The Baptism of Jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4znfqSpV4-Y

There are moments in history where you find out real fast who actually believes what they say they believe. Not when it’s convenient. Not when it’s safe. When obedience costs you something. When the pressure hits and you don’t get to hide behind Christian language anymore.

Most of us have a Bible within arm’s reach. Some of us have five. And we still don’t think about what it cost to get the Word into the hands of ordinary people. For centuries, that wasn’t normal. The Scriptures weren’t in the language of the people, and the ones in power acted like gatekeepers. They decided what could be taught and what would stay hidden. They kept the Bible locked away, and the average person was told what to believe without being able to test it.

Then the Reformation cracked the door open, and men like William Tyndale kicked it wider. Tyndale wasn’t trying to be edgy. He wasn’t looking for controversy. He was convinced that regular people should be able to read the Word of God for themselves. That conviction cost him everything. He was hunted, betrayed, imprisoned, condemned, and killed. In 1536, they strangled him and burned him, and his final prayer wasn’t bitter. It was simple. “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

That kind of obedience should do something to us.

Because it exposes how often we negotiate with God. We ask Him for “more” while giving Him the minimum. We want Him to open doors while we keep the last instruction on hold. We pray for power while staying half in and half out. And whether we admit it or not, partial obedience is still disobedience.

John the Baptist is out in the wilderness calling people to repentance. No polish. No games. He’s preaching urgency and separation. He’s baptizing crowds, and baptism there wasn’t some casual religious moment. It was people stepping into the water admitting they were wrong. It was public confession. It was choosing to break with sin, not just feel sorry about it.

And John keeps saying the same thing. Someone is coming. He’s not like the others. He’s greater than I am. John talks about the Holy Spirit and fire. He talks about the winnowing fork and judgment. He talks about wheat gathered and chaff burned. His message is not “try a little harder.” His message is, God is near and you don’t get to stay the same.

Then Jesus shows up.

That detail should mess with us if we’re paying attention. Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan, and He steps into the same water as the guilty. John tries to stop Him. “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” John isn’t rebellious. He’s humble. He’s doing what God called him to do. But he’s confused, because this baptism is for repentance. So why is Jesus there? What sin does Jesus need to confess? What guilt does the spotless Christ need washed off?

He didn’t do it because He was dirty.

He did it because we were.

That’s the whole point. The Son of God steps into our waters. He identifies with sinners without becoming a sinner. He’s not standing in that line because He needs forgiveness. He’s standing there because He came to carry our obedience, our righteousness, and eventually our sin.

And Jesus gives the line that exposes all of us. “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)

Now.

Not later. Not after the timing feels better. Not when the moment is less costly. Now.

John hesitates, but Jesus doesn’t. He doesn’t argue. He doesn’t perform a speech. He insists. He steps forward. He obeys the Father all the way, even when it doesn’t make sense to the people watching.

And that’s where a lot of us get stuck. We love “eventually.” We love “someday.” We love “after I get my life together.” We love “when the kids are older.” We love “when I feel more spiritual.” We live like obedience is optional, like it’s for the super committed, like it’s extra credit.

BUT obedience isn’t for “the intense ones.” Obedience is for the saved!

You can’t pray your way around it. You can’t worship your way around it. You can’t shout your way around it. If God said it, the answer is yes. And delayed obedience is still disobedience. Partial obedience is still rebellion, no matter how religious it sounds.

There are people who have been asking God for breakthrough while refusing the last thing He already told them to do. You’ve been asking Him to “open a door,” but you’re still holding on to the very thing He told you to lay down. You want more of God, but you’re clinging to the one area you’ve kept off limits.

And then Matthew gives us the order that we try to reverse.

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.” (Matthew 3:16)

Jesus obeyed, and then heaven opened. The Spirit came after submission.

That matters. Because a lot of people want the Holy Spirit to rest on a life that still has conditions. Still has loopholes. Still has negotiations. Still has half surrender. But the Spirit doesn’t rest on compromise. He doesn’t rest on a life that’s divided. He doesn’t rest on delayed surrender.

God isn’t looking for perfect people. He’s looking for surrendered people.

Some of you aren’t ten steps away from freedom. You’re one yes away. One confession away. One act of obedience away. And you already know what it is. You’ve just been delaying it.

Stop negotiating with God.

Stop postponing what He’s already made clear.

Come all the way in. AND let the Spirit of God rest on you!