Matthew 3:13-15 I’ve been baptized twice. Once as an infant when I had no clue what was going on and once when I was in college. I did it again because I felt like I wanted to go public with my relationship with Jesus after I knew more what a relationship with Jesus meant. It was an outward demonstration of something that had happened on the inside… the old me died and the new me was raised to life.

I bring all of this up not to refute the validity of infant baptism or to open that up for debate. I simply mention it here because I know why I was baptized.  It was a symbol telling the world that I am a sinner in need of Jesus Christ as my Savior.

With that in mind, have you ever wondered why Jesus got baptized? I know the traditional response is that He was setting the example for all Christians to follow. That may be true. However, that’s not the reason Jesus gave. His reason seems to be bigger than that. Although, to me, it’s more vague (I’m not the only one, one of my commentaries says that Jesus’ explanation is “cryptic”).

I could understand it a lot better if Jesus would have just said that He was getting baptized because he wanted to set an example to follow. He did that when He washed the disciples feet in John 13:14-15. But, that’s not what He said. He said He was doing it to “fulfill all righteousness.” What?!

First of all, you’re not laying this reason out there unless you’re the Son of God. Can you imagine giving this response to anything you have done no matter how great it was? If you found the cure for cancer and somebody asked you why you worked so hard to get it done, can you imagine the reaction you would get if you said, “I did it to fulfill all righteousness.” Priceless. Try using that one sometime today for a good laugh.

What did Jesus mean exactly? Let’s break it down and try to find out.

“Fulfill” can mean ”complete” such as in fulfilling a prophecy. The first part of the prophecy is the prediction, the fulfillment of the prophecy is when the event occurs. It completes it. “Fulfill” can also mean “make full” as in Matthew 5:17 when Jesus says He has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. In other words, He’s giving a more full picture of the law. A picture not merely concerned with following rules and standards but aligning with the very heart and spirit of the law. It is a more full understanding of what the law was intended to be.

“Righteousness” includes a sense of justice. A righteous person would be a just person. It’s the triumph of right over wrong.

So, if you put those two concepts together, it seems that Jesus is indicating that His baptism completes the act of justice being served.. for everything. That doesn’t sound right to me. I’m not doubting Jesus, but my understandng must be off a bit.

I could see if He was speaking of His death on the cross or perhaps His resurrection. That would, to me, be an act that would fulfill all righteousness. Evil took it’s best shot and lost. If someone places their faith and trust in Christ’s work on the cross and His resurrection then sin is truly defeated.  However, Jesus’ baptism does not seem to have that same weight. So, what is going on?

I’ve actually been chewing on this and doing some research for the last couple of days and here is my best shot. In the past, I’ve thought of Jesus’ baptism as the single act that would fulfill all righteousness. However, like I’ve said before, this one act doesn’t seem to be able to be significant enough to do that. Perhaps no one single act does.

What if it’s this… what if Jesus’ whole life, death, and resurrection is what “fulfills all righteousness” and His baptism is simply one link in the chain that helps accomplish it?  His baptism is still necessary. Jesus could not fulfill all righteousness without it. Yet, it’s not the event that accomplishes it all.

So, what would the significance of His baptism be? Why was it necessary? I think it’s because if He truly would take on the sin of the world, He needed to identify with the people who would go through the repentance process. Of course, He didn’t need to repent. He was sinless. However, if He is our High Priest who can identify with all of our sufferings and human experiences then baptism would be an event He would need to partake in.

How do we apply this to our lives?

Jesus never lost sight of His mission. His life had a purpose and He would not be deterred when others (in this case John the Baptist) would try to steer Him from that purpose. The links in the chain to accomplish the purpose are just as important as the overall goal. You can’t have one wthout the other.

Do you know what your purpose is? How easily are you deterred from it? What are the “links in the chain” that need to occur in order for you to accomplish your larger purpose?

One thing I forgot to do in my last post was to apply the teaching. I almost never do that. I am all about taking what you learn and being specific about how the teaching should change you. If it doesn’t change you in some way, I believe we’re missing something.

So, here goes. Jesus was not freaked out about being separated from His parents. They were having a cow, but He was not. That seems kind of odd in some way because He was, after all, just 12 years old. His parents didn’t get to Him until after 3 nights so you would think He had to have spent those alone with no shelter. (Do you think He might have tried to  sleep in a stable just for old times sake?) Anyway, I think most 12 year olds would at least get a little nervous at that situation. Not Jesus.

Like I said in the previous post. Jesus was confident. I believe He didn’t think of Himself as lost. He knew where He was and He was doing what His heavenly Father wanted Him to be doing. Others around him could be getting all in a wad but He was not going to go there.

In fact, that makes me remember a couple of other instances where this type of thing happened. The first is the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44. Mary and Martha were upset because Jesus wasn’t where they wanted Him to be. Jesus didn’t wasn’t drawn into their stress. He was connected to the Father and He knew the bigger picture. It allowed Him to be calm inside while the outside world was chaotic.

