Publicly introducing Jesus

Read Matthew 3.

Each of the gospels emphasizes a different perspective on the life of Christ.  The Gospel of Matthew is written to prove that Jesus is King.  After providing some details concerning His birth, the Holy Spirit had Matthew skip thirty years ahead to the public introduction of Jesus.

In Luke chapter one, we are told that John the Baptist was the son of a godly and elderly couple.  His father, Zechariah, was a Levitical priest, and Elizabeth, was a relative of Mary.  So, humanly, there existed some family relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus.

Under normal expectations, John, being of the tribe of Levi, would have served in a similar manner as his father.  But his calling and ministry stood in great contrast to the Temple and the religious establishment.  The nation had been led in rituals without a heart committed to God and obedience to the Scriptures.  True faith in God had been turned into empty, and even sinful, practices.  The message was simple and clear.  Repent!  Repentance is not merely feeling sorry for doing wrong.  The Greek word literally means to turn around.

When the people heard this preaching, the Holy Spirit pricked their consciences and they confessed their sins against God (v.6).  With the admission of their sin and agreeing with God about their disobedience, they publicly declared their commitment to change the direction of their lives.  To confirm this, they were willing to be publicly immersed in the Jordan River as an outward identification with this message.

Then, came Jesus.  He did  not come confessing sin because He had none to confess.  However, He obviously desired to publicly identify with the message.  When Jesus appeared, John felt the same as the prophet Isaiah when he saw God in Isaiah 6.  Next to holiness, John and Isaiah felt unclean and humbled.  But Jesus said that being baptized by John was the right thing to do (v.15).

As Jesus came up out of the water, all three persons of the Trinity were present.    The Holy Spirit visibly alit upon Jesus.  Those looking for Messiah would have been reminded of  Isaiah 11:2.  The Father declared His pleasure aloud.  This was the first of three times in the New Testament where the voice of God, the Father, was heard audibly.  Each time it was to confirm that Jesus is none other than God, the Son.  As the angel announced in Matthew 1:23, Jesus is Immanuel, "God with us."