Luke 3:19-22

Baptism of Jesus Christ

20 Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

Jesus Is Baptized

21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,

22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

John Baptizes Jesus

John the Courageous

The first two verses are almost passed over as John the Baptist is thrown in prison for rebuking Herod Antipas. And, as we will learn in later Bible study lessons, Herod's niece and his brother's wife, Herodias is the one who will later plot to have John killed.

John the Baptist was not in the least swayed by the fact that Herod was a Roman official and could have prisoners executed at the snap of his fingers - John preached the word of God no matter what the consequences.

Baptism of Jesus

Although Jesus was the Son of God he possessed human qualities. He began humbly - his birth was not announced throughout the land proclaiming that a king was born. Only a select few knew Christ existed - until now.

A Monumental Ministry Begins

This is all about to change when John the Baptist steps onto the scene. The baptism of Jesus began a ministry which turned the world upside down and later became known as Christianity.

Jesus understood the mission when he was 12, in the temple as we remember him asking and answering questions - talking intelligently with the religious leaders of the day. At the time of his baptism, Jesus began to carry out that mission.

Why Not Jerusalem?

Jesus did not go to Jerusalem and talk to the Pharisees or other religious teachers to start his ministry. These were people bogged down in interpreting and distributing the law and its many amendments. Instead, he found himself at the river where John the Baptist was preaching repentance - and the people were interested in turning away from sin.

Why was Jesus Baptized?

First of all, Jesus was without sin. If baptism is a declaration that we are sinners then why did he need to go through the ceremony? The Life Application Bible gives four possible answers.

1) Jesus identifying with us - This shows the human side of Christ and what God went through to understand our sinful nature.

2) Leading by Example: Christ is the plum bob; the example for us to follow in baptism and in life.

3) Announcement: The first indication that the ministry of Christ had begun

4) The Plan of Salvation: The baptism of Christ took on the sins of all - the Holy Spirit descended upon him showing that God's plan of salvation was in place.

No matter which theory is correct, or maybe a little of all these, the ministry was started at this point in time. Jesus did not need to be baptized. Just as everything else he did - he did it for us.

This is longer than I expected so next time we will look at the Trinity aspect of this passage from Luke.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Luke 2:1-20 - Birth of Jesus Christ