The other instance that I’m reminded of is in Luke 4:42-44. Jesus went to connect with the Father. He has His marching orders. The people want Him to stay with them. He says that He needs to go and preach. Again, people were wondering where He was, wanting Him to be where they wanted Him to be. Jesus wouldn’t have it. He knew what He was supposed to be doing and was resolute.

How often are we this resolute? How often do we have our security so deep in what our Father wants us to do that when people are freaking out around us wanting us to be where they want us to be or doing what they want us to be doing that we can just calmly cast them aside? I, unfortunately don’t feel like I live that way the majority of the time. There are hours or even days when this is true but stringing them together is the trick.

I really want this because the serenity and confidence is highly appealing to me as opposed to insecurity and stress. It seems so counter-cultural to our “gotta be there now!” kind of world. So, here’s the question for you…

How do we get it? 

Luke 2:41-52 It’s the first words out of Jesus’ mouth that we get from his early life and already I have a challenge with what he says. I guess it’s mostly because I’m  a parent. Not a parent of teenagers, but a parent nonetheless. Let’s set the stage. Jesus is 12 and he goes to Jerusalem with his parents for the annual passover. The Feast is over and his parents leave to go back. They assume Jesus is with them amongst a crowd they must have been traveling with for a whole day. He’s not. They go back to Jerusalem and search for Him for three days. Lots of nooks and crannies in Jerusalem apparently. Finally they find Him in the temple courts asking the teachers questions. Of course, his parents react like any other would, “What are you doing? We’ve been looking all over for you!” They’re a little exasperated to be sure because, after all, they thought they had lost God. I’ve never done that but I’m sure it would be nerve-wracking.

Anyway, this is where I would expect some sort of apology. At the very least something like, “I’m so sorry mom. You got away from me and I didn’t know the way back home, so I just went back to the temple courts because I figured you’d look there first because you know how much I like to study all of that religious stuff. Anyway, I’m really, really sorry.” Come on. Isn’t that what you expect? I know He’s a teenager but He is Jesus. He’s at least going to be polite, right?

Perhaps something is lost in translation but I think anyone who has been around teenagers has a vision of what Jesus’ tone sounds like when he responds, “Why were searching for me? Duh… didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Emphasis and “duh” are my additions) Can’t you just hear the disrespectful tone? Can’t you just see the rolling eyes and shaking of the head? Maybe it’s just me but that’s what I envision. That’s hard for me to take. It just doesn’t seem right. I have a difficult time thinking Jesus would be that way.

It says that His parents didn’t understand what He was saying. Well, I think I could have a an idea of what He’s saying. At twelve years old, Jewish boys began getting ready to get established into the religious community. That happens when they are 13. So, Jesus in essence could have been saying, “Look, we make this trip to Jerusalem once a year. I don’t want to  celebrate the Passover and then just leave. This is my big chance to get some serious study time in with all these leaders before next year. I told you I wanted to hang out here but you wouldn’t listen!” A few problems with that theory though. First, He still comes off as rude to me. Sorry. Second, he obviously doesn’t need the study time because He’s amazing everyone with His questions, answers, and understanding.  Third, that just makes a little too much sense, but the text says his parents didn’t understand what he was talking about. Back to the drawing board.

Let’s attack the rudeness thing because that feels like a big sticking point to me. It’s hard for me to actually think that Jesus was rude.  I think there may be a clue in the text that Jesus may not, after all, have been back-talking His mama. How about this? It says in verse 51 that Jesus’ mother “…treasured all these things in her heart.” Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d exactly be treasuring the experience if it went down as I described. Maybe I could laugh about it later, but I wouldn’t be treasuring the memory. So, maybe Jesus had one those looks on his faces when His eyes met his mom’s that was completely innocent. Like He really believed he had done nothing wrong. A look like that from your child when caught red-handed (if you’ve ever experienced this) can be kind of disarming and almost endearing. Plus, it appears they did not confront Him when they saw Him right away because it says they saw Him listening to the teachers and asking them questions. Given that everyone was amazed by Jesus, this may have actually been a proud moment for Mary and Joseph. I can just see Joseph elbowing some other guy in the crowd saying, “See how He just nailed that circumcision question? Yep, that’s my boy.”

So when they finally come to their senses  or perhaps just waited for an opportune time to interrupt, they confront Jesus and tell Him they’ve been searching for Him for days, Jesus just unplugs all the emotion out of the situation. He didn’t feel lost. He knew where He was the whole time. He was confident that His heavenly Father was watching over Him and protecting Him and that His parents would be along eventually.  Remember, He was 12 years old and should have been preparing to take His place in the religious community. That’s what He was doing. He wasn’t teaching yet. He was simply asking really good questions and providing insightful answers when asked.

