1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“The voice of one calling out in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
4 Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance; 9 and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. 10 And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” 15 But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. 16 After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, 17 and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
TODAY'S TAKEAWAY
As part of the holy trinity, the Lord Jesus is our ultimate example, Who perfectly and fully obeyed the will of His heavenly Father! While coming in flesh to be fully man, Jesus was still fully God, therefore Jesus had nothing to repent of. In being baptized by water, John the Baptist got to be a firsthand witness to Jesus' godship, hearing the voice of God declaring that Jesus is His beloved Son. Yet, even before this amazing experience, John recognized Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Just so, as believers, when we know the Lord personally, we will recognize Him and know exactly who He is and what He is about!
Jesus' baptism is also a visual of what happens when we become Christians. As soon as we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus into our lives, we are baptized and sealed with His Holy Spirit of promise. The visual of someone going into the water is that of dying to sin, and the visual of coming up from the water is that of being set free from sin, and being reborn, to find new and eternal life. In that very instant, we are adopted as sons and daughters, into the family of God, forever.
We cannot lose our salvation, because we have been clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. And in that, we are changed from the inside out. As verse 8 explains, the proof of repentance is that true believers will produce fruit, because He that is in us will continue to work in and through us.
It doesn't matter who our parents are, or where we were born, or what color our skin is, or even that we go to church and go through the motions... none of these things can save us. The only thing that matters is: that we have gone to the Lord to repent of our sins, and have accepted Him into our lives! It is NOT about do's and don'ts. It is ALL about having a personal relationship with the Lord God!
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