Take your Bible, turn to Luke 3. 250 years ago, on the 19th of this month, there was a single shot that was fired from a rifle in Lexington, Massachusetts. The night before that took place, there were hundreds of British troops that had set off from Boston towards Concord with orders to seize weapons and ammunition that the American colonists were thought to be stockpiling. When the soldiers arrived there at Lexington, they were met by 70 Minutemen. No one is for sure whether it was a British soldier that fired the shot or if it was one of the Minutemen that fired the shot. but there was a great fight that ensued after that. The outcome of that was there were eight Americans dead, one red coat wounded, and the result of that one single shot is said to be the very beginning of the Revolutionary War. On the 62nd anniversary of that shot being fired, Ralph Waldo Emerson penned a poem entitled Concord Hymn. And there's a line in that that has become memorable for years since. He wrote, by the rude bridge that arced the flood, their flag to April's breeze unfurled, here once the embattled farmer stood and fired the shot heard round the world. That's where that phrase comes from. One event that may have seemed small, that started a war, that changed the entire world. Luke 3 verse 21 through 22, those two verses we're looking at this morning, describes a far more significant event. a far more significant beginning with ramifications that don't only affect this world, but all eternity and every person that is sitting in here this morning. Those two verses describe the very beginning of Jesus' ministry. where the Savior comes to seek and to save that which is lost. These verses describe the Spirit and the Father affirming and commending the Son who has come. Two verses, Luke chapter three, verse 21 and 22. Luke writes, now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized. And while he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, you are my beloved son, and you I am well pleased. Father, we come before you having read the word of God, and we ask that you bless this time, and that as we consider those two verses, that our response would be that we adore the Son, and that we might confess with our lips, hallelujah, what a Savior. Amen. Two verses, 21, 22, describe the beginning of Jesus' ministry, where he comes here to be baptized, and when rising from the waters and praying, he's met with the Spirit descending, the Father speaking. So verse 21 here is where the Savior's ministry begins. He comes out of Nazareth, and he shows us what a sinless man looks like, what a sinless man acts like and talks like. That this is the very beginning, this precedes Him beginning to teach and to heal and to forgive and to call apostles and eventually is going to the cross. And in those two verses, Luke is showing us there is no other Savior like Jesus. He is uniquely qualified. He is uniquely gifted. He is uniquely competent. He alone is uniquely qualified to be the Savior because of who He is, because of how He relates to His people that you see in this text, because of how purposefully and effectively that He prays, how anointed and equipped He is by the Spirit, and how loved and how pleasing He is to the Father here in this profound relationship that's on display. Luke's gospel, as we've been working through this since December, has been anticipating this day, has been building up to this very moment. All the way back in chapter one, if you'll remember, the anticipation was building for the Lord's salvation coming in chapter one, verse 68. And then you had chapter one, verse 78, where it was spoken of the sunrise from on high visiting us to shine upon those who sat in the darkness and the shadow of death. In chapter 2, it was anticipated. It was the Savior who is Christ the Lord in chapter 2, verse 11. It was God's salvation in chapter 2, verse 30. And the last time that we saw Him, just think about this, the very last time that we saw Him was there in chapter 2, verse 52. He's a 12-year-old boy increasing in wisdom and stature. Then we came to Luke chapter 3, and the anticipation of his arrival is even more intense with John the Baptist. Chapter 3 verse 4, make ready the way of the Lord. He's coming. Chapter 3 verse 6, all flesh will see the salvation of God. Chapter 3 verse 16, one is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of his sandals. He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And he finally comes in verse 21. In Luke 3.21, this anticipation that's been building is met by His coming. The Savior comes here to be baptized. This is the start of His ministry, and you get to see a uniquely qualified, gifted, and competent Savior. At Jesus's baptism, this is what you behold. And our response to that, as we see our Savior coming forth, is hallelujah, we have a Savior. What a Savior, the Savior that we adore. How is He uniquely qualified? Well, number one there in verse 21, He is a Savior who identifies with sinners. He's a Savior who identifies with sinners. Verse 21, now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized. This is the long-awaited day we've been anticipating. He finally arrives here on