21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
John now completed his ministry by baptizing Jesus (vv. 21-22). The baptism of Jesus also marked the launch of His ministry.
3:21
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized;
John baptized much of the crowd attending John’s ministry. Jesus was among those baptized. His baptism signaled the launch of His public ministry after 30 years of obscurity. Since Jesus had no sin, why was He baptized? The purpose was His introduction as the Messiah to Israel (Jn 1:31). He was the deliverer the nation anticipated would come.
and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
Jesus began to pray after His baptism (Mt 3:16-17). Heaven opened, injecting a revelatory statement that Jesus was the Son of the Father.
3:22
And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him,
As Jesus was praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him bodily in the form of a dove. This event anointed Jesus with the Spirit (Isa 41:8; 42:1; 61:1).
and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Grammatically, the Father’s testimony to Jesus as the Son is the main point of verses 21 and 22 (the central assertion of the two verses, making everything that precedes subordinate to it). Jesus’ audible approval by the Father now set Him apart for His mission. This kind of affirmation of Jesus occurred at the transfiguration (Mt 17:1-5). The third occurred in the last week of His life (Jn 12:28). This announcement from heaven fulfilled Psalm 2:7, a messianic Psalm. “Son” is a reference meaning the messianic Son of God. The concept of the Son harks back to the Davidic covenant (2 Sa 7:7-16).
The Trinity was present at Jesus’ baptism. The Father spoke, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. This denies that there is one person in three modes (modalism).
PRINCIPLE:
The baptism of Jesus is not Christian baptism.
APPLICATION:
Jesus did not need to repent of anything. He identified with those who sinned. This identification by baptism demonstrated His willingness to die for their sins and rise from the dead to offer people eternal life.
The baptism of Jesus is not Christian baptism. His baptism launched His public ministry; believers’ baptism shows our identity with Christ’s death for our sins, the confirmation of death by burial, and His resurrection by identifying our eternal future with Christ by His work on our behalf.
Also, the baptism of Jesus demonstrated the work of the Trinity and refuted modalism, or Sabellianism, which claimed that God is not a Trinity but only a unity. Oneness United Pentecostalism is an example today of this heresy, denying that God exists in three persons. To them, there is only one person in God. Modalism views God manifesting Himself in three different modes, not persons.
