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Matthew 3:13-17
Messiah Arrives
By Johnny Tatum
PART 4: HEAVEN DESIGNATED
The Bookends of His Public Ministry
The Apostle John said:
This is the One who came by water and blood, Messiah Jesus;
I believe John is giving the two parameters (the bookends) of Jesus' public ministry, including:
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So water is the beginning of His sinless life, which cannot save us. Therefore, John adds:
not with water only, but with the water and with the blood. (1 John 5:6)
Meaning, not just with His sinless life, but with the water and with the blood.
Where was Messiah Jesus our Substitute? Not in His Sinless Life, but at the Cross
.We have seen that every sinner needs forgiveness and compassion, and Messiah Jesus gave it. But we cannot stop there; it is not that sinners just need things, something needs to be added. Sinners have a debt. This is a debt that cannot be worked out, it cannot be traded or bartered, it must be paid. How can that debt be paid?
Only in blood.
Consider the following verses:
For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)
The soul who sins will die… (Ezekiel 18:4)
Water and Blood Go Together
During His three and one half years of ministry, Messiah Jesus met hundreds of people, many of whom we see in the Gospels (the first four books in the New Testament that describe the life and ministry of Messiah Jesus). And everybody who came to Him got compassion: Messiah Jesus felt their burden and He felt sorry for them.
However, think of the tragedy here. Most of the people to whom Messiah Jesus demonstrated compassion in this life went to hell. Why?
They saw the water of His life, but they never identified with Him in His blood
.The water of Messiah's life and the blood of His death go together; therefore, it is very appropriate to hear at His baptism (the beginning of the water, of His public ministry) a picture of His death. That should not surprise us though, because we saw pictures of His death at His birth (see the Matthew 2:12-23 series). I believe that is what we have here.
Think about the picture:
Messiah Jesus goes into the water and then He immediately comes back up
.Does that sound familiar? Does that sound like something else Messiah Jesus would do? He would go down and then He would go right back up. Sure! This is a picture of:
Messiah Jesus going into the tomb and then coming back up
.That is what is happening here. Again, this baptism is not our example; it is something unique. When He was baptized, he was saying this is a picture:
As He went into the water, He was saying:
I am going to die and be buried for the sins of the world, but I will come out.
As He came out of the water, He was saying:
I will rise again so that everybody who believes in Me (everybody who has identified with Me) will have victory over death.
Application:
We do not follow Messiah Jesus in baptism. He is the ONE who was baptized at the Cross. We just let Him be identified with us -- we let Him be our substitute. Messiah Jesus told John the Baptizer Let it be. That is what He is telling us:Just let Me be your Substitute.
When Messiah Jesus died on the Cross (see Matthew 27:27-56) and He went into the tomb (see Matthew 27:57-66), we say:
That is where I should have been. He died in my place.
When Messiah Jesus came out of the grave (see Matthew 28:1-10), we say:
His coming out of the grave means that I can have victory over death, and I have newness of life right now!
The Heavens Were Opened
It is no coincidence that as soon as He came out of the water, the heavens were opened:
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and behold,I think we ought to linger just a minute on these
beholds. Matthew uses the word all through his book. I believe that is an invitation to stop and picture this:and behold, the heavens were opened,
Matthew says things so matter-of-factly that we have to stop and picture what this would have looked like. You are out in the Jordan Valley and
all of a sudden the heavens open! And it is clear that other people saw it. So what? Was this just a spectacle? No! There is great application here. Look at the timing. When were the heavens opened?With His death, burial, and resurrection the heavens were opened.
He goes into the water; He comes back out — that is when the heavens opened. What a picture!
What opens up heaven to mankind? For those that are identified with Messiah Jesus:
The death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus open up heaven to mankind
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A Question to Ask:
Was This A Real Event or a Vision?
By the way, I do NOT believe that this was just a vision; I believe it was a real event. It was a window to heaven. This probably happened about 28 A.D., so I guess they would have called it
Windows 28 — and what an operating system! The window of heaven is opened not for somebody who purchases the product, instead, Somebody Else purchases the product and then you say: Okay, that will be mine too!And the heavens opened!
Do you know how we know it was a real event? Because a physical object came down from heaven:
and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him,
This was not a burning in John the Baptizer's bosom; he saw this happen and it was real. Matthew says
descending as a dove. Luke says:And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove … (Luke 3:22)
As recorded in the Book of John, John the Baptizer sees this object also:
John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him," (John 1:32)
But he keeps saying, as (like) a dove, so obviously, there was a real, physical object. It may have been a dove, or it may have just looked like one, but it was a real object. The point is that it looked like a dove.
I scanned the Old Testament, and I found the references to dove to learn what the people of the day would have thought. This is obviously not a random symbol. So why a dove? There were a few references that stood out…
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A dove is Pure. |
Jesus of Nazareth was pure, sinless. |
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Doves were a symbol of Joy. |
Jesus of Nazareth brought joy and forgiveness to sinners. |
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In the Song of Solomon, a dove is a picture of Beauty. |
What beauty! The eternal Word of God, incarnate in a flesh, to bring beauty to the human race. |
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[Most of the time] when doves are mentioned, it is in reference to doves Mourning. |
What a picture of Messiah Jesus! At His first coming, He came to have compassion. And He mourned over the condition of the human race; He saw what sin had done to the human race and He mourned over it. |
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And, maybe above all, the people of that time thought of a dove as something that was Harmless. |
Harmless describes Messiah Jesus' First Coming — His public ministry: 1) He did NOT come to judge I am not judging anybody (John 12:47). 2) He did NOT come to condemn; He told the woman caught in adultery I am not condemning you (John 8:11). *See note. |
*Note:
The first time Messiah Jesus came harmless and gentle. Already at the beginning of the Kingdom, we see that this is a different kind of Kingdom. Kingdoms of the world always force people; however, this is a Kingdom where Messiah rules over those who let Him. Remember that He said Let it be; His Kingdom is one of identification, gentleness, and grace. Clearly, at His Second Coming, Messiah Jesus is going to judge and condemn unbelievers. No question!