the scene. All that he has come to do, to liberate his people from their bondage to sin, to defeat death and Satan, given that this is God's salvation, having finally arrived that's been spoken of for years now within the chronological account of Luke, you might be surprised there are no trumpets this day. There's no proclamation this day. There's no parade. There's no armies. There's no swords. There's no horses. We don't even have an angelic announcement here saying he's coming. as we've had in the past in Luke. In fact, by all accounts, when you read this in verse 21, he seems to arrive in relative obscurity. He's relatively unknown by all of those who are here this day who've come to be baptized. When you look at all of these accounts together, nobody's coming and clamoring around him going, oh, you're finally here. We know who you are. We know why you've come. That's not the case at all. Luke, here in verse 21, Luke who has been so very detailed up to this point, who has given us things about his birth that we don't have in any of the other Gospels, he's very brief when it comes to his baptism. It's in Matthew, it's in Mark's Gospel that tells us Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee to be baptized this day. What does Luke note? Simply this, when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized. That's where it starts. And isn't it striking that that's where it starts? Isn't it striking that Jesus' ministry starts here because of what you already know from Luke 3? Because of the nature of John's baptism. You know what's going on out there in the wilderness. It's remarkable that when He comes, He walks down and He wades into those waters. If you've been here the last few weeks, you understand John's out there. He's in the Jordan River, chapter 3, verse 3, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This is the baptism that's taking place. He's out there strongly urging people to turn from their sins. Chapter 3 verse 7, you brood of vipers who's warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Sinners, you know, they're responding to this. They're coming in droves. They recognize they're sinners. They recognize the judgment of God. They realize, I need to turn. And so they wade out into the Jordan River and meet with John to be baptized. We understand why they're there. We understand what they know. Because if you were to look that day and you were to look down the bank, if you were there and you were to say, oh, there's Eric, Look at him, he's standing over there. You'd go, I know why he's there. And if I glanced at you and I saw you standing there, I'd go, yeah, I know why they're there. I have truckloads of sin. You have truckloads of sin. I know why you and I would be standing there responding to John's call to be baptized, repentance, forgiveness of sin. Why is Jesus there? Why is that the very beginning of His ministry? 2 Corinthians 5.21, He knows no sin. Hebrews 7.26, he's holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners. 1 Peter 1.19, his blood is without spot or blemish. 1 Peter 2.22, he commits no sin, nor was there ever any deceit found in his mouth. Why would he be there? I know why you're there. You know why I'm there. What does he have to repent from? Now John the Baptist seems to be thinking the same thing when Jesus goes out to him, looking at him sort of going, what are you doing here? I'm not even worthy to untie the straps of your sandals, and you're here to be baptized? Well, we see that in Matthew 3.14, John tried to prevent him saying, I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? Jesus understood that John's hesitant in this way, that John sort of gets it, and Jesus so kindly answers him this way, Matthew 3.15, permitted at this time for it in this way, it's fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. John, it's right that I'm supposed to be here. Jesus is supposed to be there. It may be difficult for you to understand why is Jesus there, and me to understand why is Jesus there, and John the Baptist himself to understand why is Jesus here at this moment, but this is exactly where the Savior's ministry is supposed to begin in God's plan of redemption. This isn't the day, this isn't the day that He walks on water. Today's the day where His feet sink deep into the same mud along the banks of the Jordan, where all those repentant sinners' feet had sunk as they waited out in the waters to be baptized by John. When all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized. So before this, person after person had already entered the water, and it's all like you can hear their legs wading out into the water with whoosh. Whoosh, whoosh, as they're going out there to John to be baptized, it's repentant heart. After repentant heart, as we've seen, having prepared the way, responding there to John's message, men and women who know, I need forgiveness. And here, at the very pinnacle moment of John the Baptist's ministry, Jesus comes. And finding Him there to be baptized, At the beginning of his ministry, what is it that we find him doing? He's publicly identifying himself with every sinner that he came to save. Jesus is a Savior who