John Consented
Have you ever been asked by God to do something and had a sense of tremendous unworthiness come over you? In that moment you understand that you are the last person in the world who should be entrusted with the delegated task. “God, is there an angel you could send down here to do it?”, may be the considered reply. Most certainly there is a sense of inappropriateness in the situation. The unworthiness is just so immense, and yet! God has asked you for a reason.
So when Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptised, John attempted to deter Jesus from following through with this blasphemous event. In John’s own words, “I need to be baptised by you, and you come to me?” Anyone who understands John the Baptist knows this is not some vain humility being expressed. John was a serious individual. As the forerunner to the Savior of the world, he was very much aware of his own faults and unworthiness. He was not being professionally considerate of Jesus. He was dead serious. In John’s mind he had no business baptising the Savior. He was right!
John the baptist consented to baptize the Son of God.
But Jesus - don’t you just love that statement. Whenever it is said you know there are infinite possibilities that follow - But Jesus rejected John’s position on the matter and replied, “Let’s do this now.” Do you hear the urgency in Jesus’ reply? Now is the time. Not later, when you repent of all your sin, John. Not later, when you feel more worthy and have read the scriptures. Not later, when you feel holier than you do at this moment. Now is the time to do this.
Jesus continued, “it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” It’s like Jesus is telling John, “listen John, I talked to the Father and I know that this is the right thing to do.” We understand from the scripture that at this point, and with Jesus' reassurance, John consented. Jesus is baptised and heaven opens up with the Holy Spirit alighting on Jesus like a dove and the Father’s voice heard by Jesus - “This is My Son, Whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.”
Right here, after rising out of the waters, Jesus hears directly from God the Father the acknowledgement of His own sonship and the fact that His Father is “well pleased” with Him. What Son would not be overjoyed to hear such from their Father?! What a blessing it must have been to Jesus to have this approval from His Heavenly Father. And the opening of heaven and the Spirit of God descending, how powerful was that? A foreshadowing of what would happen later to the early church in the form of tongues of flames on pentecost. (Acts 2) From this place and after this baptism, Jesus left to be tested in the wilderness and subsequently entered into His ministry.
Imagine! All this happened because a truly unworthy vessel overcame his sense of unworthiness and followed the direction of Jesus to complete the task at hand. God does not choose the perfect to complete His work here in the world. He cannot. He has you and me to work with and that means He is going to use sinners, those who are broken and yes, unworthy to complete the tasks necessary. But, praise be to God Almighty, our worthiness is no more important than the results are dependent on our abilities. It is all in God’s hand and according to His power and under His worthiness. What God needs from us is obedience. Our obedience is what makes us an open door for the power of God to touch the lives of others and the glory of God to be revealed in the world around us.
Side Note: Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptised. This is something that we should do. If you have not been baptised, I encourage you to do so.