A Huge Difference:
The Law
There was another time when God opened the heavens and sent something down. Do you know what He sent down? The Law with the angels (messengers of God the Father). Heaven opened up, angels came down to Mount Sinai, and they brought the Law to Moses.
Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promised had been made. (Galatians 3:19)
Was that a peaceful and gentle scene? NO! It was a scene of terror (fire descended, smoke ascended, and the mountains quaked violently). Why? Because the Law brought death and condemnation. Nothing was wrong with the Law; however, when the Law came into contact with sinful humanity, it brought death and terror.
That was the Kingdom of the Law, and now we are in a new Kingdom:
The Kingdom of Messiah Jesus and Grace
.Look how God delivers His Kingdom:
In a dove…
A new Kingdom of Peace - Joy - Beauty
Whereas the Father sent the Law in a context of terror, He sends this new Kingdom of Grace as a dove and right at the beginning of Messiah Jesus' public ministry.
Of course, the Father certifies:
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and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased."I am not going to comment on that verse, because we are going to look at it with the next passage about the temptation (see the Matthew 4:1-11 series,
Tempted In His Humanity, Yet Without Sin).
For now, let us focus on:
The Key Word: Let
The Key Phrase: Fulfills All Righteousness
Question:
Do I really understand that if I am identified with Messiah Jesus that righteousness is fulfilled in me?Our first answer may be
Sure! I know that. That is how I was saved. But do we really catch on that it means "fulfilled"? He did NOT say Let it be so that I can teach people how to be righteous. He did say:Righteousness is fulfilled in those who are identified with Messiah Jesus.
But we do not tend to think Yes, that was at my salvation, but I have to maintain that righteousness by doing good things. Then, we are NOT reading what He says:
We will do this so righteousness will be fulfilled.
Fulfilled means, "filled to the brim — as full as it can be". So if our righteousness was fulfilled the minute we identified with Messiah Jesus, then how can we add to it if it is already filled up?
We were declared totally righteous when we identified with Messiah Jesus. Does that mean that what we do in this life does not matter? Certainly, it matters.
The point is:
The only way we can enjoy any level of actual righteousness in this life is to have the premise with which to begin. The grade book is already filled out in our life, and it says 100. That is what Messiah Jesus said:It is fulfilled; it is brought to the end; it is fact
.Why? Because He identified with us. And
if we think that we can add something to that then it is NOT fulfilled.
Illustration:
The Powerful Identification
There is a prison in South America where everybody incarcerated and working at the facility (the prisoners, the guards, and the warden) is a believer. And there are not bars; there are no walls. They are totally free. And though it is out in the middle of the country, nobody ever escapes.
Chuck Colson (missionary to prisoners) went to visit the prison, and he was amazed at how the system worked. Colson asked them
Do you have ANYBODY locked up? And they answered Yes, one person is locked up and in isolation. Colson asked Can I see him? And they asked Do you really want to? Are you sure? He said Yes, I want to see the one you have locked up and in isolation. So they took Chuck Colson to the only building on the prison compound, down the hall, and to the door. They opened the door, and there was a picture of Messiah Jesus on the cross. The prisoners said Messiah Jesus is serving our time for us.Normally, I do not like pictures of Jesus on the cross, because He came off that cross, was buried, and resurrected to life. But in this instance I differ, because these people are showing that for the few hours Messiah hung on that cross, He paid for the infinity of our sins. What does that mean?
We are totally identified with Him. What does that say about our righteousness? Our righteousness is fulfilled; it is all done!
Father, thank You for Matthew's firsthand account of the sinless and righteous life of the King, Messiah Jesus. Thank You in particular for this passage that presents the first public appearance of this sinless One — the eternal Word — who had prepared for 30 years to accomplish three and one half years of messianic work.
Thank You for gently persuading my heart to
let Messiah Jesus be my Substitute so that He identifies with me. I know the world has a problem with the riff raff (including myself) who say Messiah Jesus is my Substitute. Obviously, the world resists Messiah's offer to be their substitute, because it is humiliating to recognize there is nothing one can do to improve oneself. However, through His powerful identification, anybody can have hope. And it is to that end that I pray for the unbelieving world.Father, thank You that Messiah Jesus, the holy - righteous - perfect One identified with the human race by getting a body of flesh just like ours, and saying
I am one of them. Amazingly, He identified with us in our natural state as sinners though He knew no sin. And then, legally, He was made sin for us to totally fulfill our righteousness. That is exactly what I need — a double trade where He gets my sin and I get His righteousness!Thank You for opening the heavens to me through the death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus. Thank You that He died on the cross and went into the tomb where I should have been. And when He came out of the grave — when He arose again — He gave me victory over death and He gave me newness of life. I praise You for gifting me with Your redemptive love, and for giving me the faith to believe in Him.
Father, thank You for this coming of Messiah Jesus who was pure, who brought joy, who mourned over the condition of the human race, and whose ministry was harmless, because He did not come to judge or condemn anybody. However, we know that His Second Coming will be very different because He is going to judge unbelievers. So by the power of Holy Spirit we ask to share Your Good News with the unsaved world so that many will believe in Him and be saved.
In the name of Messiah Jesus we pray. Amen.
Next:
Matthew 4:1-11, TEMPTED IN HIS HUMANITY, YET WITHOUT SIN
To: Matthew 2;12-23, WHAT WAS SPOKEN WAS FULFILLED
Back To: Matthew Series Page
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