identifies with those he came to save. He doesn't shy away from them. He doesn't take a step back from them. He doesn't sort of hide from them. He's a Savior who goes to where His people are, and He's standing in solidarity with them in the waters of the Jordan that day. Can I ask you a question? Where are the high priests? Where are Israel's religious leaders who spoke about salvation? Where's the Pharisees? Where's the Sadducees? Where are the scribes? Would they dare put their foot in this water and identify with anything that that group of people who have gone before have identified with? Would they look at themselves and go, I'm here as a sinner and I need salvation? The priests and the Levites, they showed up out there in John chapter 1 verse 19, and they're not out there because they recognize themselves as sinners in need of salvation. They only show up, and I would love to have been there that day because I wonder, did they walk out there to John and say, who are you? Or I suspect they stood there on the bank. Hey John, who are you? Are you the Christ? Are you Elijah? Are you a prophet? What are you doing out there? They only show up because they're trying to figure out what all the fuss is about with this man named John preaching a baptism of repentance, and he has all of these massive crowds coming out there to him. But when Jesus shows up, what do you find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke? Jesus wades out into the water with them. Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior who goes to His people. What a Savior who identifies with them. What a Savior who doesn't shy away from them and isn't embarrassed by them, but is walking out there into the waters where each and every one of them had walked before. How can that scene, in those few words, not stir your love and affection for Jesus? He's going where you would go, identifying with you. associating with you, standing in solidarity with the repentant sinners. Friends, last week, with Good Friday and with Resurrection Sunday, we're drawn to Isaiah 53, and rightly so when we think about the cross. Isaiah 53 verse 12, the Lord's servant numbered with the transgressors. certainly at the cross. But isn't He numbered with them out there in the waters at the beginning of His ministry? You think about all the people who are ashamed to be associated with Jesus, all the people uncomfortable with talking about Jesus, and that you would follow Jesus and people embarrassed by the thought of going into the water to be baptized. Look at Him there. The holy, innocent, undefiled Jesus standing in the Jordan River, soaked with water up to his waist, unashamed to be there. Look at that text and see the one without spot or blemish. going under the water as sinner after sinner had gone under the water before him. See Jesus there, who has committed no sin, being helped up out of the water as all those who had been by John having something to repent of. And he's doing it all here without shame or embarrassment. Do you just wonder? I have no text for this. So I'm saying, do you just wonder? Did the angels look down at that moment and go, do you see what's taking place? Do you see who that is? Do you see where he's at? Do you see what he just did? Why is he there and being baptized? Because that's where you would be as a repentant sinner looking for God's forgiveness. A repentant sinner seeking God's forgiveness, responding to John's preaching. He's there because those are his people and he is their Savior who has come to stand in solidarity with them because he's come to save them. He's standing where they stood, identifying with them. Even there. You think about Paul talking about his great love and how that demonstrates itself in humility, that demonstrates himself taking on flesh, going to die on the cross, Philippians 2 chapter 8. At the start of his ministry, you get the same thing. Unlike the religious leaders of Israel, they had made salvation impossible for sinners. This Savior goes to sinners. He shows us at the very beginning what you're going to find him doing later, where he's eating with tax collectors. where he's asking a lady at the well, can I have some water? And he knows that she's been married multiple times and the man she's living with even right now is not even her husband. I want you to note here, this Savior is different. He is uniquely qualified because he's willing to identify with the sinners that he has come to save. Number two, he's a Savior who prays. He's a Savior who prays powerfully, effectively. It's a priority all throughout his ministry. And you see that at the very beginning, verse 21, and while he was praying, heaven was opened. Now, here's a detail Luke gives you that Matthew doesn't give you, Mark doesn't give you, that's unique to his gospel here. Luke tells us that at his baptism, Jesus was praying. Don't you wish that you would have been there and could hear what in the world is he saying in that moment as he's praying? Luke doesn't give you that. Just watch what he gives you. He could have been doing countless other things at this moment, but the starting point of his ministry, what do you find him doing? This