It Is Fitting For Us

1-11-26

Hoonah-Hadley

Matthew 3:13-17

Call to Worship Psalm 29

Daily Verse Matthew 3:15

It Is Fitting For Us

“But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.” Let us begin by saying, out of all the places we could be in the bible, out of all Matthew chapter 3 has to offer, and out of the vastness of verses 13 through 17, God saw that it is fitting for us to be right here in verse 15. As the saying goes, “If God brings us to it, He’ll see us through it.” If you’ve been sitting in a pew for long, these verses, the baptism story of Christ is a familiar one. In standard fashion, there is a lot going on here, but as we follow Christ from the cradle to the grave and beyond, these verses are not only fitting our walk, but wonderfully full of all righteousness. Obviously, all of humanity doesn’t desire the straight and narrow, but if Christ came to do one thing, it was and is to show us the right way to live. Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight and smooth.” There is something romantic about going off road that draws the wayward soul into the wilderness, but who doesn’t enjoy a freshly paved, straight stretch of road that quiets the tires and sooths the soul? The one sign along the road says, “Choice, not chance determines your destiny.” It’s not our intention to get into free will here, but when heading out the door of life, there is a wide gate and a narrow one. Matt. 7:13-14 is about as fitting a lesson as we will ever find in our journey through all the twists and turns, mountains and valleys, smooth and rough that life has to offer. If life is a highway, the gate we enter will make all the difference.

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“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and easy is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” There are few scriptures that paint humanity as clearly as these two verses, God’s word in its undiluted sternness that leaves us alone with our lives, the decisions we’ve made and the ones that lay before us. Let us camp out here for a moment to make doubly sure these verses do not return to God void but that they accomplish what He pleases, that they prosper in the thing for which He sent them. God is forever setting before us two ways in life, giving us choices, but notice here before we come to the Y in the road He puts up a big sign that tells us which way to go, “Enter by the narrow gate.” Then He goes on to tell us about the two, essentially heaven and hell, the choice that will lead to our eternal dwelling. The first one is wide and easy leading to destruction and many enter it. Do you see the great deal of stress the world puts on ease, convenience and comfort today? It’s the discount, coupon, buy one get one free neon sign. In most cases with these deals, the thing being sold is no good for us but we’re convinced we need it because we’re saving money on the second one. Spending money on things we don’t need is not saving money, it’s wasting money. The easy, wide gate comes in a million different forms but the most apparent one in America is a garage so full of cheap worthless items that our $80,000 pick up truck sits outside rotting in the elements. Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” In our lesson in Matt. 3 John the Baptist doesn’t use warm water in his laundry. The narrow gate is hard.

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Can I speak to the men here for a moment, the women can do with it as they like. Gentlemen, John the Baptist was in the wilderness, no electricity there. He was clothed in camels’ hair, leather belt, ate locust and wild honey. As much as the world is trying to convince you that Old Spice, Big Mac’s and Dos Equis is the key to a fulfilled life, it’s all a lie that ends up out back in the dumpster or worse yet, littering our highways. It’s a billion-dollar industry wrought with deceit, corruption and ultimately destruction. If you really want to know what I think about it, see me after, or just call me while you’re sitting at the drive through pharmacy. The gate is narrow, the way is hard, that leads to life and few enter it, be among the few. Matt. 3:13 “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.” This is Jesus! This is the Son of God coming out of obscurity, coming out of silence, in the flesh, the first we’ve heard or seen of Him since He was 12 years old in the temple listening and asking questions. (Luke 2:41-50) Why now and why here? Galatians 4:4 “But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son…to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as His children.” This is God’s perfect, pleasing and timely work, as the wise saying goes, “He was right on schedule”. And so are we. Christ came out of seclusion to manifest Himself to humanity, from privacy to publicity, He came to inaugurate His work and assume His office. Why here? “To be baptized by him.” First we notice in 3:1-6 John the Baptist preached “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him…confessing their sins.” Among them, Jesus Christ. John’s baptism was one of repentance, Christ had no need to repent, He was sinless. If He were not sinless then we have no gospel.

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Vs. 14 “And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’” Now let us put ourselves in the baptizer’s shoes for a moment and consider Christ, the sinless one coming to us and asking us to baptize Him. Many had come to be baptized, their need for repentance written all over their faces, but this one, this Christ, His face was set like flint, He came to take away the sin of the world, to bear our iniquities, to wash us, cleanse us, fill us, transform us and send us. Who are we that He should care for us? He came to the Jordan on an errand from above with you and me at the heart of the greatest business deal ever wrought. As much as John the Baptist was dumbfounded at the prospect of baptizing Christ, we might be gripped with awesome wonder that He did it for us, Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be like us, to take on our nature, to save us from our broken, lost genetic disposition. Vs. 15 “But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.” God’s kingdom, His sovereign rule in salvation and judgment is defined by His righteousness. Jesus teaches the perfect righteousness that God requires. John 5:20 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” He secures this righteousness for sinners, for us. His baptism points to His death as a “ransom for many.” (20:28) Isaiah 53:11-12 “…My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities…He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many.” Jeremiah 23:5-6 “the days are coming…that I will raise…a branch of righteousness; ...And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth…His name…The Lord Our Righteousness.” It was fitting for Christ that salvation might be fitting for us. Amen.