October 29, 2025 - Matthew 3:11-17 - "Baptism of Jesus"

Matthew 3:11-17

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

John’s message was distinct. To those drawn by the Spirit, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God" (John 1:29). He is to Whom sinners are to look for Salvation. To the curious, the religious, the Pharisees and Sadducees who observed, the message was a warning of the wrath to come. Regardless of who hears, it is a message of repentance toward the LORD Jesus Christ. John preached, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (v.8).

Repentance is a change of heart and mind, produced by the Spirit, turning the sinner away from themselves and to the work of the LORD Jesus Christ alone. It is not something we create; it is the fruit of union with Christ, the Root, the Vine. We see it in their repentance toward God and in faith toward the LORD Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). John addressed the religious leaders who trusted in their heritage, saying, “Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father” (v.9), warning that God is able of the stones to raise children to Himself.

He further warned, “Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire” (v.10). This is a declaration of judgment, a warning that the True Hope rests not in lineage, nor in human tradition, nor in zeal, but only in the LORD Jesus Christ. Many looked for a Messiah and wondered if John himself was that one. Yet, John points them to the One he was appointed to proclaim: the LORD Jesus Christ, the Son of God. "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Even that declaration was a pronouncement of God's distinctive grace in Christ to Gentile sinners (the world) and Him passing by apostate Israel (the Jews).

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John" (v.13). John resisted, saying, “I have need to be baptized of thee” (v.14), but Jesus answered, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him" (v.15). This baptism marked the beginning of Christ’s public ministry as the High Priest, a testimony that He would fulfill all righteousness. It is also the testimony of the work He came to do, declaring that Salvation rests only in Him. He is the Root, the Vine, the Lamb of God, the Savior, in Whom God is well pleased (v.17). His visible anointing at 30 years of age, according to the law for the entrance of the priests into the ministry, was when the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the voice of the Father declared, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" (John 1:32-34).

Jesus’ baptism was not for purification, for He had no sin. It was a declaration of the work He came to accomplish on behalf of sinners. John’s water baptism (immersion) looked forward to Christ’s work that He came to accomplish. Today, given eyes by the Spirit, we look back to His death, burial, and resurrection. That's why baptism is by immersion, Christ Himself coming up out of the water as a type of His resurrection upon completion of His death and burial (v. 16). Water baptism identifies us with Him, declaring His righteous work accomplished alone and our dependence on His finished work.

John emphasizes, “He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear” (v.11). The work of separating wheat and chaff, of gathering the elect and executing judgment on the unrepentant, belongs to Christ alone. He shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. The kernel is the fruit that Christ came to redeem, the chaff is representative of sinners that are worthless before God, and are still unjust, being left to their own condemnation. Wheat represents the elect of God, and the chaff the reprobates.

Christ has come and fulfilled all Righteousness by His death, burial, and resurrection on behalf of those that the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world to save (Ephesians 1:3-7).

"He came unto his own, [apostate Israel] and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:11-13).