all-important point, he's praying. Think about the very end of his ministry. Go all the way to Luke 23, verse 46, from the cross, what do you find him doing? Jesus. crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed his last. Starts with prayer, ends with prayer, prioritizes prayer, all in between that beginning and that ending point there filled with prayer. Chapter 5, verse 16, if you flip over, his news about him is spreading and more and more people are coming, his ministry is growing, what does he do? I don't have time to pray, I got to go deal with all these people. No, Jesus would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. Chapter 6, verse 12, before he chose those 12 disciples to be his apostles, he went off to the mountain to pray and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. Chapter 9, verse 18, before he asked the disciples, who do people say that I am? He's praying. Chapter 9, verse 28, why does he go up to the mountain and take some of those men that are closest with him? where we know the transfiguration is going to take place. He goes up there to pray. Chapter 11 verse 1, he's praying with them, and one of the disciples go, wow, hey Jesus, teach us to pray. Chapter 18 verse 1, he gives them a parable. It's about prayer. It's about praying all the time. It's about not losing heart when you continue to pray. Chapter 22 verse 39, before he's arrested, he goes to the garden to pray. He urges his disciples to pray that you might not fall into temptation. Here's your picture of Jesus at the very beginning of His ministry, and what do you find Him doing? He's praying. Jesus is a Savior who prays. This is how we see Him in this moment, communicating with His Father, glorifying His Father, thanking His Father, pleading with His Father, trusting His Father. He is praying here, not going, hey, I got this, I got everything that's fixing to take place. He's dependent upon His Father. We don't know what he prayed, but that he prayed at the starting point of his ministry where he stands here in solidarity with sinners in the waters of baptism, that ought to speak volumes to us. He is here not only because this is where repentant sinners have come, he's here not only because his being here endorses John's ministry, he is here because this is exactly where his father would have him be, and in this moment where he is exactly where his father would have him be, his father is on his mind. That would be praying to him, speaking to him. Would you note, it's while he was praying, heaven was opened. This wasn't a one-way prayer, was it? Our feeble attempts to explain what this must have been like, they're always going to fall short. when we think what took place as Jesus prayed. You might think of Isaiah's plea, Isaiah 64 verse 1, O that you would rend the heavens and come down, or recall Ezekiel 1.1, while I was by the river among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. In this moment, as the man is here, coming up out of the waters and praying, whatever separates heaven and earth, in this moment was opened for a moment, the starting point of his ministry. No government officials, no banners, no trumpets, no people, no proclamations on earth, but heaven was opened. What follows that is a divine endorsement affirming, approving Jesus having come, having come into these waters and Him going forth from these waters. Number three, you have a Savior who is divinely anointed and equipped. Savior who's divinely anointed and equipped. Look at verse 22. And the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. So it wasn't just that heavens were open. Wouldn't that have been enough? I've never prayed in the heavens were open, but I think that would be enough. When they're open, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. Pay attention, the Son is praying, the Spirit is descending upon Him, two distinct persons in the same place. Luke writes of the Holy Spirit, don't fly by those words, in bodily form like a dove, like, it's a simile. A figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another. Holy Spirit's not a dove, right? But the Holy Spirit was visible in descending He was seen. Matthew 3.16, Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him. And guess what? John the Baptist saw this too. John 1.32, John testified saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and He remained upon Him. So the invisible Spirit is made visible for a moment. Descending with grace like a dove, descending, coming down from heaven upon Jesus here at the very beginning of His ministry. Why in the world would that be taking place? Why is the Spirit doing this? Four answers. One, to confirm to John that Jesus is the Christ. That's John 1.33. To confirm to John that Jesus is the Christ. John 1.33, he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, he upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. In that moment, John knew for certainty that's him. How do we know that? John 1.36, the very next day when John sees him, he says, behold the Lamb of God. He identifies exactly who this is and what takes place when he says that. John 1.37, John's disciples now follow Jesus. John's