Verse 15 John’s life was holy and strict, his preaching powerful and with authority. They thought John might be the Messiah.

Verse 16 John tells them he has no access to the Holy Spirit, only water. And only the Holy Spirit can penetrate the skin to cleanse and purify the heart. We need the Holy Spirit to have a relationship with Jesus. We need a relationship with Jesus to communicate with God the Father. The Holy Spirit is our access to Heaven. It’s the only part of God that dwells here on earth amongst us.

The most John can do is lead the people to repent, assure them of forgiveness, and baptize them with water. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Fire is a metaphor for what purifies. You put fire to something to clean it off. It’s also a metaphor for judgment. John can only speak comfort and promise them safety but Jesus will give them comfort and keep them safe.

Verse 17 This is a great picture of Jesus sifting out the sin in our lives. John describes the Messiah as having a “winnowing fork” in his hand. This is like a pitchfork that separates the grains of wheat from the chaff, which is husks of corn, hay, and other seeds. Wikipedia says this pitchfork tool “would be used to lift harvested wheat up into the air into the wind. The wind would then blow away the lighter chaff allowing the edible grains to fall to the threshing floor, a large flat surface.” The wheat would then be gathered up for use, and the chaff would be burned.

Jesus will separate in our lives what is sin – the useless chaff- and what is good – the fruit. And the sin will be set to a fire that never goes out, that is judgment.

Here’s where we need to flip to Matthew again because an important piece of the story is missing from Luke, and it happens right here.

Matthew 3:13-17

Verse 13 As John is baptizing people, here comes Jesus, the one he has been preaching about.

Verse 14 John has a need to be baptized himself. If we say we believe, God’s Word shows us the next step is to be baptized. This is an outward confession, the action of our belief.

Verse 15 Jesus has no sin to repent of but He says He still has a need to be baptized too… “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus came to bear our sins on the cross. To carry our sin, our burdens in this life and exchange them by His death and resurrection (conquering sin, which is death, and raising us to new life in Him) with perfect righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21) So here Jesus is identifying with sinful humanity, us, and fulfilling the demands of God’s law to be baptized.

After repentance (making that decision to turn from our sin and follow Jesus), we should be baptized. Water baptism is a symbol of what’s going on in the heart. We confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord of our lives and that we want to follow Him. After this confession of our faith, the preacher says, “Now I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” And he dips us under the water. Signifying our sins and guilt is gone and we are raised up from the water into a new life, a new walk with Jesus. It’s so remarkable to witness. This is a new start! Our confession becomes a commitment to walk differently.

Jesus had no sin to repent of for baptism. But Jesus, being fully God, humbled Himself to be baptized by a man. He subjected Himself to this baptism that He is asking all believers to do. Jesus was always being an example of what we must do, regardless of Him being God’s Son, God in the flesh.

Jesus’ example illustrates that before we receive any honor in life, we must submit in humility. We must humble ourselves, to serve and then serve some more. To never come to a place where we think that we are above ‘that’ or ‘done enough’. Remember, your perseverance in being humble and submitting never has to run out!

Verse 16 This baptism of Jesus is a great example that when we honor God as John did by preaching of Jesus’ coming, God will honor us with blessings, like John received when he was given the opportunity to baptize Jesus.

Everything about Jesus fulfilled prophecies that were told for years and everything Jesus did fulfilled the law. His baptism is an example of this. The law says if you are a sinner and want a relationship with God, then you must repent and be baptized. Even though He is Jesus, the Messiah, and has no sin, He came to abide by the law and fulfill it. We were created to abide in the law and fulfill it too.

In and through Jesus Christ, the heavens are opened to us as children of God to have communication with the Almighty. Sin had closed heaven off from us and put a stop to all communication between God and man; but now Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

The Spirit of God comes down and rests on Jesus. Jesus had the Spirit of God in Him but this was a physical manifestation to show everyone else and to fulfill what the prophets had foretold.

A dove is a representation of innocence. They are harmless. They are also a representation of purity. In the Bible, these spotless, pure doves are used as sacrifices to the Lord in place of a person’s sin. This dove comes to rest on Jesus. And interestingly, Jesus will later go to the cross for our sins as our sacrifice.

Not only does the Holy Spirit show up at Jesus’ baptism but also the voice of God. All three parts of God (we call this the Trinity – three in unity or three in one), God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are here at Jesus’ inauguration ceremony – his baptism- for public ministry.

Prayer: Jesus, You are my comfort and safety. You are all my reasons for how and why I live. There is nothing more important than living with You in my life, sharing You with everyone in my life. Use me to share Your Word with power and authority when the timing is right. To not let fear cause me to shy away from but to speak with confidence in Your Truth. Purify my thoughts and my motives, Holy Spirit, and let them be fueled by Truth in all areas of my life – parenting, marriage, work, leisure, entertainment, and behind the scenes when no one is watching. I lay down the hurt and pain before Your throne, Jesus; I trust that You have it in Your control. You are more powerful than my pain. You are stronger than the sting of the enemy. You are greater than anything we can gain by doing, saying, or paying back evil. Help me, Jesus, to remember Your humility and humble my heart to serve those around me. This is a true honor. Help me persevere in humility and serve those around me. I want to honor You, Jesus, by sharing the Word by my actions, not just my words. Thank you, Jesus, for opening Heaven up to me so that I can have access to the Almighty God. Rest in me today, Holy Spirit. Fill me with Your Spirit, Jesus. Have Your way in my life, through my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.