|
|
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. You can read about it in Matthew 3 (KJV).
3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3:4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
3:9 And think 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.
3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
In Matthew 3:2-3, John the Baptist was warning people to turn away from sin and turn to God, because the kingdom of heaven was coming very soon. Once God came to earth as Jesus Christ, that started the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom will be complete when Jesus returns to judge all sins, and remove all evil from the world. Nobody knows when this will happen. It's best to be ready for it to happen at any time.
John the Baptist must have looked like a wild man, with his clothes made of camel's hair and a leather belt. He ate locusts and honey. Clearly all he was interested in was telling people God's message, rather than wearing fancy clothes and eating the best food. God's priorities are not the same as the priorities of the world.
Matthew 3:7-12 reports John the Baptist's reaction when he noticed that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees had come to watch the baptisms. He could tell that they weren't really interested in repenting from their sins. They thought that they deserved to be considered part of God's kingdom because they were descended from Abraham. However, John warned them that people who claimed to be following God, but didn't produce any fruit for God would be chopped down and burnt. Make sure you are working for God. Don't just say that you are repenting of your sins, do it! God will help you to stop sinning if you ask him to in prayer.
3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
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.
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:
3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
In Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus went to the Jordan River to get John to baptize him. At first John refused, because he recognised that Jesus was the Messiah. John wanted Jesus to baptize him. However, Jesus asked John to baptize him anyway, because it would "fulfil all righteousness", which means to carry out God's plan to free the world from sin.
When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended onto him (Matthew 3:16), and God announced that Jesus was His Son (Matthew 3:17). In these two verses, the Trinity of God was revealed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
These are some of the important points which can be learned from Matthew 3:
God bless you.