ministry has come to its climax. Now it's time to follow Jesus. Why would the Spirit descend upon Jesus at the beginning of His ministry? Number two, to fulfill how Scripture identifies the Messiah. To fulfill how Scripture identifies the Messiah, Isaiah 61.1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. In the very next chapter of Luke's gospel, Jesus is going to go into a synagogue, read that text, and say, today it's been fulfilled in your presence. How did Isaiah say you'd identify the Messiah? The Spirit of the Lord would be upon him. Luke 3.22, the Spirit's upon him. Number three, why does the Spirit descend upon Jesus? To equip Jesus for ministry. To equip Jesus for ministry. You see that in Isaiah 61.1. has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted, sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners. Luke 4, verse 1, the Spirit filled him and led him. Luke 4, verse 14, the Spirit empowered him. Luke 10, verse 21, the Spirit caused him to rejoice. Luke 4, verse 17, the Spirit anointed him there to preach. Hebrews 9, 14, the Spirit aided him at his crucifixion. Romans 8, verse 11, the Spirit raised him from the dead. Did the Spirit have an instrumental role in Jesus' ministry? Scripture says He did, and this is the moment He comes. Acts 10 verse 37, this comes up again, you yourselves know the things which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. The Spirit equipped Jesus to heal and raise the dead and cast out demons and multiply fish and loaves." And this is just exactly what Isaiah said about it. Isaiah 11 verse 2, this is what Isaiah said about the root of Jesse. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. The Spirit is descending here upon him. Number four, why does this take place? Well, what you see there in Acts 10 verse 38, again, to attest that God is with him, to attest that God is with Jesus. So, Jesus isn't inaugurated by Tiberius Caesar. Confirming authority on Him. He's not given a shield and a sword by some general of the Roman army or a commission from Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee. Why? Because none of those things would be a hill of beans. It doesn't make a difference. No, something of greater consequence had to take place, and it did. Something of greater significance. Something no mere man could confer. Something foretold from long ago. The Spirit identified him for the people. The Spirit equipped him for ministry. The Spirit attested that God was with him, and the Spirit anointed him as the chosen one who's been set apart to bring about God's salvation. So, rising from the waters of baptism and praying, the Holy Spirit descends and rests upon this one who's standing in solidarity here with the repentant sinners who are seeking God's forgiveness. Would you just know from that, friend, the Spirit is not ashamed to be associated with the Son. Is He standing there in the waters in that moment in the Jordan? Not at all. Why? This is exactly where He is supposed to be at the beginning of His ministry. The Spirit descending upon him affirms, this is the Christ who will make an end of all sin, who will make reconciliation for the iniquity, who will bring about everlasting righteousness. This is the one whose goings forth are from of old. All of those who had stepped into the waters before him, they're looking for forgiveness. The Spirit descending upon him announces, here is the one in whom forgiveness is found. He is the one who's able to save. What a confirmation. What an approval of who Christ is, what Christ has just done in baptism, and what Christ is going to do. Heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon him. The Spirit is glorifying Jesus. showing repentant sinners He's the one that saves. Number four, uniquely qualified, gifted, and competent Savior. Where do you see that? Verse 22, He is number four, a Savior who is divinely loved, perfectly pleasing, and called Son. A Savior who is divinely loved, perfectly pleasing, and called Son, verse 22. A voice came out of heaven, you are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased. So follow, the son is praying, the spirit has descended upon him, and now the father is speaking about the son for everyone to hear. If you've been that person that's always thought, well, you know, God's the Father in the Old Testament, and he shows up in the New Testament as Jesus, and then after the New Testament, he's the Spirit, friend, you've got a huge problem. You've got a huge doctrinal problem called heresy, but you've got a problem that's immediately observed by looking at this text of Jesus at the baptism. The three persons of the Trinity are all present and accounted for on this day. What a day. So brief, but what a day. They're there. So the Father, what does that mean? The Father cannot be the Son or the Spirit. The Spirit cannot be the Father or the Son. The Son cannot be the Father or the Spirit. Three distinct persons. The Holy Spirit has descended here. The Lord and giver of life who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and who along with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified. And now the Father