Reading: Matthew 3:13-17. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Matthew depicts a scenario of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan river. When Jesus himself came to John for baptism, John tried to forestall him. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, John recognized the one who was presenting himself for baptism. John’s baptism was a sign of repentance and confession in view of forgiveness of sin. However, Jesus was sinless. He himself had no need for repentance or confession.

For this reason, the baptism of Jesus by John was a special, unique one. John knew that Jesus did not need his baptism. John also recognized that he was unworthy of performing his baptism. Indeed, John saw that he himself needed the baptism the Messiah would give when he came. He said to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” John had spoken of Christ's redemptive baptism in Luke 3:16, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Notice that Jesus did not disclaim John’s statement that he was sinless and did not need John’s baptism. But in response to John’s grudging attitude, Jesus said, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” If Jesus was the Messiah, then John, who was waiting for him, was obligated to submit to his authority. In obedience to the request of Jesus, John baptized him.

Here, we may see a presumably logical argument. It is said that John’s baptism was for the forgiveness of sin in order to welcome the Messiah to come. Therefore, if Jesus needed John’s baptism, this would have signified Jesus was also waiting for the coming of the Messiah who would forgive sin instead of being the Messiah himself. If that was so, why was Jesus baptized by John?

Theologians and preachers have tried to suggest reasons predicated on Scripture for the baptism of Jesus. According to this Sunday’s Gospel, the first reason was “to fulfill all righteousness.” The book of Leviticus (16:4) describes the ritual of priestly sanctification, “[The priest] shall wear the sacred linen tunic, with the linen drawers next his flesh, gird himself with the linen sash and put on the linen miter. But since these vestments are sacred, he shall not put them on until he has first bathed his body in water.” Thus, the law demanded that one entering into a priestly office should go through a ritual of cleansing. And so, it is believed that in order to fulfill the demands of the Law, Jesus was baptized to signify that he was consecrated to God and acceptable to him for service.

The second reason for Christ’s baptism is given in John 1:33-34, “I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” According to this statement, having seen the Holy Spirit coming down on Jesus, John the Baptist could make a public announcement that the Messiah had now arrived and had begun his ministry.

A lot of preachers believed that Jesus was baptized in order to identify himself with sinners. Scripture states that sinners were coming to John to confess their sin and to be baptized as an outward sign of their faith that the Messiah would come and redeem them from sin. Jesus came to identify himself with sinners so that through that identification he might become their substitute. In his second epistle to the Corinthians (5:21), Saint Paul pointed out that theology, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”

Another reason for Jesus’ baptism is that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill his role of the Messiah. The Acts of the Apostles (10:38) states, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” It is believed that this anointing for his messianic work took place at Jesus’ baptism.

According to the text of this Sunday reading, after Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water. The heavens were opened and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Jesus. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” According to Matthew, only John the Baptist saw and heard these celestial things happening to Jesus. It corresponds to his words given in John 1:33-34 above. And so, John the Baptist was given a sign in order to recognize with assurance that “this is” the one, the unique Messiah who has arrived.

On the other hand, Saint Luke describes the scenario of Jesus’ baptism like this: “After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:21-22). The exact sentence of the voice of God from heaven is also reported by Mark (1:11). And so, it seems that everyone there who was baptized by John saw and heard these heavenly things happening to Jesus. Also, by using the second person pronoun “You,” though it was used as a singular pronoun in Greek, both Luke and Mark purposefully indicated that each human being is truly God’s beloved son and daughter. As Jesus identified himself with sinners through his baptism, he later revealed, “I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me” (Jn. 17:23).

At his baptism, Jesus the Son was officially recognized by God the Father as the true Messiah of Israel and of the world. Jesus was anointed by the Spirit for the work that he had come to perform. Jesus dedicated himself to the Father’s will and work. The Holy Spirit descended upon him to empower him in the work he was to do. The relationship and the work of the Trinity were revealed in the baptism of Jesus. Later, when he commanded his disciples to go and make believers of all the nations, he addressed to them, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19).

Rev. Linh N. Nguyen