There’s a very funny bit in the 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur is explaining to a couple of peasants how he got to be king. The peasant woman says, “I didn’t vote for you!” and he explains, “You don’t vote for kings. The lady of the lake held aloft a sword signifying that by divine right I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I’m your king.” And the peasant man says, “Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony!”
It’s a humorous clash of modern political theory and the very mystical fairy-tale story of King Arthur. But it also touches on a very real debate, which is where authority comes from and how it should be understood. How does someone get to be king? How does someone get to be president? Is the electoral college a good system or not? How does someone get to be a congressperson, or a judge? Should they have term limits? We have a system of voters, but as Christians we also believe that authority comes from God. Sometimes that leaves us wrestling with challenging questions.
Today though we’re focusing on a bigger question, which is, “How does someone get to be Christ?” Christ is a very special title. It’s a very special office. It’s greater than “king” or “emperor” because included in it is “King of Kings.” And better than any priest, it is “The Great High Priest.” And more than any prophet, the Christ is the eternal prophet, the Revelation of God, the Word made flesh.
How is it that Jesus is the Christ? We didn’t vote for him. But it wasn’t a farcical ceremony that gave him his title and the authority that goes with it. God sent his onlybegotten Son. God set him apart. God proclaimed him Christ. In his baptism Jesus fulfilled all righteousness and began his ministry as Christ.
In earthly terms of numbers and popularity, John the Baptist may have actually been more successful than Jesus. People were coming to see John from all over. They were going out into the wilderness to see him. They wanted to hear his message and receive his baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Most of the time in Jesus’ ministry we don’t see those kinds of crowds, and the ones that did come to him often came for the wrong reasons. That’s a good reminder that we shouldn’t measure our churches’ faithfulness by how popular they are.
Matthew 3 tells us of two different surprising people who came to see John. The first was a group, the Pharisees and Sadducees. And the reason that this was surprising was that these people were not there to listen, but to stir up trouble. These were the religious leaders, but they had no interest in repentance or forgiveness, and John called them out for that. “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath!”
And then another surprising visitor came to John. Jesus came to be baptized by him. And you can see that John knew exactly what his place was in all of this. To the powerful and mighty people in Israel John spoke rebukes with complete fearlessness. But with Jesus John was a most humble servant. Matthew writes:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John at the Jordan. But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, because it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
John’s objection makes a lot of sense when you understand what baptism is. Baptism is not just an outward ceremony, a matter of going through the motions. It’s not a sign of your dedication to God. If it was, it would be the most proper thing for Jesus, because who was more dedicated than him, the onlybegotten Son of God?
But what John was doing was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And what does that mean? It means that sin is the reason for baptism, and forgiveness is the goal. Baptism is not merely symbolic, but there is a symbol here. Why do people bathe? Dirt is the reason for bathing, and cleanliness is the goal. Baptism uses that outward picture and action but it does so to bring about a spiritual reality, one that can only come from God. People were coming to John to be baptized, because they recognized that John was called by God to be his prophet. John was speaking for God and baptizing for God. In baptism he was delivering to filthy sinners God’s pure forgiveness of sins.
And so from that perspective it seems completely backwards that he would baptize Jesus, the pure and holy Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus had no sin. Jesus had no need for forgiveness. Why would Jesus need baptism? John, on the other hand, needed the forgiveness of sins. Great prophet that he was, he knew that he was still covered in the filth of sin that no one but Jesus could remove. And so he said, “I need to be baptized by you!”
Jesus response might seem a little puzzling at first. It is a rather unique statement and Jesus doesn’t give an explanation here. He said, “Let it be so now, because it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
What does that mean? Well, when we’re not sure about something the best approach is to search the Scriptures. And there we find Jesus telling his disciples, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Lk 24:44). And Paul tells us “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor 5:21). And in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Lk 22:42).
Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament. He came to be our righteousness. This was God’s will that he undergo baptism as our substitute, as our righteousness. He humbled himself to take our place and to bear our sins and to be baptized with our baptism so that, joined in baptism with him, we may know that we have his righteousness, we have his forgiveness of sins.
And here too we can see the answer to that question we began with, “how does someone get to be the Christ?”. When Jesus says, “It is proper for us” he is saying that this is the will of God the Father. These are things that are ordained by God, the one who is the ultimate Great Authority.
And this isn’t just something that Jesus came up with, the way that some kings have claimed that their rule is by divine right, and therefore it would be a sin against God to question them or criticize them. That is not what it means when we say that rulers have their authority from God. Jesus told Pontius Pilate that his authority was given to him by God, but does that mean that he could do no wrong or that he was right to give in to a mob and crucify Jesus, whom he knew was innocent?
No, earthly authority to rule comes in different ways. Sometimes it’s inherited. Sometimes it’s given by voters. Sometimes it’s dictated by a nation’s laws. But at the same time it is a responsibility bestowed on people by God, to act on his behalf for the sake of justice and peace. In a way, its not all that different from being a parent. My children did not vote for me to be their dad. But neither can I claim that because my fatherly authority comes from God I am free to abuse it. I don’t answer to them, but I do still answer to God, who is ruler and judge over all.
But not only did Jesus make this claim that to do this was proper to fulfill all righteousness, but God confirmed it. Matthew says,
After Jesus was baptized, he immediately went up out of the water. Suddenly, the heavens were opened for him! He saw the Spirit of God, descending like a dove and landing on him, and a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with him.”
This did not happen for Jesus’ sake. He knew who he was and what he had come to do. He knew that he did not need baptism for his own sake for the forgiveness of sins, but only as our substitute, our righteousness, the one who came to bear our sins. But his baptism was also the beginning of his public ministry as the Christ. For the sake of John, the forerunner to the Messiah, for the sake of other witnesses, for the sake of us, God used this, Jesus’ Baptism, as his anointing to proclaim him Christ.
These things happened for you. You know that there is nothing good in you, in your sinful flesh. Is God well pleased with you, when you continually turn away from him and break his commandments? Is he well pleased with you when again and again you cover yourself with the filth of sin?
Who can you turn to for cleansing? Who can you count on for forgiveness? Jesus, at his baptism, was proclaimed your Christ. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit as your Prophet, Priest, and King. He was baptized sinless so that, sharing in his baptism, you might be cleansed from sin.
And as he takes your place, carrying your sin upon himself to the cross, he gives you his place, his righteousness, his life. Joined to him in his baptism and holding to him by faith, the Father’s words from heaven no longer just describe him. They describe you too. You now are God’s Son, whom he loves. He is well pleased with you.
You didn’t vote for Jesus to be your Christ, and you never would have. Lost in sin and enslaved to the devil, you were an enemy of God. But God, in his great love for you, sent his Son to be your Christ. To whom can you turn? Who will save you? Only the Christ. And Jesus’ baptism proclaims him to be the Christ. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson