Jesus’s Baptism: Jesus is Walking into Our Life
John 1:19-34
When we think about baptism, we often think about our own confession of faith or commitment to follow Jesus. This week’s message focuses instead on the meaning of Jesus’s baptism and its significance. Why did Jesus, who was God and was sinless, receive a baptism of repentance?
To understand Jesus’s baptism, we must also look into the story of Jesus’s baptism as well as the man who performed Jesus’s baptism. John the Baptist was a man who identified himself as “a voice crying in the wilderness,” who understood his mission to prepare “the way of the Lord” and proclaimed a baptism of repentance. Around the time of Passover, crowds of people gathered to be baptized, including Jesus. John, despite not knowing who Jesus was, immediately recognized Jesus as one who was both greater than him and one who existed before him. While John was hesitant, he obliged and baptized Jesus.
This raises a question: If Jesus lived a sinless life, why was He baptized?
We can have faith even when we have questions. John recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God in John 1:29, yet while John was imprisoned, also sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one who was prophesied in Matthew 11:3. How do we make sense of John, who both seemed to know Jesus, but also had lingering questions? There are two kinds of knowing: knowing by information and knowing by relationship. For John the Baptist, even though he did not know personally who Jesus was, Jesus was revealed to John through his relationship with God. To clarify this, Pastor Daniel gave an example of his relationship with one of ANF’s precious kiddos, Ava. Pastor Daniel shared that he struggled to get close with Ava. Yet, Ava is intimate and familiar with her house church members in Ecuador, like Caleb. While Ava does know who Caleb is, she knows Caleb through their relationship in house church. Similarly, John did not have the full wisdom and knowledge to understand who Jesus was but knew him relationally through revelation and his relationship with God. This teaches us that faith does not require our complete knowledge and having questions does not mean we lack faith. While we may not understand everything within God’s plan, we can begin to ponder on who He is and what His character is like through moments of gratitude, or worship, or intimate time spent with Him. Faith begins not with having all the answers, but through relationship.
Jesus is walking into our life. The Bible affirms Jesus’s sinlessness. Yet, Jesus’s baptism marks the beginning of God’s plan for our redemption. Though sinless, Jesus lowered himself to the level of sinners and marked the beginning of God’s redemptive plan for us. God’s salvation plan was to come to the place of our sin, bear our sin, and ultimately die for our. Before we walked toward Him, Jesus walked towards us. Before we chose Him, Jesus chose us. Jesus chose and initiated a relationship with us first.
Jesus’s baptism reveals God’s heart: God, who does not wait for us to come clean but steps into our brokenness to bring redemption.
Practical Application:
For nonbelievers, regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, know that having questions or doubts does not disqualify us from faith in God. Walk into Him as He walked into us.
For believers, we should guard ourselves of trying to substitute knowledge in place of a relationship with God. Instead of doing, we can try to deepen our relationship with Him by being still and being mindful of His presence in our everyday life.
Reflection Questions:
What was your main takeaway from this week’s passage?
Can you reflect on a time when you could not fully understand what God was doing?
What might it look like to respond to God even while you still have questions?
