Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan in water and in Spirit Image may be subject to copyright
God Promises A Supernatural Heart Transplant
In Ezekiel 36:24-29 God promises he is going to demonstrate his holiness to the world by washing his children clean with water and giving them a supernatural heart transplant.
“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness."
Jesus' Baptism in Water & in Spirit
In Matthew 3:5-17 Jesus went to the River Jordan, where his cousin John the Baptiser was baptising dozens of people on confession of and repentance for sin, to be cleansed with water as a sign of God's forgiveness and cleansing. When he saw the Pharisees and religious leaders were among the crowd, he said: " You brood of vipers! Who warned you of God's coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with genuine repentance."
John also told the crowd that he baptized them with water for the forgiveness of their sins. But Someone was coming more important than him who would baptize them with Spirit and fire to purge them of their sins.
When Jesus approached John and asked him to baptize him, John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!” But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” (The Message paraphrase) So John did it.
The Meaning of Baptism in Water & in Spirit
In John Chapter 3 a Jewish leader and member of the Jewish religious council, The Sanhedrin, called Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly one night, intrigued by the miracles he had seen Jesus doing and hearing what he had been saying to the crowds that followed him.
Jesus was not flattered by Nicodemus' statement that it was obvious God was with him and replied " You must be born anothen."
Nicodemus thought anothen meant "again" - which it does! That looked to Nicodemus a physical impossibility for a sixty-year old! But the word also means "from above," meaning that it involves a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit as God promised through Ezekiel. And Jesus spelled it out for Nico by saying:" Flesh gives birth to physical life (Greek=bios) but the Spirit gives birth to spiritual ie eternal life (Greek=zoe). That's why you must be born anothen if you want to get into heaven."
[Note: Whenever Jesus talks about life, he always uses the word zoe - ie eternal spiritual life]
Two Reasons for Baptism in Water & in Spirit
When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, he was giving us an example to follow because we need to experience two things -
A. Cleansing in Water for the Forgiveness of Sin
Jesus had no sins to be forgiven, but we have. God promises to forgive our sins when we confess them and repent - turn away from sin and to God.
B. Being Filled with the Holy Spirit & Hearing God Say: "You Are My Beloved Child"
As Jesus rose up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove and he heard his heavenly Father say: "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Jesus received power for ministry and affirmation of his heavenly Father's love - two essentials for us as followers of Jesus.