speaks, the Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, who himself is made of none, neither created nor begotten. And when he speaks, would you note here, everyone gets to hear how one person of the Trinity is distinguished from another in one word. He speaks the word there, son. The father calls Jesus son. He distinguishes Jesus as son, attributing to him the personal property of sonship with respect to the father. The son who is of the father alone, not made nor created, but begotten. and certainly not adopted. One commentator notes, the father was not performing here in this moment some new act of adoption, but simply declaring on earth what had always been true in heaven. You are my beloved son. Friend, a son is like his father, and that is true here. This Son, begotten of the Father before all worlds, is God of gods, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. And here's the point that he's getting across. When Matthew writes and records those words, and Mark writes and records those words, and Luke writes and records those words, and you may be going, why would they all be doing that? We've heard this already. Friend, they're all recording the same scene here with the same words. that are coming from heaven, Son, what are they doing? They're not allowing the deity of Jesus to sort of just emerge gradually from the rest of their narrative that they're writing. Not at all. They want to be very clear from the very beginning of His ministry, leaving you no doubt that Jesus is very God of very God. He is the son of Psalm 2 verse 7. He said to me, you are my son. The voice from heaven makes it clear. The man who has been baptized in the river, in this Jordan River by John the Baptist, this is the very son of God. You are my beloved son. Agapitos, very much loved, esteemed, favored. Agapitos, one lexicon says, the object of one's affections. And it can mean not only are you greatly loved, but you are uniquely loved. Remember, Jesus identified this, John 17, 24, you loved me, as he's speaking to the Father before the foundation of the world. So watch this. From heaven, at the start of Jesus's ministry, the Father is announcing, for His Son, and for the whole world to hear what has been true from eternity past. I love my Son. I delight in my Son. My Son is the object of my affections. Christian, that's your Savior. That's the one who came to save you. The one who is begotten of the Father and loved from eternity past, that's the one he sent to save you. And from the very beginning of his ministry on earth, he makes it very clear that all of the rejection that's about to follow and all of the pain and sorrow and suffering that he is about to endure, oh, that is not because the Father does not love him. That is not because he's done something wrong. No, his Father loves him. Isaiah 42 verse 1, behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit on him. Look at those words. Beloved son, in you I am well pleased. That means to take delight in, to approve of, Jesus' baptism here, again, it's not a problem for the Father, for His Father. In fact, from heaven, the Father is announcing here in this moment His approval of His Son. What an honor this is conveying then. What an acknowledgement, what a commendation, what a source of pleasure here for the Son to hear those words from His Father thundering in this moment out of heaven that has been opened as He's praying. 2 Peter 1.17, Peter says Jesus is receiving honor and glory from God the Father when those same words... take place, come out, or spoken at the transfiguration. Same could be said here. He's receiving honor and glory from God the Father. This approval is coming from the Father, remember, whose eyes are too pure to approve evil, who cannot look on wickedness with favor. That's Habakkuk 113. And he sees his son rising out of the water where those have gone before, and he's not ashamed, and he's not embarrassed of his son being there. It's not a problem for him. He is heartily approving His Son being there, and He is letting everyone know it. This is my faithful Son. This is my royal Son. This is my beloved Son. He is my delight. He is a source of joy to me. The one who comes to save you from heaven is divinely loved, perfectly pleasing, and called my Son by His Father, a unique Savior. And His Father sent Him on this rescue mission that's going to conclude, as you know, a bit differently than it started. As He's there on the cross, what do you have? Something different than this. Matthew 27, 46, Jesus is citing Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? Why is He saying that? There's silence from heaven. His death follows, His burial follows, and you know from last week what follows that, resurrection. As he rises, not from water, but from the tomb, you wonder, might he have heard the same that he heard at the start of his ministry, rising out of the waters of baptism? You are my beloved son, and you I am well pleased. Whether that was vocalized or not, that he is rising from death is enough to say, you are my beloved son, and you I am well pleased. This is the baptism of Jesus. Christ here, stepping out of the obscurity of Nazareth and Galilee at the