Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Mat 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Was it NORMAL for people- for thirty year old Jewish men to be baptized?
No.
What John the Baptist was doing wasn't something typical to the Jewish man's way of life. Jesus had lived the typical Jewish life. He was circumcised as a baby. He was taught the customs- going to Jerusalem every year for the feast of the passover. He lived the typical Jewish man's life up until He was 30 years old. At that time there was John the Baptist- preaching and baptizing- John was preaching a call to repentance.
Being called to repentance wasn't something completely new to the Jewish people. The history of God's people showed numerous calls to repentance by God's holy prophets. John taking up that call as a prophet and preaching repentance was yet another instance- some would perceive him to be from God and WERE baptized by Him and others mocked him, as they did all prophets.
Luk 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Luk 3:2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
Luk 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
He was PREACHING the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Repent and be baptized.
This wasn't all he was doing.
Luk 3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Luk 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
Luk 3:6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Luk 3:7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luk 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Luk 3:9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Luk 3:10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
Luk 3:11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
He preached LOVE for our fellow man!
Luk 3:12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
Luk 3:13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
He preached fairness- love to all!
Luk 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
Preaching love- because isn't treating each other as he tells those newly baptized Jews- publicans, soldiers and the like- love? It is. And obviously these people were living in a world full of corrupt Jews, a corrupt way of life had become acceptable to the masses and God was not with them. John was a prophet calling out to God's people- exposing their sins- offering a chance for them to have a new life- a righteous life not called to selfishness and evil but to selfLESSness and love.
Luk 3:15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
Luk 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
Luk 3:17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Luk 3:18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
John preached the coming of the MESSIAH.
The preaching of the coming of the Messiah- ONE who would save God's people from their sins was preached for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Read this passage -
Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
The Jews were LOOKING for the coming of their predicted Messiah. Many were ready for the prophecy to be fulfilled, but more weren't. Their expectation of the Messiah wasn't grounded- they looked for an earthly king to rule, to lead, to guide them and to destroy their enemies. They were not looking for someone to come preach - love your enemies.
Jesus lived knowing who He was, at 12 years old He knew yet it wasn't time for Him to reveal anything at all. Jesus was to live a normal life, as an average Jewish man and then when it was time He began His Father's work.
Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Mat 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
John knew who Jesus was, the promised Messiah. Life as they knew it to be as a typical Jewish men would NEVER be the same. The Messiah came and with Him came change, with Him came a fulfillment of righteousness. With the Messiah's arrival a WHOLE new covenant was ushered in, a NEW covenant that we need to know intimately because WE, you and I, live under this new covenant and will continue to live under this new covenant until our Savior, our Messiah returns for us.
By His grace may we come to understand fully His most amazing love as we wait for Him under the new covenant He brought to us all.
In His love.
Amen
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