John the Baptist baptizes Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3:13-16

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“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” Matthew 3:13-14

On the map below, you can see the route from Galilee to the place where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.

John knew who Jesus was. John knew Jesus was the Christ and Son of God. In his righteousness, John realized that as a man born in sin, he was not worthy to baptize the sinless Son of God…John needed to be baptized by Jesus

When Jesus comes to us and we welcome Him into our life, the sin within us realizes how far short we come from His Holiness. We realize that we need to be baptized in His Spirit if we ever hope to live in fellowship with God. We are sinners because inherited sin is engrained within human nature because of Adam’s disobedience to the word of God, yet Jesus comes to us offering reconciliation. The reconciliation is offered at the Cross where our Lord Jesus has taken all of our sins upon Himself to be crucified with Him. By faith, we accept the forgiveness of sins that He made possible by His sacrifice upon the Cross. His grace and mercy will always be with us as we believe in God the Creator, acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and our Lord, and embrace the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The sin within us might make us question if we have the Holy Spirit, but we know we have the Holy Spirit when we do not speak against Jesus and say that He is Lord, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3

John and Jesus grew up together as their families were very close to each other. They were close to each other within the heart and were also relatives. Mary, Joseph, Zacharias, and Elizabeth knew that their children were the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, John being “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” and the other being the Christ and Son of God born of a virgin birth, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and will call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

John was born about six months before Jesus, so for about thirty years, before John baptized Jesus, John witnessed the words of Jesus, witnessed the Spirit of God working through Him, and witnessed the many other things that made Him thoroughly convinced that Jesus was sent as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. John knew without a doubt that he was not worthy to baptize Jesus, but he needed to be baptized by Jesus.

“And the angel answered and said to [Mary], “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.” Luke 1:35-36

Jesus was living in Nazareth, circled in red at the top of the map below, which is a city in Galilee [still there today by the name of Nazareth]. Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan River. That baptism site was Bethany, a city near Jericho, at the Jordan River. Jericho is circled in red towards the middle of the map. The Jordan River is the red line to the right of Jericho. From Nazareth to the place where Jesus was baptized is about 150 miles, no busses, no helicopters, no trains, no taxis…

“But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him” Matthew 3:15

John was aware of His sinful nature, even though he was filled with the Holy Spirit from His mother’s womb, “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” Luke 1:15 As long as we live on this earth, our sinful nature will always be with us, even with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to remain humble in the presence of the Holiness of God because “…we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness like filthy rags;” Isaiah 64:6 The redemption of our sinful body comes when we are resurrected from the grave and given an eternal body, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44

In the days of the Old Testament, righteousness was determined by remaining faithful to the letter of the law of Moses. That remained true up to the time that our Lord Jesus was crucified on the Cross to bring the righteousness of God to us by faith in Him. That is why Jesus said that John should baptize Him for now, but after He made atonement for sin on the Cross, water baptism would no longer be needed, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”Romans 3:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21

The Holy Spirit within John helped Him to realize the truth of what Jesus Christ was saying to him. Very soon, John would be exactly right, that no person on this earth is Holy enough to be able to perform any type of baptism that would wash away a person’s sin to make them righteous in the eyes of God. “For now”, before the death and resurrection of Jesus and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, John allowed Jesus to be baptized by him.

“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3-4

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

After Jesus was baptized, the voice of God came from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” What pleases God? Faith! “But without faith it is impossible to please Him…” Hebrews 11:6 The faith of our Lord Jesus made Him obedient to God, even to the laying down of His life on the Cross to atone for sin, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:8 That is what Christ Jesus was baptized into.

Jesus Christ asks every one of us, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Matthew 20:22 Our Lord Jesus calls us into His baptism to take up our cross and follow Him, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24 By the faith that pleases God, we are able to take the shield of faith that enables us to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16 Jesus says, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” John 15:20

The just will live by faith. We are baptized into Christ through His Gospel, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just will live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17 “As it is written” refers to Habakkuk 2:4, where it says, “The just will live by faith.”

After Jesus experienced His baptism, the heavens opened to Him and the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove. From Heaven came the Dove of the Holy Spirit, symbolizing peace, gentleness, purity, and the anointing of the Spirit of God that was upon Him. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27 We are baptized into Christ by receiving the Holy Spirit. He gave His life on the Cross to atone for sin so that we would be able to receive the Holy Spirit.

Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? If you do not speak against Jesus and say that He is Lord, then you have the Holy Spirit, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3 That may sound like an easy verse to follow, but in today’s world, where the power of darkness fills the hearts of those around the world, we are afflicted for saying that He is Lord and for refusing to curse His name. Today’s culture lives by the beast that gives them what to say and do, and they are hateful in what they say and do towards belief in God, the Gospel of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are truly baptized into Jesus Christ. By the Spirit of the Dove of the Holy Spirit, we maintain a meek and gentle spirit of peace.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.
I am coming soon. 
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.’”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1