Today’s passage: Matthew 3:13-17
Helpful thoughts:
- Of all the people who did not need to be baptized for repentance, it was Jesus. Here are some reasons why He did:
- To identify with sinners – Isaiah 53:12 – “He was numbered with the transgressors.”
- As a picture of His death and resurrection – Mark 10:38 – “Are you able…to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
- We see the Trinity in this passage:
- The Father identifies and delights in His Son. (Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 42:1)
- The Spirit identifies and anoints the Son for ministry.
- The Son identifies with sinners and is baptized.
Questions to consider:
- What is important about the different ways John the Baptist responded to the Pharisees/Sadducees and Jesus? What does that tell us about John’s understanding of who Jesus is?
- How does it make you feel when other people treat you as something less than you are? (i.e. at work, at school, in your home?) How far did the Son of God have to go in order to be identified with sinners?
- How should Christians think about social status? Why would it be wrong to show partiality? (James 2)