So when Jesus responds to His parents, I can envision a different tone. It’s kind of a “Oh, you’re worked up over nothing tone” said with smile on His face.  He was OK. He was fine. This was just the beginning of Jesus having to honor His heavenly Father independent of  His earthly parents. I can imagine Jesus saying, “There will be more times when events like this occur, but for now, I’ll submit to your authority. Let’s go back to Nazareth.” His parents may have been scratching their heads, but Jesus had so much warmth toward them and such an obedient spirit that they weren’t mad anymore. They were just cherishing the time before they knew they’d have to fully release Him.

What do you think?

At first, I was tempted to not refer to the Christmas story for this blog. After all, I have no problem with Jesus as an infant. Who doesn’t? He’s an innocent baby. God in His most vulnerable form. He could have rightly been born into circumstances akin to royalty. Instead, his parents were fleeing a maniacal ruler who was trying to kill babies and He ended up amongst the filth of a stable. It’s humble. It’s endearing. I like that Jesus.

Some screenwriter in Hollywood must have felt the same way. In an irreverent film called “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” there’s a scene in which Ricky, a successful NASCAR driver, is at the dinner table with his family and best friend saying grace (if you want to see the clip I’m sure you can find it on YouTube; but be forewarned, it does contain some profanity which is why I’m not showing it here). Ricky begins his prayer by saying, “Dear Baby Jesus…” His wife interrupts him, and tells him that Jesus has become an adult and that it is ridiculous to pray to “Baby Jesus.” Ricky remains adamant. He says he likes “Christmas Jesus” and that’s who he is going to pray to. His best friend says he likes to picture Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt, expanding “you know, kinda formal but also ‘I like to party.’” Like I said, it is an irreverent movie.

Then, I thought that’s kind of the point of this blog. There are certainly pictures or images of Jesus we prefer. Perhaps we have this image of Jesus subconsciously when we pray, worship, or read the Bible. However, it is there almost as a filter regulating what we absorb or not.

For instance, I like “Death and Resurrection” Jesus. Having the Son of God punished for my wrongdoings, wiping them away, and conquering the power of death… that’s a great image to hold onto! Similarly, I also like “End of the World” Jesus. When Christ comes back to end the reign of sin in this world so that there will be no more pain and no more tears… again, the conquering hero image is very appealing.

However, even in those pictures I tend to skate over the unsavory parts. I gloss over the fact that it was my sin that put Jesus on the cross in the first place and caused Him an unbelievable amount of suffering. I’d rather avoid the depths of my sin and its consequences. I also tend to avoid thinking that at the end of the world there will be many people who will not go to heaven with Jesus. People who may be very close to me who I did not have the guts to share the gospel with. I edit that part out.

There are other images of Jesus that I either ignore or simply refuse to deal with. For example, I don’t like the “Extreme Discipleship” Jesus in Luke 14:25-33. Neither do I care for “Beatitudes Jesus” in Matthew 5:3-11. Both  of these pictures of Jesus call me to a standard that feel I woefully short of attaining and I’m honestly not sure that I want to. When I let myself, I don’t struggle with this a little bit. I struggle with it a lot.

The problem is that all of these images of Jesus are real and valid. The same Jesus that will sweep me up and take me to my new mansion in heaven is also the same Jesus that calls me to be persecuted because of him (and be happy about it!) I can’t have one without the other. As long as I stick with the pictures I like, I’ll remain spiritually lethargic and apathetic. Honestly, I think this is the pandemic of the American Evangelical Church.

So, what about you? I’d love for you to comment answering 2 questions today:

What images/pictures of Jesus do you prefer?

What images/pictures of Jesus would you rather keep at a distance?

Jesus is challenging. On the one hand, I love Jesus. He is my savior, redeemer, encourager, helper, and source of life. I aim to please Him with all aspects of my life and experience great disappointment when I feel like I haven’t.

On the other hand, I find it hard at times to follow Jesus. I wish there were times when he were more clear. Taken at face value and this side of heaven, some things he says don’t seem to add up. To top it off, sometimes I feel as if He is being crystal clear and I find I can’t possibly live up to His expectations.

Can you relate?

As a result, I find myself having to overcome hurdles to give him full entrance into all aspects of my life without hesitation and with full joy. I don’t like that. I want to correct that.

I would love for you to come on a journey with me called The Jesus Challenge. I am going to start at the beginning of the gospels and go deliberately through all of His life and ministry. I will be very open about my struggles (and breakthroughs) regarding His challenges for me and all people.

I hope for this to be a place of openness and honesty for you as well. I want you to be able to share your perspective, points of tension, and places of surrender with Jesus also. We’ll need each other through this challenge and I welcome your perspective. I will call on it often.

The bottom line is this; I want to share the apostle Paul’s perspective that he shares in Philippians 3:8 – “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” I long for that to be true in my life. If you do too, then join me.

Will you take the challenge?