beginning of His ministry, in this moment, not only has ramifications throughout that part of the world, but throughout all eternity, throughout the realms of heaven that we see here. Saints of old have looked with anticipation towards that day that they see Him and can say, He comes. He's not riding on the clouds this day. He's not shining like the sun. He's not in glory at this moment, not with a multitude of angels, not in garments of white, not with eyes like flames of fire. His feet are not even burnished like bronze, not at all. That's for another day. Today the servant here steps forth into the Jordan, Isaiah 53 too, having no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. And Jesus, in humility, in love, steps into the mud and the muck where desperate sinners have stepped before Him who have been preparing the way. He wades out there into the Jordan where thieves and crooks and adulterers and slanders and liars and drunks and blasphemers and idolaters and murderers have waited before Him, each of them looking for forgiveness each of them weighed down by their guilt and their shame and their sin. And like them, he's baptized. He prays, heavens are open, Holy Spirit descends, Father speaks, and this is the start of his ministry. Did the angels look down in that moment in awe? Do you see him there? The Son of God going under the water, rising up, walking down, drenched. Did Satan shudder? This is the beginning of his ministry. Did demons tremble? Did death quake for a moment? Did those repentant sinners who had gone before, hearing all of this, look and have hope? He's the one who's come to save us. The Savior has come to seek and to save that which is lost. What is the big deal about Jesus' baptism? There is no inauguration of His ministry amongst men, no governmental proclamations or processions, no religious leaders gathering to rejoice and worship and make declarations. The people didn't even recognize Him. But from the realms of glory this day will be forever marked throughout eternity. The heavens are opened, the Spirit descends, the Father speaks. And here from Nazareth and Galilee steps forth the Son of God to crush the head of the serpent and to go down into the dungeon to break the bonds of His people to their sins, to pilfer the house of the strong man, to carry each and every one of those sins of His people to the cross where, guess what? He's again going to stand in your place. The place of murderers and blasphemers and liars and drunks and idolaters and adulterers and where you should be. But you have a wonderful Savior. You have a unique Savior. You have a Savior who stands in solidarity with His people, who's not ashamed to be your Savior. You have a Savior who prays and the heavens are open and God responds. You have a Savior who's anointed and equipped by the Spirit to perfectly walk through what is ahead of Him. You have a Savior who is loved by His Father, who pleases His Father, and who is called Son. And for a moment, would you just consider, if the Father loved the Son in this way, how much does He love those who are united to His Son and who are now adopted as sons and daughters? This is the beginning of his ministry, and it's a preview for the end. He who knew no sin identifies here with sinners by going into the waters and being baptized. At the end of his ministry, he who knew no sin will also be identified in the place of sinners as he's nailed to a cross, bearing the wrath of God, dying in their place, so that you could stand in his place, righteous, holy, justified. from beginning to end. What a Savior. And so I ask you today, as we prayed just a moment ago, would you consider those two verses in view of your affections for Christ? In view of your confession of Christ, there is no other Savior but Him, and He is enough. He will be identified with me, and He will lift my shame and my guilt, and I can walk through this life, and I am not ashamed of Him. Father, thank you for recording Jesus' baptism in your Word. I pray, Father, this morning that as we have looked at these things and we've considered our Savior stepping into these waters, that it may lead to our proclamation, hallelujah, what a Savior, that our affections and love and desire for him may be stirred. Father, I pray that those who are here this morning, who are at enmity with you, who've never turned from their sin, never turned to Christ, that they might see in Christ, one who is altogether lovely and beautiful, that he would be their hope, and that they would put their faith and trust in him. Lord, would you work on hearts this morning in that way? And Father, I pray that as a church, that you would just give us a greater love for our Savior, that that may impact not only as we sing in a moment, that that would impact our devotion to Him, reading His word, looking at where He walked, looking at what He taught, looking at what He did, and that it may affect our future hope as we hope, as we walk through this world of the day that we will be reunited with Him. So Lord, work on the hearts of your church this morning, we pray. Find us faithful and let our response be one that glorifies the Son. It's in His name we pray, amen.