Essays
Righteousness Fulfilled
righteousness fulfilled
Ordained by God, John the Baptizer appeared on the scene in the months preceding Jesus’ ministry. He was “a voice crying in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord…” (Mt.3:2). John was a harbinger who came “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk.3:3). So why did Jesus come to John to be baptized in the river Jordan? Was not Jesus the PERFECT Lamb who came to take away the sin of the world (Jn.1:29)? Jesus’ request for baptism even baffled John -- “I have need to be baptized by You and yet You come to me” (Mt.3:14). Jesus countered John’s hesitancy by stating, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this in order TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Mt.3:15). Subsequently, John relented and baptized Jesus, “the Savior of the world” (1Jn.4:14).
There are two reasonable explanations for the baptism of Jesus. First of all, in being like His brethren (Heb.2:14 & 17), Jesus was submitting to John’s call for all of Israel to repent and be baptized. Was not Jesus one of Israel? Like them, He, too, was born under the law (Gal.4:4). Yet, to better understand why THE SPOTLESS LAMB yielded to a baptism of “repentance for the forgiveness of sins”, we turn to the New Testament epistles. Regarding this, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around this piece of truth. On one hand, Jesus was “without sin” (Heb.4:15 & 7:26). However - - in God’s marvelous plan of redemption - - God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2Cor.5:21a). Jesus “bore the sins of (the) many.” (Heb.9:28a). THE SINLESS ONE BORE OUR SINS (1Pet.2:24). In His sinlessness Christ was obedient (righteous) in every respect. Only in this way could we sinful ones come to be beneficiaries - - being made “the righteousness of God in Him” (2Cor.5:21b). This is at the very core of what makes God’s grace so utterly a-m-a-z-i-n-g.
Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ
