 
and your kids are terrible human beings, you've got a bigger problem. And it's sin before a holy God. 
We saw last week, whoever believes the Son has everlasting life. 
He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but God's 
wrath abides on him. So yes, this baptistry is going 
to testify to you of what God has done in one of His own. But 
that water cannot save. Church membership cannot save. 
You need to come to the Savior. You need to believe the gospel. 
You need to look and you need to live. And when you look by 
the grace of God, you are forgiven and you are clothed with a righteousness 
that is not your own. Luther called it the great exchange. Our sins are heaped upon Christ. His righteousness is heaped upon 
us. Luther also said it in this way. 
I know this is probably a little bit more Luther-ish than we might like, 
but he describes what happens in the gospel. The joyous exchange. The rich, noble, pious, bridegroom 
Christ takes this poor, despised, wicked little whore in marriage, 
redeems her of all evil, and adorns her with all his goods. Praise God that he does that, 
because if he didn't, none of us would be saved. Well, let 
us close in a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the scriptures. We thank you for these baptisms 
of our Christ that do point us to the active and the passive 
obedience of Christ. We thank you that in the gospel, 
Jesus answers for every need that we have. He brings forgiveness. He brings a righteousness that 
avails with God. as a church, strengthen us. God, 
cause us to shake off our lethargy and our apathy. Cause us to see 
that we have been called to newness of life, to follow a master, 
to follow the Lord Jesus, to be obedient to his word. And 
for any unbelievers here, we do pray, God in heaven, that 
you'd open their hearts, that they would have heard the truth 
and by your grace would believe it and be saved. And we ask through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.